3 Reasons Why You Should Trim Your Trees Before a Hurricane

Hurricanes come with raging winds and torrential downpours, which are not exactly tree-friendly. The damage can be far worse if a landscape has allowed stressed and weak trees to grow without special attention. 

Before you know it, the first hurricane that hits will uproot your weak and unprepared trees or cause the branches to snap. But here’s the good news: there is a level of good measure you can take to protect your trees from hurricane damage. We call it tree trimming or tree pruning, and here’s why it is an absolute must for protecting your landscape. 

Tree Trimming or Pruning 

While there is no foolproof hurricane-resistant landscaping, there is a process we refer to as tree trimming or pruning that is quite helpful.  All the deep-rooted trees in one’s landscape may stand firm under a hurricane if you have prepared them well. However, if there are any with weak limbs in the canopy, they may fall easily. 

The fact is that hurricanes can easily break damaged, dead, and broken limbs from your trees because of the sheer wind pressure. Moreover, those very broken limbs can also become dangerous projectiles for the neighborhood. This is why we insist on regular trimming or pruning over the course of your tree’s life but most importantly ahead of the hurricane season. 

This practice will create a well-spaced and sturdy framework of trees, plus will ensure an open canopy that will allow the winds to flow through freely. Here are three primary reasons why you should trim your trees before a hurricane:

1. Strengthens Tree Health to Withstand Hurricanes 

First things first: it is crucial for the trees to be in sound health before a hurricane hits so that they are strong enough to stand upright. When trees are healthy and strong, they put up better defenses against storms. 

Professional trimming or pruning helps make trees more stable, stronger as well as healthier, all of which makes them more competent in the face of hurricanes. We all know that the winds accompanying hurricanes are nothing less than savage, but trimming makes our trees fierce competitors against them. 

Moreover, when you prune or trim your trees well before the hurricane season launches, you give them enough time to heal from the wounds. It is possible for the trees to sustain minor damages from the pruning process, but they recover from those in time. 

However, delaying the trimming procedure and saving it till the eleventh hour will leave your trees more vulnerable and weaker. Hence, we strongly urge you to proactively prune your trees and give them sufficient time to replenish the energy they will lose during pruning. 

2. Removes Dangerous Limbs before the Hurricane Lands

One of the most crucial reasons for trimming trees is eliminating all the broken branches that could easily become safety hazards during a storm. Many trees tend to have dense foliage, making it difficult for us to spot all the broken or damaged branches high up. For all you know, there may be a lot of dangerous branches inside the foliage that could wreak havoc once the hurricane unleashes. 

Therefore, removing the dead, broken, and potentially dangerous tree limbs well before the storm will be an added protective measure. If you live in a region where frequent hurricane cycles each year, you’re surely aware of how deadly these stray branches can become. 

Thankfully, professional pruning eliminates much of this risk and protects not just you and your family but also your neighbors and the property.  

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3. Catch Potential Tree Problems in Time

Another major reason to trim your trees before the hurricane season is to catch all hidden problems deep inside and fix them in time. Like we mentioned above, many trees tend to have dense foliage and add their tall height to it; you know a lot would be invisible to your eye. 

With professional trimming, the certified tree experts come with their trained eyes and professional equipment that helps them catch tree problems at the root. There could be a vast number of problems in your trees, including stress. For these, most often, one has to opt for cabling or bracing that helps stabilize the trees. 

Residential and commercial property owners who neglect to get their trees trimmed professionally might be in the dark about unstable trees on their landscape. As a result, they suffer far more damage and destruction during hurricanes. 

Moreover, pruning helps you discover insect infestations in time and other tree diseases as well. The expert pruners would discover such problems immediately and address them. If you don’t do this in time, you’d be having weak trees sitting on your property, just ready to topple with the first winds that blow. 

Certified tree arborists can treat tree diseases and infestations quite competently and help your trees survive through hurricanes and sickness. 

Tips for Trimming Trees before Hurricane Season 

Here are some suggestions to trim your trees the right way before a hurricane:

• Avoid causing a point of future weakness in your trees, generally a narrow-angle between the branches. Instead, let the arborist arrange the angles at 2 o’clock or 10 o’clock for the best measure. 
• You need to have a steady center of gravity, ideally over the trunk. For this, the arborists must eliminate tree branches on the leaning side and let them grow on the opposite side. 
• You must strike a perfect relationship between the lateral branches. Don’t let them be more than ¼ or ½ of the trunk’s diameter. 
• Remember that the natural long limbs are more storm-competent and can stand their ground in stormy conditions. Hence, do not cut branches till the stubs. Instead, if you need to remove branches, only cut them back till the trunk or the main branch 

Final Thoughts 

The hurricane season can be brutal for commercial and residential property owners who fail to prune or trim their trees proactively. Tropical systems can uproot weak and unstable trees and cause branches to rip apart, becoming deadly objects during strong winds. 

Hence, it is imperative to trim your trees well before the hurricane season and address all other problems such as diseases and infestations. This practice will not only make your trees survive longer but also maximize the safety of your family, neighbors, and also of property. 

Contact Payne’s Environmental Tree Services & Recycling to prepare your yard for hurricane season.