Seasonal Guide
Most storm damage we clean up was preventable. Here's what actually protects your trees — and your roof — before the Gulf starts spinning.
When a tropical system comes through the RGV, trees don't fail randomly. The same problems show up in yard after yard: canopy so dense it catches wind like a sail, deadwood that snaps and becomes airborne, overextended limbs hanging over roofs, palms carrying two years of dead fronds, and root systems shallowed out by lawn irrigation sitting in soil that's already saturated by the time the wind arrives. Every one of those is fixable in advance.
Hurricane season starts June 1, and the serious RGV threat window runs roughly August through early October. The time to prep trees is April and May: late enough that spring growth is in and you can see what the canopy really looks like, early enough that crews aren't yet slammed. Wait until a storm is named in the Gulf and you're competing with the whole Valley for the same crews — most of whom won't be able to get to you in time.
Don't top trees — cutting the whole crown back to stubs creates weak regrowth that fails worse in the next storm, and it can ruin the tree permanently. Don't "hurricane cut" palms down to a few upright fronds; palms need a full green crown, and stripping them stresses the tree without making it safer. And don't work anywhere near a power line yourself — that's how the worst DIY accidents happen. See our tree trimming and tree shaping pages for how this work should be done.
Once the wind stops: stay away from anything touching a power line and report it to the utility first. Don't walk under hanging limbs — "widow-makers" drop without warning for days after a storm. Photograph damage before any cleanup if you'll file an insurance claim. Then call us — we prioritize emergency removals, and the earlier you're in the queue after a storm, the sooner we get there.
April and May. Spring growth is in so we can see the real canopy, crews aren't yet slammed, and the work is done before the June 1 season start. Waiting until a storm is named means competing with the whole Valley for the same crews.
Yes, substantially. Thinning dense canopy reduces the wind load a tree catches, removing deadwood eliminates the most common airborne debris, and shortening overextended limbs takes the biggest levers off your roof. Most of the storm damage we clean up traces back to trees that hadn't been touched in years.
No. The "hurricane cut" — stripping a palm to a few upright fronds — stresses the tree and doesn't make it safer. What matters is removing the dead fronds and seed pods, which do become projectiles. A clean palm with a full green crown handles hurricanes very well.
Keep people away from it and call us — a tree that has partially uprooted rarely re-anchors, and it usually needs to come down in a controlled way before it falls on its own. If it's tangled in power lines, call the utility first.