It may not seem possible, but even after a major storm or hurricane with high winds, many trees can actually be restored. As long as the major limbs are still intact, as well as the trunk and roots, and there is no decaying wood, the tree has a high possibility of surviving.

The strong winds that come with a hurricane often cause all the leaves on a tree to be blown off. This is referred to as defoliation of the canopy. However, this doesn’t mean the tree has died. In fact, when a canopy is defoliated it is probably still rather healthy. In this case, all you have to do is wait and be patient. When spring rolls around the next year, new foliage will probably crop up. Another cause of leaf loss occurs when trees are flooded by salt water. Deal with this by irrigating the soil around the tree to get rid of any excess salt.

If only small branches are broken or dead, you can usually fix this through some simple pruning. If you prune properly, the tree will have a high chance of recovery.

Read the rest of this entry »