Dicots with the Best Roots for Hurricane Resistance

[Alicehunter2000]

Ok....why do I want to know this? I have two tall Washingtonia's that were transplanted into my beach sand last year. One of them has developed a lean towards the north. I live in a hurricane prone area along the Gulf Coast. The strongest winds for the vast majority of hurricanes blows from south to the north, the direction the tree is already leaning. To make matters worse, there is a power pole on the North side. The trees are currently braced at the bottom in typical tripod manner.

I have stared at these trees every day trying to figure out what the best long term course of action should be. I have thought about strapping the two trees together for support. ....but probably not a good idea. The only long term solution that sounds like it might work is to plant a large deep rooted dicot at the base, to help anchor the tall palms down. That in conjunction with hurricane cutting the palms in question would probably suffice in resisting hurricane force winds. Any thoughts on what heavy strong rooted dicot would be appreciated.

[_Keith]

http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/RoyalsHurricanes.pdf

http://www.floridagardener.com/monthly/hurricaneresistanttrees.htm

Also, this book, which I happen to own.

http://www.amazon.com/Stormscaping-Florida-Gardening-Vol-3/dp/0971222029/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409107330&sr=1-7&keywords=hurricane+plants

[Alicehunter2000]

Read the first two articles. Guess my question is just a bit different. I would like to know what trees are not only wind resistant in ond of themselves. .....but would also have a root system that is massive and deep enough to pin down the rootball of a Washingtonia. I see that Magnolia is on the list of resistant trees.....I would imagine the actual weight of the tree would be beneficial when it gets larger.

[Alicehunter2000]

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/pubs/storm_damage/hurricane.html

Found this article.....it seams that bald and pond cypress have the roots I'm looking for. I might do a Montezuma Cypress instead as they are almost evergreen.

[DoomsDave]

David, check with some of the South Floridians to see how wind resistant Washies are. My experience is that once rooted in, they're very wind-resistant. While we don't get hurricanes out here (so far!) we get Santa Ana winds that can be almost as strong.

The idea of planting dicots/conifiers to act as a "net" is interesting. We will all be curious to see how that works out.

Whatever you do, you have all our best wishes. Palms falling on a house are a pain in the [rear].

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Of course Cypress are not dicots but I know what you mean. I think there are no trees stronger rooted and with a better structure to resist winds than a cypress (Taxodium). Otherwise, I think Live Oak is the next best bet for you. A nice Ficus would hold down your roots and palm trunk (if it could stand the cold) but what tree would hold down the Ficus? It failed more than any other tree in the hurricanes.

I would look at Washies as a quick growing, temporary palm. They are lightning magnets in regular storms and blow over or snap in half during hurricanes. Even if they survive, they are likely to be bending at some odd and/or dangerous angle after the storm.

[_Keith]

Queens are the most well known for going over easy. And my experience with Mules is they share some, but not all of that weakness. Now that is my experience, others on PT have stated that they have not seen that.. Other than that, I think palms are a pretty wind hardy bunch as the canopy tends to shed before the trunk gives way. I had not considered using another tree's root mass to help with stability of a nearby palm (or tree). It is an intriguing thought, but my mind is having a hard time with its effectiveness. Have you seen this referenced elsewhere? I'd love to know more about the feasibility.

[Alicehunter2000]

I guess the idea came in part from Ken. When I planted that big Sylvester/Canary hybrid, Ken wanted me to pile up a huge pile of sand around the base for hurricane protection. He mentioned that when the sand got wet it would be extremely heavy and thus stabilize the palm in high winds. Using that logic I figured that the weight of a large tree on the rootball would serve the same purpose. But then the thought occurred to me that not only the weight but also the holding power of deeply rooted tree would also help.

When researching trees that do well in hurricanes I came across the info that trees planted in groups do better than individual trees. I would imagine that it is in part due to the intermingling of roots and mutual support.

Jerry.....I guess I don't understand what a dicot is.....I was thinking it was any plant that was not a monocot (palms, grasses, bamboo ect.) ?

Maybe i should use that Ombu i got from you....its growing like crazy....here is a recent picture of it.....it was frozen to the ground this past winter

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

The ombu looks great! I was told by an Argentine that It is pronounced omBOO. I was saying it wrong.

The cypress is a gymnosperm, like pines and podocarps etc. Trees do better in groups during hurricanes because their roots intermingle but also their canopies give support and are mutual wind breaks. in nature, vines tie trees together too, especially at forest edges or other places where sun enters the canopy.

[Eric in Orlando]

After the 3 hurricanes that came through here in Aug./Sept. 2004 the tree that survived the best was Nageia nagi (formerly Podocarpus nagi). Being that it is native to the ryukyu Islands of Japan it is not suprising. They didn't even have leaves blown off. We have about a dozen mature specimens here and all were good. Same with others around town. The other trees that survived the best;

Bald Cypress- Taxodium distichum

Pond Cypress- Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium

Southern Live Oak- Quercus virginiana

Sand Live Oak- Quercus geminata

Southern Magnolia- Magnolia grandiflora

Camphor Tree- Cinnamomum camphora

Podocarpus Tree- Podocarpus macrophyllus

Toog Tree- Bischofia javanica

Banyan Tree- Ficus benghalensis

[Loxahatchee Adam]

In central Palm Beach County here (20 miles inland), the various oak trees we have here only had some branch damage from Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma, no tilt at all.

