If your Florida property is unprepared for hurricane season, a storm could seriously damage your property. Read these 5 ways you can prepare your property.

5 Ways To Hurricane-Proof Your Florida Landscape

Every tree is a treasure, but not every tree is ready for hurricane season. Florida's hurricane season is well underway as of June 1st through November 30th, so the time has come for you to prepare your trees for their potentially epic battles with the elements. Follow these 5 pro tips to fortify your property against invading winds, hail, and flying debris.

1. Scout the Area for Overhead Hazards

Dead and dying limbs and trees are unsightly. They can also be dangerous to humans, windshields, and roofs. Take a survey of your landscape and note the shape, development, and condition of your trees and their limbs.

Look for signs of tree weakness including the following:

• Insect damage on trunks, leaves, or branches
• Browning or spotted foliage
• Twisted, split, or overburdened limbs
• Split trunks without central leaders
• Canopy decline

Older trees in decline may be too weak to survive storms. Schedule the removal of all hazardous trees and limbs before peak hurricane season hits.

2. Cull the Hordes of Branches Wisely

As noted above, excess branches and foliage become flying debris when hurricanes spin over the landscape. Unpruned trees create hazards as weak limbs break away and set sail. Uneven canopies cause trees to topple as the winds bully the foliage and branches.

Hire Pete & Ron’s Tree Service, Inc. to manage the pruning of all hazardous and unevenly spaced branches. Their professionals have specialized equipment that allows them to prune with precision and speed. They can reach your tall trees in no time with their lift trucks, which is far safer than wobbling on an unsteady ladder 50 feet in the air.

If you try to tackle a tall pruning job yourself, you could injure yourself or destroy your property. It takes long years of practice to know the safe, correct pruning methods for each type of tree in a Florida landscape. The wrong pruning method can kill a tree, weaken a tree or introduce diseases. Leave the pro tasks to the pros for this hurricane strategy to work as advertised.

3. Act Before the Summer Rush

While tree service companies are more in demand as hurricane season progresses, that's not the rush we’re referring to here. During the hot, rainy summers, healthy trees grow lush and green. The canopies of tall trees flourish with new growth.

New shoots and unpruned, unstable branches are the first to break free during high winds. Get ahead of the rush of fast summer tree growth. Hire your tree service to prune trees early in the summer to avoid excessive new growth of branches and foliage.

Remember that a neglected, overcrowded tree canopy takes longer to prune and trim, even for the pros. Schedule trimming and pruning of trees before they produce insane amounts of twigs and leaves.

4. Allow Healthy Squads of Trees to Develop

Research from the University of Florida and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences shows that groups of trees fare better than lone trees under severe winds. However, these benefits only happen when you plant hurricane-resistant species of trees in suitable growing conditions.

When establishing new stands of young trees, ensure that your tree-planting site has at least three feet of good soil, adequate drainage, and a deep water table. Plant at least five trees of various hurricane-resistant species in a well-spaced grouping.

Native trees are better choices for the Central Gulf Coast of Florida than non-native trees. Some native trees lose all of their leaves in hurricanes yet continue to thrive. Palm trees tend to have more hurricane resistance than broad-leaved trees or conifers, but all trees perform better when you let stands of the plants develop.

Native tree species of Florida have adapted to a climate of intermittent storms. If your property has a stand of tall older trees, plant young trees now to replace the older trees when they eventually fail.

5. Protect the Innocents

Young saplings are at a higher risk of damage during hurricanes. Baby trees don't have extensive roots or thick bark to shield them from gales and debris.

Help your young trees grow strong by watering the young trees well during the first year or two of growth. Follow the watering schedule offered on the plant-care tag of new trees. If your young tree has no cultivation tag, ask your arborist to recommend an adequate watering schedule.

Protect the expanding root systems of young trees by planting the trees away from compacted soil. Avoid driving over tree roots, damaging roots of trees during construction, and scuffing tree roots with weed trimmers and lawnmowers.

While your tree service is pruning your trees, ask them to stake and brace younger trees for the hurricane season. Bracing and staking trees can sometimes make a big difference to a young tree's survival.

Avoid the late-hurricane season rush for tree care by contacting Pete & Ron's Tree Service, Inc. today. We help prepare your Tampa, Brandon, St. Petersburg and Clearwater properties for battle before the hurricanes invade.