Post Hurricane Landscape Tips

We were fortunate to escape the wraths of Hurricane “Dorian” recently but here in St. Lucie County we still got a lot of wind and some heavy down pours too.
We could still see some effects on plant life, not right away, but down the road. It is important to look for any signs in your landscape, especially if it is situated in low-lying areas that had standing water for a period of time.

This is also a good time to remind homeowners about proper palm pruning. Repeated over-pruning can result in many detrimental issues for palms- reduce canopy size, increase nutrient deficiencies effects, related to some palm diseases etc. Observations of palms after the severe hurricane season of 2004 and 2005 in Florida showed that these “hurricane-cut” palms were more likely to have their crowns snapped off than those with fuller crowns.

Below are some useful UF/IFAS sites to share:

Helping trees recover from hurricane damage:
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/st-johns/horticulture/pdf/Hort-4–Post-Hurricane-Tree-Triage.pdf

How to Minimize Wind Damage in the South Florida Landscape:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/EP/EP04200.pdf

Preparation for and Recovery from Hurricanes and Windstorms for Tropical Fruit Trees in the South Florida Home Landscape:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS32200.pdf

It’s always a good idea to be prepared, especially during hurricane season!
The Master Gardeners of St Lucie County are available to provide advice on these landscape issues. Feel free to call (772) 462-1660 to reach the Master Gardeners.

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