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Hurricane Prep for Landscapes

Episode #7
Release Date: May 13, 2024

Living in Florida includes being prepared for hurricanes. Many people know how to get their homes ready but what should do for your landscape? Join us to learn how to prepare your garden and landscape for hurricane season along with tips for recovery after the storm.

Episode Transcript:

ANNE
Hurricanes are part of life in Florida and preparation is key. Most people are familiar with things like stocking up on canned goods, batteries and water. But what about preparations for your landscape? Do you make hurricane preparations in your yard a priority? What should you be doing to prepare your home and landscape before a hurricane? Let's find out in today's episode.

JULIE
Welcome to Your Central Florida Yard, the podcast series where we explore how to successfully garden in the unique climate of Central Florida. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this podcast is for you. So grab your shovel and get ready to dig in. This podcast is brought to you by UF/IFAS Extension, Polk County.

ANNE
Today we're talking about landscaping preparations before hurricane season. But Julie, when does hurricane season actually start here in Florida?

JULIE
Yeah. So the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. And so those are important dates for us to remember as Floridians when we're thinking about hurricane season. So thinking about hurricane season, we have building codes that protect homes and businesses, making sure that structures are built to withstand high winds and in areas where it is crucial.

But what about landscapes? And so preparation is key. It's too late to make any changes in the landscape once a warning has been issued, but preparation should start in April or May for the upcoming hurricane season. And so, Anne, what do you need to do to prepare your landscape?

ANNE
Okay, so before hurricane season, we want to make assessments of our landscapes. And so we don't want to do this when a storm is actively approaching. This is maybe something that you add to your landscaping to-do list at the beginning of the spring, so that it's done well in advance of any oncoming storms. All right, so to get started making an assessment, we want to have a few tools to make it a little bit easier.

Also, before storm season, we want to make sure that we're checking our insurance policy regarding any structures that may be outside. So outdoor structures, structures in the landscape that have been built, fencing, that sort of thing, to see what coverage is there and maybe make any necessary changes at that point. And then just in general, take some photos as you go through the landscape, not just of problem areas, but of the whole exterior of your home, landscaping and fencing. Because this is how it should look on a normal day. So we want to make sure that if a storm comes and, you know, causes a little bit of chaos, even if it's just putting plants that were in containers back in the landscape, the pictures will serve as a reminder of where things go. And those photos can also be really helpful if there is some sort of insurance claim that needs to be made down the line.

So it's always really helpful to have a good list of photos. Maybe make an album on your phone and store all of those photos in there. So maybe every year go through, delete the old photos, put new photos in, and then add any of those photos of things that you're going to be discussing for potential issues.

So after getting all of those initial photos of your home exterior, landscape, fencing, we're going to take a walk through the landscape and make an assessment. For that walk, you're going to need a notebook and pencil, maybe some landscape flags or something to make mark of things you want to revisit, and a camera so your phone will work for that. And what are some of the things we're going to be looking for during the assessment? What we're going to do is think about how your home and the surrounding landscape could be affected with two big things that come with a hurricane, and those are water and wind.

And we're going to kind of go in depth on some of the things that you need to look for with water and wind here in a second.

JULIE
Yeah, Anne. Water can actually be an issue in the landscape regardless of where you're located in the state. Of course, if you're in a flood prone area, the issues with water can be even more severe. So just be aware of where you're located and if you are in any of those flood prone areas. Now, thinking about those areas that are prone to flooding, erosion can be an issue as well.

And so what can you do ahead of time to mitigate that? And one thing I think you might consider in the garden is actually a rain garden. And so rain gardens are a great way to help divert lots of stormwater off of a roof, if you have that. If you're experiencing a lot of erosion from that roof runoff, diverting that rainwater into a rain garden is a great option.

And so rain gardens are swales or depressed areas that are designed to capture that roof runoff away from the home. They're also landscaped beautifully with plants that survive both drought and then that influx of water. And the thing with a rain garden is, is that while it's capturing that water, that water doesn't stand for more than 24 to 48 hours.

