Living in beautiful Florida means your property has a real chance of feeling a hurricane’s impact in any given year, especially in coastal South Florida, the Keys, Jacksonville, and the Panhandle.
Making your yard a safe zone is one of the best ways to protect your home. With tips from a Florida Extension agent, here are 11 hurricane-resistant landscaping ideas for your Florida yard to reduce the risk of fallen trees, flooding lawns, and flying gravel.
Getting it right takes smart plant choices, careful placement, and regular upkeep. A LawnStarter landscaping or tree care pro can take the heavy lifting off your plate.
| Key Takeaways |
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| • Choose deep-rooted, wind-resistant trees like live oak and sabal palm, and avoid brittle species like laurel oak and queen palm. • Plant trees in groups, keep them well away from your home and power lines, and prune them before hurricane season. • Control storm water with good drainage, soft mulch, heavy hardscapes, and open fences that let wind pass through. |
- 1. Replace Hazardous Trees with Wind-Resistant Options
- 2. Plant Trees in Groups
- 3. Don’t Place Trees Too Close to the House or Power Lines
- 4. Leave Space for Roots and Be Careful With Overwatering
- 5. Determine Your Trees’ Health and Prune Them
- 6. Choose Salt-Tolerant Plants
- 7. Build a Retaining Wall
- 8. Use Only Soft Mulch Materials
- 9. Choose Heavy Hardscapes
- 10. Improve Drainage and Reduce Runoff
- 11. Install Sturdy, Heavy Fences
- FAQs
1. Replace Hazardous Trees with Wind-Resistant Options
The most hurricane-resistant trees for Florida are deep-rooted, dense-wooded species like live oak, sand live oak, southern magnolia, gumbo limbo, and bald cypress. In a hurricane-prone state, wind resistance matters as much as looks.
Trees that resist high winds have deep and wide root systems that make them harder to pull out of the ground. They also tend to have denser, more flexible wood. Live oak is a good example, with strong wood that bends in the wind instead of snapping.
“The first principle of Florida-Friendly Landscaping is Right Plant, Right Place,” says Amanda Marek, Extension agent at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) in Marion County.
“Having plants, particularly trees, planted a safe distance away and selecting the right tree species that are more wind-resistant and best suited for our climate (…) are all recommended practices to help reduce hurricane damage to a home and yard,” she says.
Here’s a list of trees to look for and species to avoid in the Sunshine State:
| Wind-Resistant Trees to Choose | Trees With Low Wind Resistance to Avoid |
| Sand live oak American holly Wax myrtle Southern magnolia Sweetgum Crape myrtle Live oak Bald cypress Gumbo limbo | Sand pine Pecan Laurel oak Water oak Queen palm Australian pine Melaleuca Weeping banyan |
If you’re planning to add some palm trees, choose Sabal palms, Canary Island date palms, and Manila palms.
See Related: 16 Best Wind-Resistant Trees
2. Plant Trees in Groups
A University of Florida study found that trees planted in groups had about a 10% survival advantage over individual trees in hurricane-force winds. By group, researchers mean 5 or more trees within 10 feet of each other, but not in a row.
Planting in a row also works, but with less resistance than grouped trees. For a stronger wind barrier, use 2 or more rows of trees or hedges.
3. Don’t Place Trees Too Close to the House or Power Lines
“A very common mistake is planting trees, particularly less wind-resistant trees like water oaks, too close to the house,” Marek says. “UF/IFAS recommends that trees should be planted no less than 15 feet from foundations, and greater distances are recommended for larger trees like hickories and oaks.”
Trees too close to power lines are also dangerous. They can cause outages and are a fire hazard, since sparks can light dry branches. When planning a new design, consider where trees might fall, especially giant shade trees.
Already have a tree dangerously close to the house? Call a professional to trim or remove it. Expect a tree trimming cost of about $430 to $640 for a risky tree. A typical tree removal cost runs about $385 to $1,070, depending on size and location.
See Related: 9 Best Shade Trees for Your Tampa, FL Yard
4. Leave Space for Roots and Be Careful With Overwatering
Trees are most stable when their roots spread as wide or wider than the canopy and go deep. Plant them a proper distance from each other and from sidewalks, driveways, and other obstacles.
It’s also essential to protect tree roots when installing:
Irrigation systems
Ponds
Deep flower beds
Mark an area of about 5 times the trunk diameter around the tree, and avoid digging deep in that zone. University of Florida guidance also recommends planting sites with at least 3 feet of soil depth so roots can anchor firmly.
Moreover, be careful not to overwater your trees. “Overwatered plants usually have shallower root systems and are also more susceptible to root rot, both of which can increase the likelihood that a tree or other landscape plants become uprooted during a hurricane,” Marek says.
5. Determine Your Trees’ Health and Prune Them
“I’d say one of the most important things for homeowners is to determine the health of trees that are in their landscape before a hurricane is expected,” Marek says.
After that, she recommends having a certified arborist inspect and possibly prune any trees that are near their house. To find an ISA-certified arborist, “We encourage homeowners to visit the Trees are Good website,” Marek says.
