As you all know we are heading into hurricane season. I am sure most of you have started preparing yourselves and your home for hurricane protection during the coming season.
Now it is time to protect your first line of defense, your trees, against those high winds. Your trees will protect you if you take care of them against the winds of a hurricane. Our trees need to be strong and stable. As far as your palms are concerned, they need to be fertilized now and they need to be watered right after you fertilize them. This will strengthen your palms. Hardwoods do not need to be fertilized, they make their own. You may fertilize palms any time of the year, unlike your lawns. July first is the last time you may fertilize lawns until after hurricane season. Always fertilize when the ground is moist. The same is true for flowers and bushes.
Hardwoods need to be trimmed prior to hurricanes. The canopy needs to be thinned out to reduce wind resistance which prevents a tree from toppling. Other weak or dead branches need to be removed so they do not become projectiles during a storm. You will need assistance from your lawn care provider or an arborist to do the trimming. Palms need to be trimmed also. Seed pods need to be removed, the fronds that are dying need to be removed. When it looks good, it probably is healthy with green and fronds gently moving in the breeze. Now it is time to quit trimming. It is not good to over trim a tree.
You can give your tree a good soaking which helps it to anchor itself.
The Common Grounds Committee hopes all of you have a safe and uneventful hurricane season.
Pat Smoyer, Co-chair of Common Grounds
