Any green thumbs out there?

That's what apartment complex maintenance dep't does here. They trim off the dead stuff and at the very top. There are many dozens of tall palm plants here in so. FL; however, that pic is exactly how they look here.

Of course, you must water it well and fertilize it properly.

Here is the care procedure for a Queen Palm (Note: Close attention needs to be paid to proper cutting and pruning):

http://www.ehow.com/how_5462587_trim-queen-palm-trees.html

I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I call those Arecastrum romanzoffianum, but I'm funny that way.
Looks it up..
Ah, I see it has a new first latin name - Syagrus. Anyway, just put the words Queen Palm into the search on whatever nursery website you decide to check out.

These people know what they are doing, but I can't remember if they deal with the retail public:

Valley Crest Tree Company
http://www.vctree.com/nursery/about_us.asp

There's a contact page where you could ask them - or just call them, they might have a recommendation for who else to ask (that they trust).

I looked further and it looks like their nursery is a general public one.
http://www.vctree.com/menu.asp

These are the go to people for tree growers in Southern California.

(There's an email form to click on at the bottom of that page)

Thanks for the tips and links.
I checked out a few other sites that offer advice, but couldn't seem to get
a clear answer.
Mine have grown so tall I get little shade.

I would say that all of the palms on this property would qualify that same way.

Yeah. I've read they grow as high as 50'!
That's why I want to do something to stunt the upward growth and
redirect it to outward growth. Not looking very promising.

Not only have I noticed the lack of shade from these type of palms on this property here in Sarasota but all over the area.

If I wanted shade in Florida, I would probably go with live oak. Not everyone has that much patience, of course.

And here a lot of that type of oak has tons of Spanish Moss hanging off it. Lots of shade there.

My thought is to put other shorter and somewhat different palms (that might complement each other) in front of them - should you happen to have room. Maybe even just one.

Not to be nosy but I think you are in Southern California (sorry if I got that wrong) - there are at least a few and by now maybe many excellent palm nurseries there.

Or something else altogether that would produce some real shade, sort of what Roger was saying but not an oak. Depends on what you want for shade and the look of the garden.

Thanks! I like that idea a lot.
Yes I am in SoCal...lots of nurseries

Yeah, and some specialize. If you pm me where you are (approximately), I could shake my brain for some of the best. I practiced there for twenty years before moving to northern california and then here, and some places have changed or new ones came in. On the other hand, you may not want to, which I understand.

How much space do you have for planting anything in front of those palms?

You could possibly use good design help. There are competent landscape contractors, some willing to take small jobs if yours happens to be small. Sometimes some landscape architects actually like small jobs. A lot of nurseries have designers and some of them are sharp.

The trouble with asking online is people don't know what is there re the whole site, where the sun is, don't know what you want to screen or block, don't know what makes sense with style of house, the soil type, your microclimate, etc. But a designer who knows the area would get all that and could talk with you about what you like.

On the other hand, doing it yourself is fun and how I and many designers started. Plus design costs some money.

As far as I know they always have the same amount of fronds and don't bush out. My experience here in S Florida

I doubt they bush out ever, but just am not positive that they wouldn't marginally grow in frond length with special care. But, I doubt it would be noticeable even if they did, especially as they get taller.

Before I recommend that you prune the palms to a more desirable height (say 0 feet) I would need to see pictures of your garden.

Eeeeeek!

If nqyringmind does actually want to get rid of the palms for some reason, they are worth money. Places like Valley Crest Nursery might (or might not) take them out and away to sell another day; can't remember if they also pay something for them.

They sure will bush out! We also have two and have them trimmed once a year, they’re bushing out like crazy! But we also feed them. I forget the name of the food but its in pellet form and you sprinkle it around the base of the trees.

Here is a better photo of the queen palms and this is the food we feed them.