It's a very short period that allows that water to infiltrate on site without causing other issues in the landscape. Again, with water, think about all the ways that water can impact your home and your landscape. You want to take note of all the ways that you can allow water to more readily flow and percolate in your yard. We want that water to move as quickly as possible, and so some ways that you might mitigate that water from being an issue if a storm is approaching, or even in general, when you're taking this assessment of your landscape.

Think about cleaning out gutters and downspouts, any grates, or catch basins that can become clogged and might become water issues where water is just not able to flow properly. Also, if you have a pool, think about lowering that water level in the pool, especially right before a storm. Major issues with water could be flooding. You could have standing water, or you could have erosion from fast moving water, especially if you live on a hill or slope.

So again, thinking ahead of time how you can mitigate this, whether it's a year round issue or something that only happens during hurricanes is important to do, especially before these storms approach.

ANNE
Yeah, and Julie, I just want to mention too, I mean, just thinking about some of the summer storms that we have and thinking back to some of the issues that you may have with water during those times. I mean, this assessment should also help with those, but also maybe will refresh your memory to like, oh yes, I remember, you know, last August it rained three inches and my pool overflowed and caused a lot of damage to plants or something like that.

These assessments will help with things more than just storms. And so again, we want that water to soak into the ground on our property wherever we can. It's best to think about how we can not let water leave the property, because when it leaves, it's causing issues other places. So if you're a new resident to Florida, you may not be aware of the issues that we can have with water anytime we have a storm. So knowing whether your landscape might have more issues with flooding or with erosion is really important. Once you've been through a few summer storms, I think you'll have a better idea how to assess and react to a hurricane.

JULIE
Yeah, those are great things to consider. And you also mentioned wind. So what else do we need to consider with wind?

ANNE
Yeah. So again our important things to think about with hurricanes is damage from water and damage from wind. So you know obviously Julie discussed all those water issues that we can talk about. And so wind can be pretty scary during a hurricane, sometimes even a strong storm. If you have a lot of tree cover and you see those big limbs moving around and wind can damage a lot of things in the landscape. It can lead to failures of trees, which can cause damage to your yard and potentially your home.

And I think that wind can be scary in a very different way to people. And doing that Pre-Storm assessment, think about things like direction of the wind. Not that you're going to predict which way the wind comes from a storm, right? But like if wind was coming from the east, what would that look like in your landscape? If wind was coming a different direction, what would that look like?

And would that blow something, you know, that might not be affected if it was blowing a different way? What about tree failure? What would happen if a limb from one tree fell or broke or something like that? Would that impact an outdoor structure? What would happen if an outdoor structure blew over or blew over a fence, or all of those sorts of things?

You kind of have to think, you know, what could happen if really strong winds came through? What would happen to all of these things that are in my yard, my arbors, my pergolas, bird baths, statues, fences? All of those things need to be carefully looked at. So take your time as you walk through your yard and do that assessment.

If a storm is actually approaching, you can do things to prepare your yard for wind. So installing wind gap panels and fencing. Some of those big privacy fences are really prone to wind damage, even if the wind isn't very strong. Usually you see panels blow off before you see posts uprooted from the ground, and they can be replaced and things like that.

But you have to think, well, they can be replaced in my yard. But where is that panel going? I don't want it to hit someone else's window or something like that. So think what might happen if panels come off your fence and things. Any other structures in your yard, make sure they're properly anchored or braced, if you can't move them inside.

Well, a lot of times we see videos of trampolines rolling through the yard. That's a pretty scary thing. You could take down portions of trampolines and brace the remainder. Again, I mentioned arbors and pergolas. Any type of structure really should always have a brace on it anyway. And then things that can be moved to a protected space or even inside. You know, you could utilize a garage for things like containerized plants, bird baths, statuary, anything that could fall over and break, fly through the air, that sort of thing can be moved.

