Stop the hurricane cut on palm trees

Trimming weak or diseased trees before hurricane season is a good idea to prevent large trees from causing harm to buildings or people -- but only if they are done correctly.

The popularity of the hurricane cut on palm trees is unnecessary and actually hurts the tree.

In fact, just look at these pictures of palms that held up better in Hurricane Wilma. It wasn’t those hurricane cut trees.

Some palms need little to no trimming and hold up much better in storms, as was the case in Hurricane Wilma.

Only trim the canopy outline to the 9 to 3 o’clock position. This removes only the dead or obviously-going-to-die fronds and the fruit and fruit stalks approach.

It is preferable not to remove live, healthy fronds. A regular turnover of foliage occurs as dying lower fronds are replaced by new ones at the apex. These dead fronds are not detrimental to the health of the tree.