Short answer: do your pruning and yard projects between late winter and May, keep the yard storm-ready through the season, and stop major trimming once a storm warning is issued. This checklist pulls together UF/IFAS guidance and what Tampa Bay learned from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
When is hurricane season, and when does it peak?
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The climatological peak is September 10, and August through early October is the busiest stretch. Late storms still happen: Milton made landfall on October 9, 2024.
What should I do before June?
Use the calm months for the work that takes time and creates debris:
- Walk the canopy. Look for dead, cracked, rubbing or overhanging limbs, especially over the roof, the driveway and the service lines to the house.
- Book pruning for late winter through May. That leaves time for the debris to be picked up before storms. Good pruning follows ANSI A300 practice, and Hillsborough County advises removing less than 25% of the canopy at a time.
- Have large trees looked at about every two years, as UF/IFAS recommends. For protected or grand trees, we work with your arborist's report and the city or county permit.
- Clean palms the right way: only fully brown fronds and seed or fruit stalks come off.
- Swap loose rock near windows and doors for mulch. The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) warns that rock and gravel can become projectiles.
- Clear swales, yard drains and downspout outlets on your property so water has somewhere to go.
- Photograph your yard, trees and hardscape for insurance records.
What should I do when a storm is forecast?
- Stop major trimming. Once a storm warning is issued, curbside collection shuts down hours before tropical-storm winds arrive, and fresh piles can turn into projectiles.
- Don't put new branches at the curb.
- Bring in or tie down planters, décor, furniture and trash cans.
- Check drains and swales on your property one more time. Never push debris into public storm drains.
- Skip the fertilizer. Hillsborough County bans applying it during storm watches and warnings, and nitrogen and phosphorus are already off-limits there, in Tampa and in Pinellas from June 1 to September 30.
Is the “hurricane cut” good for palms?
No. Stripping a palm down to a few fronds weakens it. UF/IFAS says green and even yellowing fronds feed the palm by recycling potassium and magnesium, so only fully brown fronds and flower or fruit stalks should be removed. “Nothing above 9 and 3 o'clock” is an absolute limit, not a target, and unpruned palms fared better than over-pruned ones in the 2004 hurricanes.
Which trees stand up to storms?
UF/IFAS ranks common Florida trees by wind resistance (list revised August 2026):
- Highest resistance: live oak, sand live oak, southern magnolia, crape myrtle, podocarpus, hollies, and bald and pond cypress. Sabal palms also hold up well.
- Lowest resistance: laurel oak, water oak, sand pine, Chinese elm, pecan, Leyland cypress and Washington fan palm.
- Planting tips: trees planted in groups weather storms better than lone trees, and large trees need roughly 33 by 33 feet (10 by 10 meters) of root space.
If you're replacing trees after a storm, our landscape design work starts with the right tree in the right place.
What should I do after the storm?
Safety first
- Treat every downed line as live and report it to your utility. Only qualified line-clearance crews should work near power lines.
- Never connect a generator to your home's wiring without a proper transfer switch; backfeed can energize outside lines.
- Hanging limbs and trees under tension are dangerous. Leave them to professionals.
- In Hillsborough County, a tree that falls on private property and isn't blocking a road or power lines is the property owner's to remove.
How to sort debris for pickup
FEMA asks for six separate piles: vegetative debris, construction and demolition debris, appliances, electronics, household hazardous waste and normal household trash. Put piles at the curb, not in the road, and keep them clear of trees, poles, hydrants and meters; Tampa asks for 3 feet of clearance. Hillsborough crews pick up loose piles, not bagged debris. Debris cut by a hired contractor often isn't eligible for county pickup, so the contractor hauls it away. Check your city's rules.
Permits and fair pricing
Storm damage doesn't automatically waive tree permits. Florida's dangerous-tree law (F.S. 163.045) lets owners of single-family homes skip local permits only with signed documentation that the tree is an unacceptable risk. It has to come from your own ISA-certified arborist or a Florida-licensed landscape architect (Randoms doesn't provide these assessments). During a declared emergency, Florida's price-gouging law (F.S. 501.160) bars prices with a “gross disparity” from the previous 30 days. FEMA public assistance covers debris on public property; private removal depends on your insurance.
What did Helene and Milton teach Tampa Bay?
Helene (September 26–27, 2024) pushed a 7.18-foot storm surge into Tampa, the worst in about a century. Hillsborough and Pinellas together reported at least 419 homes destroyed and more than 18,500 structures with major damage. Less than two weeks later, Milton made landfall at Siesta Key as a Category 3 storm and dropped nearly 19 inches of rain on St. Petersburg, more than 5 inches of it in a single hour. Hillsborough expected about 5 million cubic yards of debris, and Pinellas finished its final pickup pass in unincorporated areas in mid-January 2025, about three months after Milton.
The takeaways for your yard:
- Prune early. UF/IFAS calls correct pruning “the most important part” of a tree's storm survival, and it can't be rushed in September.
- Loose items fly. Rock, décor and unsecured furniture become projectiles.
- Drains matter. Clear swales and yard drains before the rain, not during it.
- Private hauling is faster. County pickup can take months after a major storm, while a private crew can restore access and the yard sooner.
We handle pre-season hurricane preparation and tree trimming, and after a storm our crew takes on storm cleanup and stump grinding, with rapid response during business hours. Contact us to get on the schedule before next season.