So those are a few things you can do for wind in your landscape. And that kind of gets us to the next big thing, which is always the question that people have when it comes to mostly wind. And that's trees. So this is a totally separate section and thing that we think about when we talk about hurricanes is a lot of big trees.  What's going to happen? What should I do with those trees?

JULIE
Yeah, Anne, trees can be one of the largest or most prominent things in our landscapes. And so often people are worried about their trees. One, either that they want to protect the tree or two, is the tree going to be a hazard? So remember proper selection, proper planting, and even proper pruning are the key for healthy trees that are going to survive these storms.

You want to think about anything that could be a hazard if it fell from a tree, maybe onto your home, a utility, a power line, your neighbor's yard as well. And so the key is knowing your tree species and if there are any issues with that tree. And so if you do own a large shade tree in the landscape, it's definitely important to hire a professional, a certified arborist, to make sure that they assess that tree, to know if there are any issues, if you're not familiar with trees and species.

But of course, these experts are there to assess and provide knowledge of the health and safety of trees. So remember, some trees are more susceptible than others. Some defects or improper maintenance of trees can cause trees to be more susceptible in these storms. So just be aware of that. And of course always consult an expert, a certified arborist, if you have any questions.

Now, if you do have any trees that could be hazardous or that need to be replaced, consider replacing them with more wind resistant varieties. And so we do have quite a few options. Thinking about the categories of wind resistant trees, we're going to recommend just a few. We have the ones that have the highest wind resistance. And so some of those trees include sparkleberry which is a small understory tree, yaupon holly, dahoon holly, those southern magnolias that you see in landscapes that are very iconic. Turkey oaks, live oaks, bald cypress, and even crape myrtles actually have high wind resistance, so if you're thinking of a tree that will have high wind resistance for your landscape, these are a few that you might consider. Anne, what are some medium to high wind resistance trees that we might also consider in the landscape?

ANNE
Some of those trees would be fringe tree, which is a great spring blooming small tree. Chickasaw plum also blooms in the spring and is another small tree. They're both a great size for most urban and suburban landscapes, in that they only get like 20 to 30 ft tall. The Florida sugar maple, sweetgum, Shumard oak. Winged elm is another one as well that has those pretty cool wings on all of their branches.  Pignut hickory and then river birch is one also, and I think people forget about that one has really cool peeling bark and is a medium to high wind resistant tree.

JULIE
Yeah, so most of these trees are Florida natives with the exception of the crape myrtle. And so if you're looking for a Florida native tree that has high or medium to high wind resistance, these are all great options. And we're going to provide a list of these trees in the show notes as well for you to reference. And so Anne, we've talked about trees, we've kind of talked about what to think about, but what about pruning our trees?

ANNE
Yeah. So Julie I think what happens sometimes is a hurricane is approaching and all of a sudden people are outside looking around their landscape like we're now suggesting that you do in the early spring instead. But they're out there and they're panicking and they're panicking because now they better prune stuff because it's going to fall on the house, on the car, on whatever it is.

Really what we're here to say is don't hurricane prune or prune any trees when a storm is on the way. It's too late to address those structural issues that you're now looking at. The time is a long time ago to have done this. So again, Julie mentioned proper pruning from time of installation is what you should do and you should do if you're planting the tree.

But many of us move into homes that already have large trees, and so during your assessment time, if there's things you need to maybe fix or prune at that time, do that in the spring or fall when it's not hurricane season. So it's too late. And also, you know, think about all of that debris. It might not be picked up before the storm anyway.

And so you definitely don't want to have big piles of branches piled at the end of the driveway when a storm is approaching. If you do any small pruning at all, just, you know, general maintenance, really make sure you're checking with your local waste management if there's going to be things to pick up prior to a storm. So really in the landscape, you know, a storm is approaching and the nice thing about that is, you know, they do give us lots of warning for a hurricane. So during that time, maybe refrain from creating any extra yard waste that you might be putting at the curb. If some pruning is needed, always look for a certified arborist. If you go to treesaregood.org, you'll be able to find a list of certified arborists in your area.

