We have a palm tree in our front garden that would be at least 80 years
old, though unfortunately it doesn't appear to be in good shape. First
of all, how hard would it be to identify the type? It would have been a
fully mature tree when my parents moved here 30 years ago.

It's got a very thin (20cm thick) straight grey trunk, it's about 6-7
metres tall. The texture of the trunk closely resembles an elephant
leg. Half way up the trunk, it becomes kind of furry and dead fronds
hang below the bulb for some time before they eventually fall off (there
used to be a possum that slept behind the dead fronds, although there
are less dead fronds hanging these days and the trunk is becoming more
exposed).

The fronds are kinda shaped like a Japanese fan, though without the
webbing. As a young child I remember protending to use one of the dead
fronds as a broom. It was only a few months ago that the tree had
yellow flowers.

Problem is though, all the fronds recently gone yellow and died.
There does appear to be a shoot, although I've never seen it like this
before. I'm assuming that the tree is dehyrdated, since we're in he
middle of a drought. I'd imagine that two slits that have been in it's
trunk for at least the last 30 years wouldn't do it justice either.
Apparently someone started to cut it down, but changed their mind before
they got half way through the trunk. We've given it water, though what
else should we do to save it?

A 30 second google search came up with http://www.palm-tree.net/ which
suggests that the soil around the palm should have the addition of
Mycorrhizal Fungi. As well as various other specialised palm tree
fertilisers. Where could these kind of products be purchased in
Melbourne (Eastern suburbs).

Thanks,

--
Jeremy Lunn
Melbourne, Australia
Homepage: http://www.austux.net/
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