Question
I have two sagos. Both were perfectly happy when surrounded by grass. Now I put in a cement patio around them and one is turning all yellow.  I have never had mulch around them. The contractor watered the heck out of the ground and may have gotten some rock salt in the dirt. I live in Cent. CA, HOT. I'm afraid to water, not water, trim off the yellow? the draining has always been good. Its a hard pan soil. Help.

Answer
Hi Lori, when you had the patio put in, did you (or the contractor) upset the root system of the sago? and as you alluded to, was there any foreign substance used that may have leached into the soil? Cut back the yellow fronds, here in Florida  we have a serious problem with white scale (exotic pest imported about 5 years ago that is killing all the sagos), and we are constantly trimming dead fronds back, but they grow new healthy ones, so don't be afraid to prune it back; the patio is in, and the sagos are declining, so the only thing you can really do, is hope they adjust; be patient and if the stress isn't too extreme, they may turn around for you..good luck Nick