They could meet with you during your assessment and go through the trees that you have and make suggestions on proper care so that they are stronger when the next storm comes. And so I would consider connecting with a certified arborist, if you have trees that, you're really worried about or you know, could have structural issues.

JULIE
And so yeah, Anne, arborists are actually trained to evaluate trees health and safety. And many of them actually have tree risk assessment qualification. And so they can actually assess your trees to see if there is any major risk that you should know about. So don't be hesitant to reach out to them, but definitely plan to speak with them. And don't be afraid to get multiple recommendations as well.

ANNE
Yeah, and Julie, as you're looking for a tree service at any time, the 'trees are good' website is a place you can go to check the qualifications of any company or arborist that either you've seen their advertisements or you've contacted. You can check their qualifications. And then always, always make sure that anyone doing any tree work in your yard is licensed and insured as well, because those are some risky moves they have to make sometimes when they're pruning those big trees.

So as you address pruning with the trees in your landscape at the appropriate time of year, again, not before a storm approaches, it is really important that you and the person doing the pruning is aware of some of the practices that are not recommended. And even if you're not doing the pruning yourself, that general knowledge of these things that we're going to discuss is really important so that you can say, no, I don't I don't want that done to my tree.

And so the first one that's so common is what's called lion s tailing. So with lion s tailing, that's where they remove most or much of the interior foliage of the tree. And all that's left is the foliage at the ends. So it looks like a lion's tail. It's often sold to customers as a way for wind to go through a tree during high winds, but that's not actually the case.

It actually makes the tree a lot more prone to breakage and weakens the overall structure because now all of the weight is at the ends of all of the branches. So if you have a tree pruned that way in the past, you definitely can help it recover. That, again, is something that a certified arborist can help you through.

And I would suggest that you try to get that done, particularly large trees in your landscape. The next one is thinning. Now trees can be thinned, but it needs to be done appropriately. We have some great resources to show you what that would look like in our show notes. So overly thin trees can affect the structure and health of a tree, which is again important during hurricane season.

And those have many lower and interior branches removed. So you can see a trend here. Taking off more to allow wind to go through is is not something that we want to be doing. The next thing is called topping, which is exactly what it sounds like. And that's reducing the size of the tree by just cutting off the top of branches or like the tip ends of branches. And we don't want that to ever be a way that you prune trees. And it definitely doesn't help with wind resistance either. And then if you have a tree with two central leaders instead of one, that is actually a weaker structure for the tree. And so trees perform best if they have one central leader, and that's one main branch going from the base of the tree all the way up to the top.

And you can certainly help a tree recover that has more than one central leader. It can be properly pruned to develop into one. Again, not this time of year. We're going to be looking at these things during our assessment and maybe making those pruning changes early spring to winter time instead of right before or during hurricane season.

JULIE
Yeah Anne, and those types of pruning practices are best done when the trees are younger as well. And so we have a great resource on proper pruning from planting through several years of growth. And so that has recommendations of what to prune and when. Now of course, if this is necessary to be done on larger mature trees, that can be done. But definitely make sure that you're hiring a certified arborist who knows how to properly prune those trees to minimize damage and stress to those trees.

ANNE
Yeah, Julie, I think that kind of goes to the point of when you plant a small tree, pruning it yourself can be done because it's smaller and pruning it properly, following those instructions. Those instructions are great because they kind of almost have step by step photos, pictures as you go through. If you can kind of help that tree along yourself the first couple of years, you can avoid some of these maybe more costly or even more extensive pruning practices that are done later on in the tree's life. So starting out that pruning from the beginning is super important. 

And then lastly, any trees that have clusters of branches. So maybe from over pruning, that's a lot of branches growing from one central point or suckers, things like that that kind of come from the base of the plant. Those are just going to be weaker branches because there's a lot of them coming from one central point. And so we don't want to encourage those. And those can be again remedied and removed at another time of year. 