Proper structural pruning gives trees a much better chance of surviving a hurricane by improving their form and removing weak growth. Professional tree trimmers recommend:
Keeping the canopies raised and thinned out a little.
Removing branches with weak spots, cracks, rot, fungus, or other signs of decay.
Reducing the length of branches competing with the main trunk.
One important note: If your tree’s diameter at breast height is 24 inches or greater, or you want to prune a tree in the city right-of-way, you’ll need a permit in some cities.
6. Choose Salt-Tolerant Plants
“Floridians that live on or near the coast oftentimes have to deal with storm surges of saltwater that can severely damage a landscape that doesn’t have saltwater-tolerant plant species,” Marek says.
You need plants that thrive in a salty environment. The best choices are Florida native plants that tolerate salt spray, such as:
Giant leather fern (Acrostichum danaeifolium)
Sea-purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum)
Sweet acacia (Vachellia farnesiana)
Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus)
Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera)
Laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia)
Fakahatchee grass (Tripsacum dactyloides)
Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
For more guidance on the right plants for your yard, check with your local county Extension Office.
7. Build a Retaining Wall
Retaining walls are robust concrete or rock barriers that keep flood water under control. Use them to protect your home’s entrance and plants vulnerable to standing water, and to direct rainfall toward storm drains.
You’ll want a landscape architect for this part of your design. They can evaluate drainage and slopes so the water flows in the direction you want.
See Related: 7 Benefits of Adding Retaining Walls to Your Lawn
8. Use Only Soft Mulch Materials
Proper mulching protects Florida’s sandy soil from runoff and keeps nutrients where plants can use them. But not all mulch is safe: In strong hurricane winds, pea gravel and stones become projectiles that break windows and hurt people and pets.
Instead, choose soft mulch materials, such as:
Pine bark: A rich brown mulch sold in ground form or nuggets.
Pine straw: Knits together and resists washing away.
Fallen leaves: Free from your own property.
Melaleuca mulch: A long-lasting, grey-brown option.
Mixed hardwood: Made from scrap lumber and recycled pallets.
Eucalyptus mulch: Affordable and sourced from Florida trees.
Utility mulch: Chips from tree trimmings (may contain seeds).
Cypress mulch: Long-lasting yellowish chips.
Pine, melaleuca, and cypress mulch can lower pH, so check with a landscaper first. You can also use grass clippings left after lawn mowing as free, nitrogen-rich mulch.
9. Choose Heavy Hardscapes
Hurricane prep is more than trees and plants. Every object in sight should be secured or heavy enough to sit tight in high winds. Choose sturdy stone, iron, or steel hardscapes, and anchor pieces you won’t move with concrete.
A natural wind barrier also helps limit wind speed. For small, light objects, when strong winds are coming:
Stack them and weigh them down with sandbags (for chairs, for example).
Secure them with bungee cords.
Turn them on their side or upside down (for pots and tables).
Bring them indoors.
10. Improve Drainage and Reduce Runoff
You can’t stop the rain, but you can keep it from washing off topsoil or pooling in the wrong spots. Here are tips to improve yard drainage:
Design a shallow rain garden.
Fill low spots with topsoil and level the surface.
Regrade the yard (the Florida-Friendly Landscaping program recommends berms and swales to slow runoff).
Aerate and dethatch to improve absorption.
Replace impervious surfaces with porous ones, like pavers or a plastic grid.
Keep gutters, downspouts, and storm drains clean and clear.
Cut the grass regularly. Good lawn care keeps grass healthy and improves absorption.
11. Install Sturdy, Heavy Fences
Chain-link is the best hurricane-proof fence because wind passes through it effortlessly. It’s also among the cheapest options, since a chain-link fence price is one of the lowest of any material.
Slat models and vinyl fences with spaced slats also let wind through, and metal models (aluminum, steel, and wrought iron) are sturdy and resilient. Think twice about wood: it looks solid but can be crushed by debris and weakens over time from moisture.
FAQs
Once a storm is on the way, protect your yard fast:
• Turn off pool equipment, cover it, and weigh it down with sandbags.
• Bring in the grill, but leave the propane tank outside and secure it.
• Turn tables upside down, stack chairs, and weigh them down.
• Bring small, light items inside.
• Clean gutters, downspouts, and storm drains.
• Remove dead trees, shrubs, and broken branches.
Plant well before hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30, so trees can establish roots. Early summer, once regular rains begin, is ideal because young trees need less watering. Give new trees a full growing season to anchor before facing storm winds.
“For homeowners that have wells or septic systems, it’s advisable to have your well protected from potential tree debris or flying objects, and to not install septic systems or wells in areas prone to flooding,” Marek says.
Hurricane-Proof Your Florida Yard Today
Living in a hurricane-prone area means you can’t leave anything to chance. Wind-resistant trees, better drainage, retaining walls, soft mulch, and heavy hardscapes are all essential. Need help figuring out where to start?
Connect with an experienced LawnStarter landscaping pro near you and hurricane-proof your yard today. Or search for a lawn care service in your city using our local pages for Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg.
Main Image: Hurricane Irma batters a Florida neighborhood along Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Photo Credit: Satoshi Kina / Adobe Stock
