Protect Your
Home- Plant Palm Trees Instead of Hardwoods
Florida's
Hurricanes
If you look at the
trees that blow over during a hurricane, they are typically hardwoods (ie.
Oaks, Olives, Pines, Cypress, etc.). These types of trees have a
large head of leaves and a wide but shallow root system.
Additionally, their branches tend to snap off and cause damage, even if
the entire tree does not blow over. Palm trees, on the other hand,
are single-trunked trees (called monocots) that create a narrow, deep
root system to anchor themselves down. This is ideal for holding
up to strong winds, even up to 100 mph. In fact, there is a palm
called a Hurricane Palm (Dictyosperma album)
which comes from the Reunion Islands in the Indian Ocean. This
palm gets its name because it holds up especially well to
hurricane-force winds, often without even losing many fronds.
Other palms, such as Royals (Roystonea regia)
and Coconuts (Cocos nucifera)
also have a very good track record with
regard to wind resistance, even when they grow to heights exceeding 50
feet! In additional to this wind-resistance, palm trees are very
resilient (able to recover quickly) even when they lose all of their
leaves. This is thanks to a central growth point at the top of
them stem which is fairly protected from the elements. As long as
this growth point remains in tact, new leaves should emerge from what
otherwise appears to be a dead "stick" in the ground.
This Queen Palm (Syagrus coronata) lost all of its fronds You can see healthy new growth
during Hurricane Charlie in South Florida.
emerging from the growth point only
a few months later.
Palms in Other States
Florida is not the
only state that has a warm enough climate to grow palms. Many
beautiful palms can be grown in
California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and the
Carolinas. From California wildfires to Louisiana
flooding to Florida hurricanes, palms cause the least amount of damage,
cost the least to maintain, and provide the most beautiful colors.
In general, palm trees have many benefits over
hardwoods:
1) The roots don't dig
up concrete or pavement
2) They require less
trimming and some are self-cleaning
3) They are perennials
(keep their green leaves year-round)
4) Resistant to strong
winds
5) Usually grow back
after a fire
6) Clumping species
provide a good windbreak or privacy wall
7) Drop entire dead
fronds a few times a year instead of thousands of small leaves at a time
8) Have beautifully
colored trunks, necks, fronds, new emergent leaves, flowering bracts,
fruit
 
This Flame Thrower Palm (Chambeyronia
macrocarpa) on the left has a red
emergent leaf, while the Lipstick Palm
(Cyrtostachys renda) on the
right has grown exceptionally bright red stems.
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