Tree care in Cape Coral
In Cape Coral, tree care is storm preparation. A healthy, well-pruned tree is far less likely to end up on a roof, a car or a power line when a hurricane comes through.
The 2022 storm
Hurricane Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa on September 28, 2022 with estimated maximum winds of about 150 mph, hours after peaking as a category 5 hurricane offshore. Oaks with heavy, unbalanced crowns, trees with decay at the base, and trees planted too close to houses are the ones that fail first in winds like that.
Getting ready each year
Have an arborist walk the property before the season starts. Ask them to look for dead wood, cracks, cavities, weak V-shaped forks and roots damaged by construction or trenching. Crown thinning and reduction let wind pass through a canopy instead of pushing against it. Removal is sometimes the only safe choice; a good arborist explains why and doesn't push removal of healthy trees.
Palms
Palms bend in wind, and many survive storms that topple broadleaf trees. Cutting off healthy green fronds, often sold as a hurricane cut, starves the palm and leaves a weak, pencil-thin top. Ask the company to remove only dead fronds, flower stalks and fruit, and to climb palms without spikes, which leave wounds that never heal.
Salt after surge
During Ian, the National Hurricane Center found maximum storm surge inundation of 6 to 9 feet above ground in Pine Island, Cape Coral and other communities near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee. Trees and shrubs that sat in salt water can look fine for weeks and then decline. Watering deeply with fresh water helps flush salt below the roots. Ask an arborist to judge which trees can recover and to suggest salt-tolerant species for replanting.
Heat and water
NOAA's engineering weather data for Fort Myers gives a 1% summer design temperature of 93°F. Newly planted trees need regular, deep watering through their first hot season; established trees usually don't. Ask the company how much to water new plantings and for how long.
After a storm
Stay away from downed lines and call the utility. For a tree on the house, call your insurer, then a tree company. Get a written price even in an emergency, and be cautious with crews that knock on doors and want full payment up front.
Before you hire
Ask for proof of liability and workers' compensation coverage, and a written estimate that lists each tree, the work, stump grinding and debris removal.