We have a number of pond cypress and those went essentially unscathed. We've had 2 blown up from lightning so far this summer though =/

The largest (3-5 ft diameter...multi-trunked) trees on the property are Bischofia javanica that were planted 30 years ago. None of the multi-trunked trees came down, but a number of them had their roots uplifted on the windward side by a foot or two. Several single-trunked ones did uproot significantly....probably 30-45 degrees from vertical and were cut down.

We have a few carrotwood, Cupaniopsis anacardioides, that haven't been cut down and replaced yet. These did very well also, though very invasive.

The black olive trees, Bucida buceras, here all did fine.

From what I've seen around, the multi-trunked ones fared much better. In my opinion, the desire to 'standard' every tree or plant that may naturally grow multi-trunked is one of the big problems with failure. Crepe myrtles, black olives, bishchofias. Doing so puts so much force all at one point. The multi-trunked trees tend to have larger bases that have flared and shot larger surface (stabilizing) roots out. If I go through my area here, I'd be hard pressed to find a single-trunk bischofia or black olive....most of them blew over or snapped. Plenty of multi though.

We have 8 or so large sycamore trees, Platanus occidentalis, ranging from 1.5 to 4 ft in diameter and all roughly 30 feet high. None of these even tilted the slightest. They only had small limb damage.

Going off what Eric said.. Banyans (and other aerial root ficus) also do extremely well if left to grow as they want with large aerial roots turning into new trunks. The mechanics of tilting over a tree with so much support pushing back up so far out is nearly impossible. Unfortunately, many of these are planted in settings where their natural propping mechanism is trimmed back leaving them vulnerable.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Banyans (and other aerial root ficus) also do extremely well if left to grow as they want with large aerial roots turning into new trunks. The mechanics of tilting over a tree with so much support pushing back up so far out is nearly impossible. Unfortunately, many of these are planted in settings where their natural propping mechanism is trimmed back leaving them vulnerable.

I agree. Let them grow their aerial roots or don't plant them.

[DoomsDave]

One way to see if a plant will take hurricanes is to see where they're from. If they're from a 'cane-free zone, they don't hold up well. One of the issues of "Palms" did not a survey on that very issue as to palms and found many to be lacking in that regard.

[WonderKeeper]

I came across this tree, Enterolobium Cyclocarpum Griseb. How's strong the wind would be in a hurricane to be able to knock this tree down?

[Tropicgardener]

I have planted Leichardt Trees (Nauclea orientalis)........ They are native to this local area and most of the rest of tropical Queensland and found into New Guinea and South East Asia. They are a gorgeous tree and appear to be very cyclone (hurricane) resistant.

[Palmaceae]

Not sure if it will grow there but what about the Strangler Fig, "Ficus aurea". Its a Florida native.

[Alicehunter2000]

I came across this tree, Enterolobium Cyclocarpum Griseb. How's strong the wind would be in a hurricane to be able to knock this tree down?

Whoa! ,,,,,that's wild looking.....elephant ear tree?

Eric....Nageia nagi is one I've planted nearby in front of (south of) the most likely prevailing hurricane winds....will hopefully help as a windbreak and hold down a nearby mule.

Strangler fig .....don't want to kill the tree, just protect it ...lol.

[Palmaceae]

I came across this tree, Enterolobium Cyclocarpum Griseb. How's strong the wind would be in a hurricane to be able to knock this tree down?

Whoa! ,,,,,that's wild looking.....elephant ear tree?

Eric....Nageia nagi is one I've planted nearby in front of (south of) the most likely prevailing hurricane winds....will hopefully help as a windbreak and hold down a nearby mule.

Strangler fig .....don't want to kill the tree, just protect it ...lol.

Yeah but before it strangles it, it will keep it snug in the ground! ;-) It would take a long time to kill the palm if it ever does, other trees it will kill a lot faster. But it is a good anchor!

[Alicehunter2000]

Would probably be cool but im afraid it is not cold hardy enough. 9b is the limit on these I think?

[IHB1979]

After the 3 hurricanes that came through here in Aug./Sept. 2004 the tree that survived the best was Nageia nagi (formerly Podocarpus nagi). Being that it is native to the ryukyu Islands of Japan it is not suprising. They didn't even have leaves blown off. We have about a dozen mature specimens here and all were good. Same with others around town. The other trees that survived the best;

Bald Cypress- Taxodium distichum

Pond Cypress- Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium

Southern Live Oak- Quercus virginiana

Sand Live Oak- Quercus geminata

Southern Magnolia- Magnolia grandiflora

Camphor Tree- Cinnamomum camphora

Podocarpus Tree- Podocarpus macrophyllus

Toog Tree- Bischofia javanica

Banyan Tree- Ficus benghalensis

Eric, How did that Eucalyptus deglupta in the garden handle the hurricanes in 2004?