Virtually invisible to the casual observer, the signs were obvious to Erik Knudsen that a serial killer was loose in The Villages, Fla.
Whatever the menace, it preyed only on the tall and slender, or at least that was the killer’s preference. The signs of death were eerily similar — each had signs of trauma on its topside and a troubling curvature of “fingertips” that should normally reach majestically straight and outward, illustrating that each had suffered a slow and stressful death.
Yes, something was killing palm trees in The Villages and Knudsen, the landscape manager for The Villages and community development districts, was determined to do all he could to find the killer and put a stop to its onslaught.
District 1 Supervisor Allie De Benedittis said a “mess of palm trees” succumbed along the entrance to Villa De Laguna West.
“They started dying, fell down and put a hole in their wall,” De Benedittis said.
She said some residents believed the trees were the victims of lightning, but that was quickly disproved. De Benedittis said she placed a call to Sam Wartinbee, the district’s maintenance director, and Knudsen, asking them to look into what caused these trees to topple.
And she wasn’t the only one. Palm trees were dying or looking close to death throughout the community. But this was a faceless killer, so Knudsen would have to study the clues left behind and collect evidence that would help him crack the case.
“It was all very confusing at first; the symptoms didn’t all match up,” Knudsen said.
Landscaper turned CSI
His investigation would be time-consuming, but like a relentless investigator determined to attain justice, Knudsen never let up.
“We first noticed it after the hurricanes,” he said of the decaying palm trees.
All the rain the storms produced would later prove to be a big clue. But even an experienced landscape expert like Knudsen was stumped at first.
He and his staff collected soil samples and sent them off for expert analysis.
“The soil samples turned up fine,” he said of a routine check for all the usual suspects.
Little did he know at the time that the soil sample test that looked at pH levels couldn’t, and wouldn’t, turn up his killer. But he pressed on because Washingtonia and sabal palms were dying or in distress.
His next step was to perform “tree autopsies.”
“I went up in a 50-foot lift and I actually took pictures of all the tops,” Knudsen said. “Looked at ‘em. Pulled off the tops to see if it was palm weevils.”
Taking an ax and splitting the tops of the dead palms did expose the little palm or palmetto weevils — creatures roughly the size of a thumb. The grubs were white and an adult, black with a curved snout, were placed into custody in glass jars.
Had he caught his killers? Not quite.
When he spilt a green palm frond that was clinging to life, he expected to see the little creatures inside causing destruction there, too.
“We split those and there was no evidence of palm weevils at all — none,” Knudsen said. “The bud looked like a cabbage.”
So, essentially, the palm weevils weren’t to blame. They had come along after the killer had already done its work.
“They’re opportunistic, they usually get in when (the palm tree) is injured or whatever,” Knudsen explained in his report a few weeks ago to Village Community Development District 1 board members. “I think this is a secondary thing, after the palm is stressed, it rings the dinner bell for these guys and they show up.
Knudsen has played investigator more than once before, looking for clues to turf and plant problems. But this time he knew he needed help. So he turned to two “palm tree gurus.”
He first made contact with Dr. Monica Elliott, a professor at the University of Florida Plant Pathology Department.
Knudsen sent her photos of the distressed and dead trees.
“She looked at the pictures and decided it was probably not a disease, and she forwarded (the photos) to Dr. Tim Borscht,” Knudsen told district board members.
Case cracked
Borscht and Knudsen exchanged e-mails, allowing the professor with the University of Florida Environmental Horticulture Department to learn all he could about the situation that was causing dead palm trees to be removed from The Villages.
Once he had been briefed, he said he believed the same killer had left a similar calling card in the Tampa area. Knudsen said Borscht asked one simple question to confirm his suspicions.
“He asked me if I was using a certain brand of fertilizer,” Knudsen recalled. “I replied, ‘Yes, we are.’”
Knudsen said Borscht advised him that that brand of fertilizer did not contain boron. Knudsen was told his trees were dying because of a boron deficiency.
What traces of boron likely existed in the soil were likely washed away during the hurricane season.
“It can be leeched out in periods of heavy rainfall,” he said of the element that is an essential nutrient for palm trees.
And soil samples don’t test for boron.
“It’s kind of great when you got the Eureka feeling. I’ve finally solved the case,” Knudsen said.
De Benedittis said she was relieved to hear that Knudsen had tracked down the cause of the trees’ distress. She said would convey that information to residents in her district, including the news that the removed trees would be replaced — although district officials want to wait until tightened water restrictions are lifted to ensure newer trees can be properly watered. The news also would mean that other trees could be saved.
Stopping the killer is simple. Knudsen contacted the fertilizer supplier to suggest they add boron to their product.
“If we can get the fertilizer companies supplying this area to change their formulation, then it will be available to the guys doing the homeowners’ lawns, too,” he said.
In the interim, a simple mixture of two to four ounces of Borax, found on laundry shelves, mixed with five gallons of water is all that it takes to make a solution that is poured around each palm’s roots.
But Knudsen cautioned to not overuse Borax.
“Too much can cause problems, too. It can cause toxic problems, which mean it actually hurts the plant,” he warned.
Applying it right before rainfall would be virtually useless since the boron likely would wash away.
But don’t expect results overnight from a boron treatment. Knudsen said it may take “several months to a year to take effect, maybe longer.”
He said most homeowners in The Villages have smaller palms, but as they grow, residents should be watching for the signs of boron deficiency. One of the early signs is that palm leaf tips will begin to bend back like a hook. In some palm species, they may break off.