I would cut them if they're brown or soft/mushy from frost damage. Use dead leaves, mulch, etc to help insulate the roots until spring.

Don
I talked to my neighbor he has 3 big washys that got burned last year, he told me don't cut the fronds yet because it would help protect it from the future cold snaps. Just wait till they fall off or it gets warmer .He must know what he's talking about he has 3 beautiful mexican fan palms that got completely defoliated last year
but by the first of summer you couldn't even tell.

Well too late for half of them!!!
I went ahead cut the fronds on 2 out of the 4,so will see how it goes,thanks Topher!

Just make sure to keep the crowns covered ! If i was you
I would take the fronds that you cut and cover the crown so they stay dry. Or bend the remaining ones over then cover them.

Exactly what I did!
Well were hoping for the best.

worry more about protecting the crown, not just the roots. Palms aren't like bananas that'll rebound from the roots. If the crown is dead, the plant is dead, no matter how well mulched the roots are.

what's the lowest temp your yard has seen so far this winter? Any idea?

10* for about 10 hours or more,but then it never got above 15* for the whole day,then 20* temps for a day or two,and then below 32* for about a week at least!

Ouch !!!!!!

Your just not whistling Dixie!!!
Took over 3 weeks for 8 inches of snow to melt!!!!

dbrya1 I cut the fronds on my Washingtonias the first year throughout the winter and they did great! Very hardy palm. The fronds grow back fast. I cut 1 so far this winter. I get concerned about disease when the leaves get soft after a hard freeze, no sense it stressing the palm more so I'd watch for that. Roots are somewhat dormant in winter but here in FL it doesn't stay cold constantly (not sure there) so I remove dead fronds to strengthen my palms because I WILL see growth in the winter. I mention covering the roots cause you don't have a deep root ball (since it's a smaller palm) and with a hard freeze and no protection it will be easier for colder temps and weather to penetrate the surface and damage your roots. Which will hurt growth. Of course don't forget the crown. Maybe I'll post some pics of my Washingtonias. This is my experience in FL. Hope yours pull through, good luck!

As a person in Zone 6b (almost 7) and having several Washingtonias, I am pretty sure that they will NOT survive in zone 6 no matter how much you cover them, without heat.

I mean, even a 50watt hologen lamp inside the protection might keep it warm enough to survive, but no way otherwise.

I hope I'm proven wrong as this would benifit we other persons with ZDS (Zone Denial Syndrome) LOL :)

central_cali369 - "Palms aren't like bananas that'll rebound from the roots."

Not sure if your taking a jab or what but I don't think any of us assumed palms grow back like bananas. Ok. Mulching the roots is just another way to help protect your palm from the cold.

I agree with Blondboy, he's giving the most realistic thinking on the subject. I had one(about 4 feet tall with a hell of a root system, rootbound in a huge pot as a matter of fact). I hate to be negative, and I'm not trying to be, but I kept mine in my garage for about 7 winters, until a couple winters ago, it rotted. I only watered it once or twice throughout the whole winter, seeing as they're dormant and a desert palm anyway, and it grew a multitude of colors of mold in the boots of the trunk. I peeled away and found pink, white, green, black...it was beautiful LOL. I'm just kidding, it was like a death in the family. Anyway, I'm not sure what caused the rotting, whether too cold in the garage or putting in out too early in cool wet weather. What I'm getting at is, they need to be kept extremely dry in cold weather, and I don't think a 2 foot diameter around the palm is enough to keep the ground dry.
Root rot is probably your washingtonias' biggest enemy. I bought a couple nice sized ones from somebody on here, and unfortunately it turns out they both had root rot, I believe from the roots freezing. Dirt will absorb moisture from other dirt surrounding it, so unless you have a much larger structure to ensure the soil stays dry, plus providing a lot of extra heat, I think you're doomed to failure with that robusta, but it looks like its already gone. Your chances are probably much better with Filifera, but again, need to make sure structure is several feet in diameter to ensure water doesn't seep to the palm's roots. If you cut or tie all the fronds off or up, build a huge leaf cage around it when its bigger and cover it with some type of plastic or tarp, you'd keep the trunk about 20 degrees warmer and insulated with enough dry mulch, like straw. A greenhouse like Blondboy has would be the best method, but since these are small palms, I'm sure you don't wanna spend that kind of money on supplies for building or buying one.