So that's a lot on pruning trees. I mean, I think whenever we talk about pruning, we can talk for hours and hours and hours and still have more to talk about. But let's also talk about other plants in our landscape.  And that's palms. So Julie, talk about palms and pruning and and hurricane resistance.

JULIE
Yeah Anne. There seems to be quite a misconception when it comes to palms and hurricane season and pruning. And so again, proper plant selection, right plant right place and proper pruning are the key to withstanding these high winds, whether it's a hurricane or even a strong summer storm. And so, again, as I mentioned, over pruning actually leads to a weaker structure, less ability to weather the storm specifically with these palms.

So the key with palms is if it's green, there's no need to prune it. Those fronds are healthy. They're better able to withstand the storm, and they're not going to fly off in the middle of a storm. Over pruning the palms actually leads to more stress, could lead to pest problems. And so we want to avoid those by properly pruning.

And so with palm trees we only want to prune off the completely dead fronds. Those fronds that have turned completely brown. Now one rule of thumb is if you do need to have periodic pruning, you don't want to prune anything above the horizon like on a clock from 3 to 9. You want to keep those fronds. Palms really should have a 360 degree canopy of healthy fronds, but often due to nutrient deficiencies and other problems, they may not.

And so  try to avoid pruning anything green. And of course, keep those fronds above the 3 to 9 horizon. So Anne, a few years ago, actually, after one of the hurricanes, I was driving near a business that had lots of palm trees lining the business. And immediately after the storm, the only fronds on the ground were the completely brown fronds, no green fronds fell off of those palms.

And so again, we have research to back up that these palms are going to be a lot healthier when we leave as many green fronds on as possible. Now, if we're talking about transplanting palms, that's a different story. But for the health of palms and right before a hurricane, anyone who recommends hurricane pruning, that's not a proper recommendation. That's not going to benefit you or your tree. 

Some things to remember about trees and palms is any construction activities within 20 ft of the trunk of existing trees can actually cause the trees to blow over almost a decade later. So while you might not realize something that long ago affected the tree, it absolutely can. So it's important to create barriers and protect those trees when possible.

Also think about root defects, things like girdling can actually cause trees to fall over, so keep those root defects at bay by properly mulching and not piling mulch against the base of the tree. Inspecting those roots at planting is also important as well. And thinking back to pruning, large pruning cuts can actually cause decay or cracks and lead to breakage and limb failure.

So we want to make sure that we're making proper pruning cuts. And so again you're dealing with really large trees. It's important that you have an expert, a professional, a certified arborist there to assess that tree and make the proper and necessary cuts. And a couple more things to remember about trees is that trees in large groups blow over less frequently than single or solitary trees, and neighborhoods with more tree coverage actually have less damage.

And so, again, while we might think, oh, I need to clear out some of these trees, make an open area, trees actually do better when they're in groups and when they're healthy and properly pruned, so keep that in mind. So I hope with all of this talk about pruning and tree assessment, that you'll take away that healthy, properly planted right plant, right place trees and palms are actually very beneficial to our landscape, to our environment, to our homes.

And so remember, just because you have a tree doesn't mean it's going to be a problem. If you have any questions about your trees, always reach out to a certified arborist to assess the health of that tree. But ultimately, trees are very beneficial and so healthy, properly maintained, properly planted and pruned trees provide many benefits.

ANNE
Yeah, thanks for all that, Julie. I think people just panic about trees. And I think the main takeaways from talking about wind and trees, although we can talk about water and trees also, that tree issues can definitely be remedied by that proper start. And when we go through and do our assessment, taking care of those issues, broken branches, structural issues, all of that during our assessment time of year and not get into a panic.

I think, you know, the main point of doing this storm assessment prior to storm season is so that you don't go into storm season with a panic. You might already be worried about other things that you need to do. And I think that doing this assessment early spring will help alleviate issues that, you know, could be big problems in the landscape.

