Recovery starts with a safety check, clean cuts on broken and hanging branches, righting and bracing small tipped trees, and deep watering. Split trunks, major root damage, and limbs near power lines are left to a certified arborist or the utility company.

Why do trees need help after a hurricane?

Because a storm strips leaves, tears roots, and opens wounds where decay can start. Flooded or salt soaked soil adds to the stress.

Which damaged trees can be saved?

A tree with no cracks or large wounds in its trunk, main limbs, or main roots can usually be restored, even after losing every leaf, according to University of Florida IFAS. Live oak recovers well, laurel oak often hides internal decay, and a pine with all brown needles is dead.

How are damaged branches handled?

With clean cuts just outside the branch collar, the swollen ring where a branch meets the trunk, and no topping of the crown. Right after the storm only hazards and dead stubs come off, and a lopsided tree stays unbalanced rather than losing live canopy. Broken limbs high in a tree can be cut from the ground with the TreeHelp Rope Saw, its 48 inch chain blade pulled back and forth by rope.

How is a stressed tree helped to recover?

With water, mulch, and patience with feeding. UF IFAS advises no fertilizer for one year on a tree that was stood back up, and none for a palm until new leaves appear. For a standing tree with intact roots, working TreeHelp Therapeutic Tree Fertilizer into the drained root zone supplies high potassium and phosphorus for new roots.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a tipped over tree be stood back up?

Often, if the trunk is under about 4 inches across. University of Florida IFAS notes that larger righted trees tend to blow down again.

Should palms with broken fronds be trimmed?

Only dead fronds and broken fronds hanging over the bud. Bent green fronds still feed the palm, and the bud is judged after at least six months.

How much water does a righted tree need?

About 2 to 3 gallons per inch of trunk diameter, roughly three times a week, according to University of Florida IFAS.

When can a leafless broadleaf tree be judged?

In spring. UF IFAS advises waiting for new growth before deciding a stripped broadleaf tree is dead.

How long does recovery take?

Two to five years of restoration pruning for most trees, per University of Florida IFAS, and two years or more for a palm to regrow a full crown.