I intend to give a filifera a shot this time, but I'll pot it, grow it, and then put it in the ground after it has a thick trunk. I saw somewhere that someone in Tennessee does the method of mulching that I mentioned above. They are growing a robusta, but they're a zone 7. As long as filifera's kept dry, it should be at least another 5 degreees more cold hardy. Plus their thicker trunks help to protect the growing points better that those of Robustas.

Again, don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I couldn't even keep one in a pot, nonetheless in the ground, and I'm in zone 6. I think you're better off putting your efforts toward that Pindo, looks great by the way, what a surprise that its doing so well, huh?

Well Guys thanks for the input here,it's well appreciated,never to old to learn,but there is a guy living in Iowa,who has a robusta in the ground,next to his deck and house taller than the edge of his roof,youall probably remember this from a couple years back,he wraps it all the way up with just normal wall insulation and burlap then wrapped completely in plastic to keep the moisture out.
Right now the robusta looks better than the filifera!
This was just a experiment to see if I could grow one overwinter with just a black plastic trash can with wood chip bark around the base.I have 5 ,4fters in the house doing just fine,and plan to plant them back in the ground come spring,as they will be 2 year old come february.
In fact one is doing so good,it has a fan opening,a large spear and a new spear showing about 5 inch of new spear.

Islandbreeze
The main thing with a robusta Is don't keep it too wet.
They love wet shoulders but not wet feet. As i have said before the soil depends a lot on how dry it stays.

Islandbreeze summarized it best. Dry.... dry.... dry. In warm climates W. robusta will even grow well in clay, but not anywhere above Zone 9A. In fact, it is best to harden them off for the cold by stopping watering around the first frost in your region. Individuals may show variation to cold tolerance but on average, Filiferas are much more cold tolerant than Robustas. Pindos definitely beat both, so it seems a shame to put so much effort in Washys when you're likely to lose them at some point in zone 6. Just a thought.... dl

The challenge ,having a palm no one in the neighbor hood has or in the city in some cases,fun,and I like these fan palms,I could go on,believe me there are hundreds of people around the world trying all kinds of plants out of there normal zone!
Down right enjoy it,if it makes it fine and dandy,and if it don't have several seedlings to take it place.
No great loss,except my time.
Something to talk about with my palm friends!

Definitely, that's the fun of it! It's different, something other people don't have and they're beautiful to look at. That's why I grow palms. And I do enjoy the conversation too, although people who aren't into palms seem not to notice my back yard full of palms and other tropicals. You'd think they would stick out like a sore thumb here in Michigan, but no one seems to notice. My one neighbor noticed only because in the other 3 seasons I'm always out working on the yard.

Mine is all done in the front yard,so I get a lot of slow drive bys,and a few get out and talk to me when I'm watering,and a few times during the summer,I get people who come up and knock on the door to ask me a question about my yard .Then come fall I dig up lots of plants and put a free sign,and there usually gone right away,so that tells me someones watching me more than I know!!!LOL

dbrya1, I apologize for my previous post. I didnt intend for it to take a harsh or condescending tone, but i must agree that it all depends on how one reads it.
Theseventhlegend, thanks for pointing that out.

Don
I went out today and looked at my 2 robustas and i can see new growth and it is a dark green so i think they are ok.
Will keep you posted.

topher2006 how's your Queen doing? 1 of mine got a very light burn on the top of it's canapoy. But it's probably my fault cause I forgot to remove the plastic in the morning.

It's pale looking , but the new fronds are real green. So i don't know... Time will tell.. Going through lots of wind now.

Robustas are not considered to be hardy in San Antonio, although I see a few around town. We lost a lot of them when temps got in the teens one year. This was just for a few days, at night. Temps during the day rebounded, usually above freezing.

Washingtons prefer a dry, hot climate. The California fan palm is a street tree here. It likes the hot baking sun.
California fan palm is only marginally hardy in Dallas. In Dallas (zone 8a) it should be grown in protected areas, such as downtown or next to a southfacing wall of a two story house.

I'm not an expert on handling damaged palms or protecting them from cold. I wish I was. I'm just providing hardiness info.

I've got my own problem with a sabal minor seedling I transplanted, so hardiness isn't everything.

Trying to grow plants, especially palms, from a significantly warmer climate forces gardeners to learn a whole lot about palm botany!! LOL So, I guess that is the fun of it too!!