What's eating my saw palmetto?

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) is a tough native understory palm with few serious pests. Palm leaf skeletonizer is the primary defoliator in Florida, and scale insects occasionally colonize frond midribs. Deer and gopher tortoises browse the fruit, but rarely cause lasting harm to established plants.

Frond leaflets webbed together and skeletonized, leaving dry brown papery tissue; most visible on lower fronds. In landscape settings, light infestations are tolerable. For ornamental specimens, spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) or spinosad to frond undersides; remove worst fronds before spraying.

White or tan armored scales on frond midribs and petioles; slow decline and frond yellowing in heavy infestations. Horticultural oil spray during crawler emergence in spring. For established landscape palms, natural predators often keep populations in check without intervention.

Browsing of developing fronds and consumption of fruit in autumn; rarely fatal to mature stands. Deer-proof fencing or repellent sprays (deer do not heavily target mature saw palmetto). Plant in mass groupings where spiny petioles deter browsing.