You could just say, you know what? I did my assessment. I feel good that my trees are healthy. I have a plan for what to move and I've anchored everything. And so kind of to just wrap up the assessment portion is again, readdressing those things that we talked about with wind and water. Making some notes on how to remedy, contacting your extension office if you just kind of need to throw some ideas at someone. Like, is this a good place for a rain garden to help with water during an influx of rain? Take a look at this tree plan for me. You know, will this work to improve the structure of my tree? You know the extension service is also there to help you and that is the point of the assessment.

And so all of those photos and your assessment, you know, you can do that every year, particularly if you make a lot of changes in your landscape. But you know, if not a lot is changing, a quick assessment every year shouldn't take too much time at all. But I think that initial assessment should. And all of those photos and notes will be so helpful to you.

As a storm has passed and we look to after the storm and recovery. And so we'll talk about recovery and what to do after the storm next. And so after a storm is passed, we want to remember not to go outside and be doing anything in the yard or landscape or anywhere until it's safe to do so. But at that point, you can walk back through your landscape with your pre-storm assessment.

You can look for damaged plants. Can you clean those up safely now? Are there things on your assessment that you can address that you made note of before? We always want to remember as we start walking through our landscape to check for downed utility lines. Don't go near. Do not prune, remove plant material covering them. Those are definitely hazardous things that we want to stay away from.

And then if you do go in to using any landscape equipment like chainsaws, make sure you're properly trained and wearing proper personal protective equipment so that we don't have other issues after the storm. If you did stake or brace any trees or structures that were just kind of during the storm bracing, you can go and remove those at this time.

Again, all those structures that you braced prior to the storm should always be there, but obviously extra bracing could have happened before a storm occurred. Any damaged plants can be removed. You can pick up debris and certainly prune anything that was broken, broken limbs at this time. Any landscape items that were moved to a secure location, you know those can go back outside if you have your reference photos.

That should make it pretty easy to know where all your container plants and statuary and everything goes. You definitely want to go through and dump any standing water to reduce mosquito breeding areas. Those definitely seem to pop up after storms because of the extensive amount of water that's sitting around. So anything that could hold water, walk back through and make sure those are dumped, and then just go back through your assessment and see if there's anything you missed, anything that you maybe would like to make note of for next hurricane season that you forgot to address. That can certainly happen, and certainly reference all of your photos that you took, particularly if you need them for insurance or anything else as well.

JULIE
Yeah Anne, through that assessment, you might be looking at some of your trees and maybe you have some damage to your trees. So what do you do? Well, you want to think about and assess how bad is the damage. And is it to the point that the tree actually needs to be removed? What might you consider? Well, if you have a large tree that has large roots that were damaged or the tree's been overturned or uprooted, you might consider removing that tree.

Also, is the tree leaning? You know have those tree roots assessed by a certified arborist to decide what should be done with that tree, especially depending on the size of that tree. Those really large shade trees in the landscape often may have had defects, may have had other issues. And so this storm was just the final push over the edge for them.

You know, maybe your tree was defoliated due to winds in the storm. It should actually survive, so that may not need to be removed. Always give the tree time if that's an issue. You can always wait for regrowth as a way to decide before just removing the tree to know if it's surviving and going to thrive later on.

Also remember that sometimes storm damage can actually be slow, and it might take months to years later to actually be realized to know what happened, or that it was caused by something 1 to 2 years ago, even a few months ago. And so maybe it's an incident with shrubs or trees that dealt with flooding in a storm. Those roots were underwater for a really long time.

That could have been very stressful for that tree if it's not a species that survives those conditions. And so reaction might be delayed on that tree. And so the tree could decline several months to years later. So always keep that in mind. Salt water can also be an issue. So make sure you know your plants and know their tolerance to salt. If you live in a coastal area, storm surge might be an issue for many reasons and thinking about the landscape, some plants could be affected by that storm surge.

