Hurricane season 2024: How to prepare your trees and yard before a storm in Florida
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 with the peak of the season on Sept. 10. The most activity happens between mid-August and mid-October, according to the National Hurricane Center.
An overheated Atlantic Ocean and a rising La Ni?a have forecasters predicting a highly active hurricane season, one that could rival one of the busiest years on record.
The key to getting through storm season is being prepared. That's why The Palm Beach Post has compiled tips, lists, contact numbers, graphics and maps that should help you prepare for a storm, and, if need be, get through it fine.
Hurricane prep in Florida: Trimming your trees
Trim trees before storms threaten. Many municipalities have “amnesty” weeks before storm season, when you can deposit more than the allowable limit of yard debris . Call municipalities for more information.
Call a professional. Trees trimmed by a professional arborist are far less likely to fall.
Thinning a tree allows wind to blow through its canopy, offering less wind resistance in a storm. Prune young trees to create a single leader, which will grow into a strong trunk.
Minimize damage to mature trees by removing weak branches and reducing limb lengths.
Hatracked trees become sails. Removing a tree’s canopy encourages bushy growth, making a tree top-heavy and wind-resistant. Hatracking is also illegal.
‘Lifted’ trees lead to broken branches. “Lifting” is a practice in which lower branches are removed for clearance underneath. It can cause branch breakage and makes trees top-heavy.
Prune before a storm threatens. If trash pickup doesn’t get to your curb before the storm, you’ve created a pile of potential missiles.
Coconuts behave like cannonballs in high winds. Remove them well before a storm. If trees are too tall, hire a tree trimmer.
Emergency managers worry: Are Florida newbies ready for hurricane season?
Hurricane Survival Checklist: How do I prepare my house and yard for a hurricane?
Tips for prepping yard: what to do with debris and vegetation
Take in hanging pots and baskets. Secure or take in pots from shadehouses.
Secure young trees with additional stakes.
Don’t remove fruit. If you put it in a trash pile and the pile isn’t picked up, the fruit may fly around in the wind.
Tree-dwelling bromeliads, staghorn ferns and orchids can be secured with fishing line.
Take in or tie up any piles of yard or construction debris.
Take in all garden furniture, grills, tiki torches and other outdoor items. (Do not sink furniture in swimming pool.)
Consider removing gates and trellises.
In high wind, palms will bend but not always break. Since they originated in the tropics and subtropics, their supple trunks have adapted to hurricanes.
Plant palms in clumps around the edge of your garden (not near the house) to block the wind and protect more fragile plants inside. Although fronds will be damaged in a storm, most of these palms will recover.
Ficus trees come down easily in tropical weather, storms in Florida
Ficus trees are not meant for residential yards. They grow to 70 feet with a massive span of shallow roots, and come down easily in high winds.
If you already have a ficus, have it professionally trimmed before hurricane season begins. (If you have Australian pine and ficus in your yard, consider removing them.)
Stake small trees as a storm approaches with stakes driven at least 8 inches into the ground.
Trim large masses of vines so they don’t pull down fences.
Lay arches and trellises on the ground and anchor with rope.
Fast-growing, brittle trees should never be planted in hurricane country, no matter how quickly you need shade.
Strong trees to plant in Florida
Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones: What’s an invest and why do they keep saying tropical cyclone?
Gumbo limbo
Cocoplum
Cypress
Dahoon holly
Geiger tree
Buttonwood
Jamaica caper
Mastic
Ironwood
Live oak
Sand oak
Red bay
Red maple
Cypress
Sea grape
Stopper
Strangler fig
Brittle trees: consider removing these from your property
(Consider removing these trees from your yard.)
Australian pine
Earleaf acacia
Ficus (ficus benjamina, weeping fig)
Bishopwood (Bischofia)
Carrotwood
Hong Kong orchid
Tabebuia
Laurel oak
Melaleuca
Schefflera
Black olive
Jacaranda
Java plum
Norfolk Island pine
Royal poinciana
Silk oak
Storm-safe palms to plant in Florida
Cabbage palm (sabal palm)
Canary Island date palm
Christmas palm (adonidia)
Coconut palm
Florida thatch palm
Foxtail palm
Robellini palm (Pygmy date palm)
Royal palm
Majesty palm
Paurotis palm
Thatch palms
Note: Queen palms are the exception. They have a very low wind tolerance.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers weather, real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to [email protected]. Help support our local journalism; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hurricane prep in Florida: How to trim trees, tips on securing yard
