Maintaining a beautiful beach house in Yucatán, México comes with its fair share of responsibilities. One of these tasks involves regular maintenance of the 15 coconut palm trees on the property. In this article, we will share our recent experience of trimming the trees after a nine-month interval. We’ll discuss the reasons behind the decision, the process of finding the right crew, and the costs involved. Join us as we explore the importance of tree trimming and the benefits of hiring local professionals.
Why and How Often
It’s been 9-months since we had them last trimmed.
We wanted to wait a year, but we started having coconuts failing out of our palm trees daily. Two a little too close to me while swimming in our pool.
The more you trim them, the more often you have to trim. One of our neighbors rarely uses their property and never trims their palm trees. They look ugly and have tons of dead branches and coconut clusters hanging down, and tons of coconuts and dead branches on the ground.
I don’t want coconuts dive-bombing me while in my pool or hot tub, so I have to get them trimmed, and I like the look of trimmed palm trees as well.
Only foreigners and rich Mexicans that own beachfront property have these types of palm trees, as they are very messy and take quite a bit of work to keep things neat. That is what our gardener told us.
They came with the place and are very mature. They are the only trees around here that can handle the beach wind and weather, and we need the wind protection and shade, so we are stuck with keeping them clean.
Getting Help
We tried a different crew this time. Three men recommended by our local gardener. We wanted them “cleaned” and we had our gardener and maid take the debris and put it out on the street for garbage pick up.
There are different detail levels to coconut trimming. You can get just the coconuts cut and leave the dead branches hanging or a more trimmed neat look which costs a little more. We like the more trimmed look.
Paying the last crew to clean and haul away was almost double the price. It was a team of five people, and one just held a clipboard the whole day. They were excellent and took all the debris with them, totally turn—key service, but you paid more for that.
This time we went with our gardeners’ recommendation.
The crew of three were very local as well, which probably helped in getting a local non-gringo price. So, I would again recommend you hire people through local contacts and not other expats or Facebook groups.
The crew were fantastic. It’s been rather hot here the last week, so they would arrive early and work until about noon. The first day they did seven tree and the second day eight trees. Our gardener and maid would clean the coconuts as soon as they were lowered to the ground. And our maid skimmed the pool a few times so nothing settled to the bottom.
Plus, I arranged the pool cleaner to come the next day after the trimmers were done.
That way everything is squeaky clean for the weekend and I can enjoy my pool.
Coconuts and Coconut Water
Plus, we got to keep some good coconuts to drink and eat. It’s more than we can eat and drink, so the tree trimmer kept some.
Fresh coconut water and chewy coconut around is great for a few days.
I feel like we are a coconut farm when we do this.
Costs
It was MX$300 per tree for trimming (total MX$4700). Gardener and maid were MX$1850 for two days. And the debris is covered by city services, but they can take months before hauling this much stuff off, so I’ll be going to hire someone for under MX$2000 to take it away sooner.
The grand total is MX$8550 or about US$500 at the current exchange rate.
And we have to do it all again in 9-months. It doesn’t look like I can push it to a full year without a coconut failing issue.
Preserving Serenity
I’m happy with the procedure and crew, so it will just be a matter of scheduling it again.
With the palm trees looking neatly trimmed and the debris cleared away, our beach house is ready for a relaxing weekend by the pool. Taking care of these tasks ensures our safety and enhances the aesthetic appeal of the property. As we wrap up this round of tree trimming, we’re reminded that scheduling regular maintenance is key to preserving the beauty of our surroundings. By relying on local contacts for recommendations and hiring skilled professionals, we can continue to enjoy a serene and well-maintained beach house in the picturesque Yucatán.
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