To Prune or Not to Prune - Protecting Palms and Property during Hurricane Season

With the longest day of the year is behind us, children enjoying the beaches for hours on end, and crawfish season in full swing, the most dreaded week of the hurricane season is imminent.  Officially starting the first of June, the hurricane activity in the Atlantic statistically peaks during the first two weeks of September with the week of September 10th historically experiencing more tropical storm and hurricane activity than any week during the year. Preparing your property early saves you from decisions and actions that could potentially set your landscape and your wallet back significantly.

During the weeks leading up to the peak of the hurricane season, coconut and other

Over-pruned cabbage palm in New Providence.

statuesque palms may take on a new look - the ‘pineapple cut’ as some horticulturists call it.  Well-meaning homeowners unnecessarily shell out hundreds of dollars to have towering palms pruned of several fronds with the intention of preventing damage to their homes during a storm.  

Palm ‘trees’ though they are called, are not trees at all.  Unlike trees whose rigid trunks are  made of wood, palms are more closely related to grasses with trunks that are composed of cable-like fibres.  The structural fibers confer flexibility, allowing them to bend rather than break in hurricane-force winds.  The unnecessary practice of over-pruning or ‘hurricane pruning’ is actually quite destructive to palms.  When healthy, green or partially green fronds are removed prematurely, that is before they would be naturally shed, the palm is deprived of its nutrients. Healthy palms  extract all of the nutrients from the oldest fronds and reallocate them to the growing point or ‘heart’ of the palm.  At this point, the spent fronds turn completely brown and dry before they are naturally shed. 

Over-pruned coconut palms in New Providence.

When over-pruning occurs too often and too many leaves are removed at a time, the ‘heart’ slowly starves, and develops a constriction in the trunk just below the crown.  This constriction, called ‘pencil-pointing’ is structurally weak and is highly susceptible to snapping during hurricane force winds.  Once the crown is lost, the palm will die and will need to be removed or replaced.

So, what should one do to protect structures that are surrounded by palms?  The only pruning that is necessary and not harmful to palms is the removal of completely brown, dead or damaged fronds.  Fruiting or flowering inflorescences may also be removed without causing harm to the palm.  A simple guideline to follow to avoid over-pruning is to only remove fronds that fall below the horizontal plane of the crown.  If you imagine the palm crown as a clock face, only remove fronds that fall below the 9 and 3 o'clock positions.  This ensures that there are sufficient leaves feeding the ‘heart’, keeping the crown structurally sound.

Save yourself the time and money and make sure your palms continue to grow healthily by not over-pruning.