Officials urging homeowners to avoid giving trees the ‘hurricane haircut’ ahead of storm season

Collier County issued a warning to residents to manage their palm trees ahead of hurricane season.

Many neighbors in Regent Park do their own landscaping. Steve Watts—who caught a lucky break before Irma—noticed trees dangling too close to power lines in his backyard.

“I got my ladder out and cut those down. After the hurricane, most of that tree landed on those wires and it was almost down to the fence line,” Watts said.

Dealing with trees during storms is a part of life in SWFL. But if you’re over-pruning palm trees, Collier County says you’re doing it wrong.

“It’s a double edged sword. You want to protect yourself but also not have it be a damaging situation,” Watts said.

Tree experts say what you’re looking to avoid is what they call the “hurricane haircut.” It’s what happens when you cut the palm fronds too sparsely, leaving the trunks thin. Many people think this will save their homes during a strong storm, but it actually makes the trees themselves weaker.

“They need to be cut down because eventually they’re going to die,” said Fernando Demedeiros.

Demedeiros says he had many dead or nearly dying trees on his property before and after the hurricane. He had to remove them for the safety of his home.

“We hired someone to look at it and said no, it’s gonna die,” he said.

But experts say it doesn’t need to get to that point. The best thing you can do is manage their growth to keep the tree itself and your home protected.