Palm trees

I'm dusting off my good old Nikon D40 + Tamron 90mm and trying to recall how to use them :)
Beware, there are 14 pictures and a short story below.

There are many tutorials about detailed LEGO palm trees, check them out on Youtube if you're curious.  Means nobody really likes the idea LEGO currently uses for their palm trees, say, in recent Pirates series.

It's sturdy and ok for kids to play with, but I personally hate the look of those brown Technic elements used for the trunk.  Also some "arm" pointed up is needed to place this tree somewhere on your landscape.

Top part is not too bad actually.  I just don't like using black arm for it.  But brown or reddish brown ones are not that common :(

Not bad from top.  Leaves are nicely close to each other.

Any way, I know I want more leaves on my palm tree.  And different elements for the trunk.  

You may remember LEGO palm trees from older Pirates sets.  IIRC, the main problem with them - well, they were too flimsy to play with.  But the trunk was looking pretty good.

Unfortunately, I don't have any of those old elements.  So I decided to start with whatever brick I have available and with some tricks from Youtube tutorials in mind.

Hmm... not too bad, you think?   

I used different element for "arms".  Just the one easier to find, and the right color.  You can make leaves point up or down randomly for more natural look.  They fell off easily, but it's ok if you're not planning to disturb them too much.

Well, everything is good, except those cone parts of the trunk kinda look upside down.  What if...  I try it upside down?  Hey!  That's the trunk I wanted!  Now I just need to find the way to connect it with the baseplate and the top part.  

Just a plain little bar was a huge help.  The one used as wizard's magic wand or drummer's stick.

Nice and sturdy!

But now top part does not connect well.  Also, I decided that I do want that upside down dark-tan bush there too.

You guessed it!  Another short bar.  Some time ago my kiddo broke one of the long spears from Castle set, broke off the handle part, so it could not be used for anything.  Now it will be the star giving me two bars I need to make one more palm tree :)

Yes, I changed the idea for the top part.  Pretty much any element like bar extension or axle with stud can work, if it fits on top of the bush (that dark tan element in my case).  I also added round green plate on top of my brown plates with arms, and a "bamboo" plant, to make it all look complete.

Think I'm pretty happy with the result!

Dunno why I had a "victim" in the process, LEGO never crumbled on me before.  Did I press too much at some point?  Or did I get off-brand elements presented as genuine LEGO from someone on BrickLink?  Those are hard to identify.  Hope it was just one bad element.