How To Prepare Your Trees For A Hurricane

Brevard County, Florida is typically lucky when it comes to hurricanes. We may experience strong winds, but extensive hurricane damage is something residents are often saved from.

However, hurricane preparation is still necessary, and prepping your yard and trees is an important part. Unfortunately, the yards and trees are often done last minute or done incorrectly. You can change all of this and here is how.

Check Your Gutters

The first thing you need to do is check your gutters and make sure they are free of leaves, branches, or anything that can prevent the water from heavy rains from flowing. If you have storm drains nearby, check to see if it contains any debris such as grass clippings, trash, pet waste, etc. If there is anything but water, remove it.

Inspect Your Propery

You need to walk around your property and check the shrubs and trees to determine if there are any problem areas. If trees are touching your home, you will need to trim the trees away from it. This will help prevent any possible damage to the shingles or siding.

The trees around your home need to be pruned before hurricane season. This should be done either during the trees' dormant season or at the beginning of spring. Be sure to prune the trees properly. You will need to remove a good portion of the exterior branches of the trees while trying to avoid pruning the interior as much as possible. If there are any rubbing or conflicting branches they will need to be removed. Any limbs that are diseased or dead should be cut no matter the location.

Do Not Top Trees

Do not top trees, which is where you cut the top of a tree’s canopy. It does not help protect your home from severe winds or the tree, itself. Do not remove many interior branches and foliage leaving it only near the end of the branch. This is known as lion’s tail and you are over-pruning. The trees become heavy since all the weight is at the end of the branches and new growth is only able to grow there.

If you experience hurricane winds, the wind can grab at the heavy branches and can pull the tree out of the ground. Be sure to not remove more than 20 percent of the tree’s canopy. If the job is done improperly, you are more at risk for trees to break or fall. If trees are close to power lines, you will need to contact your electric company to come out and trim for safety reasons.

Contact A Certified Arborist

If there is a tree that looks unhealthy and you are concerned, or you simply want a professional to take care of the trees, contact Nick Rocco with Tree Service Express. There is a difference between a tree service company and hiring a company where one is a Certified Arborist.

Once the pruning is done, make sure to remove the debris from the yard right away. Debris can become projectiles causing damage to your home or other personal property. This is one reason why you do not want to wait last minute as there can be delays with pickup, which may leave you and your home at risk. Did you know even if you do the work yourself, you can still call Tree Service Express to schedule bulk pick up? If you hire us to do the work we will, of course, haul it away for you.

Also, you will need to make sure to secure or move anything that is currently outside. Patio furniture, grills, potted plants, gardening tools are some common items that are outside and can also become projectiles.

You may not be worried about a hurricane, but do not delay in preparing for the hurricane season. Prepping the yard and trees is important and it is always better to be safe than sorry. Pick up your tools or call Tree Service Express at 321-237-3733 to help prepare your property in Palm Bay, Melbourne, and the surrounding areas.