Mulching with Palm Fronds

As part of our long range, voluntary water use reduction plan at Ellis Farms, this spring we introduced the use of an agricultural shredder to our field nursery operations.

While in the past dead fronds pruned from our palms were removed from the fields, now we dispose of the fronds between the rows and use a Balzer pull-type end drive chopper-shredder to shred the fronds in place immediately adjacent to the palms from which they were pruned. This type of implement has found broad application in orchard, vineyard, and nursery operations around the country.

Shredding palm fronds produces a number of important benefits. In addition to reducing labor costs, the shredded material left between the rows acts as an effective mulch, reducing the loss of irrigation water through evaporation. Studies have shown that mulch can reduce evaporation from the soil surface by up to 70 % compared to bare soil.

Finally, I hope that shredding palm fronds may be the first step toward finding a fully integrated method for disposing of these materials that uses this potentially valuable biomass in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.

For example, biomass from palm fronds may yet prove to be an important source of fuel. In addition, a process has already been patented to produce a growing medium using fiber from shredded palm fronds combined with other agricultural materials. Controlled growing tests suggest that this recycled growing medium may have remarkable water retention properties that will further serve to reduce water use.