ANNE
Yeah Julie, and I think the really difficult part with realizing the damage to trees and shrubs is that oftentimes it can happen a long time later. It can be the following year. And you go, what happened to my tree? Why is it dying? It just some of these things present a long time later and it's really hard to remember.

So you just kind of keep that in the back of your mind that, oh, you know, the shrubs in the front of my house sat under water for a week. And, you know, they might not make it, but letting them try to recover is always good before you just rush to pull them out. And even those defoliated trees can take a really long time to see leaves regrow and have the tree look full again.

So just be patient with those trees and shrubs recovering. So what about damage to palms? If there are any hanging fronds, you can leave those until they turn totally brown. Remember, the palms are using those green fronds as long as they hang on for nutrients. So we don't want to remove anything unless necessary. If the palm itself has snapped or broken, it will have to be removed because they don't have a way to regrow or recover from that.

And then if it's severely leaning, it should be removed as well. Now, if it was newly planted or smaller, something that's leaning slightly could be restaked, but again, that could be assessed by an arborist or professional that could help you with that.

JULIE
Anne, I want to mention just a little bit about staking. We've kind of talked about leaning trees, and some people might be inclined to kind of stake those trees. One thing I do want to mention, if you do any staking to a tree, we want to keep that staking for no more than one year. At that point, the roots should have regrown, and we want to allow that tree to learn how to weather those storms.

So that's one thing people forget, both at planting and after storm recovery, is that staking shouldn't really stay there unless it's a very special circumstance. But more often than not, if it was for a leaning tree, that staking material should be removed from the tree within one year.

ANNE
Yeah, thanks for mentioning that. I think it's real easy to baby the tree along for a really long time, and then you have issues with the stake affecting the growth of the trees. So that is really important. So we talked a lot about a storm assessment, what to look for, issues with wind and water, how to care for trees and palms way before a storm even is on the horizon.

And then we did talk about what to do after a storm as well. That assessment should be very helpful to all aspects of dealing with landscape issues before and after a storm. But what happens if your landscape totally changed as a result of storm damage? Did you lose 3 or 4 large trees? Do you need to redesign portions of your yard?

If that is the case, be really smart and make the changes following the Florida-Friendly Landscaping principles and plant with future storms in mind. You know now's your chance to replant tall trees, large trees away from your home in small groupings of 3 to 4, and properly pruning it from planting so that as it grows, it is more structurally sound.

Any of your trees that were damaged look to those wind resistant species, the high wind resistant species that we mentioned earlier in the podcast episode. Select plants from those lists that we can provide to you in our show notes. And if a lot of large shade trees were lost in your storm, you may now have a full sun yard and have a whole new landscape to deal with.

Whether it's deciding to replant trees or not, that's certainly something that you can get assistance with through your extension office. We can provide you lots of lists of plant material. There is a nice Florida-Friendly Landscaping design guide that you may be able to access through your extension service as well, and many of the workshops and classes that are offered through extension can help you select plants or replacement at any time of year.

And so, Julie, what is the take away from today's podcast episode? We really talked about lots of different things in the landscape.

JULIE
Yeah Anne, so wrapping up, let's take a look at this episode's garden checklist. Do a pre-storm assessment of your yard. Gather the supplies mentioned earlier, such as a pen, notebook and camera, and take the time to walk around your yard. Remember to add Pre-Storm assessments to your hurricane prep checklist each year.

ANNE
For more information on hurricane preparation in the landscape, information and workshops available, contact your local UF/IFAS Extension service. Many have plant clinics that can further assist you. All resources for this episode are listed in the show notes.

Thanks for listening to Your Central Florida Yard. We hope this episode has provided you with valuable insights and tips for your gardening journey in this unique part of the state. Your Central Florida Yard is produced by Anne Yasalonis and Julie Schelb. If you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, find our contact information in the show notes.

This podcast is brought to you by the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, an equal opportunity institution. Thank you for listening and as always, happy gardening.

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Transcribed by: J. Bayer-Fermier - 10/05/24
Proofed by: Lynn Hice - 10/23/24

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