10 Hurricane-Resistant Landscaping Ideas

Hurricane-resistant landscaping can become your home's best defense against nature's fury, like tropical storms and hurricanes. When hurricane winds knock down trees, break branches, and throw debris, unprepared landscapes become liability zones. Fortunately, the perfect combination of wind-resistant plants, functional drainage, clustered planting, proper grading, and durable hardscape elements forms a natural barrier that protects your yard from even the strongest storms. Additionally, strategic plant choices and placement can significantly reduce wind damage and costly flooding.

Here we share the 10 best hurricane-resistant landscaping ideas that will increase your home's curb appeal and help it escape flooding, falling trees, and broken glass during a hurricane or tropical storm.

1. Plant Wind-resistant Trees

A strong hurricane can knock down your sturdy trees, but planting wind-resistant trees will provide you with peace of mind that wind-intolerant trees cannot. Wind-resistant surviving trees usually have moderate growth rates, deep root systems, low centers of gravity, and tapered trunks that are wider at the base. So, it requires much higher and stronger winds to blow them down than trees with low wind resistance.

The following tree species have high wind resistance and are native to regions prone to hurricanes.

• Live oak
• Water oak
• Bald cypress
• Crape myrtle
• Sabal palm
• Mexican fan palm
• Laurel oak
• Southern magnolia

According to the University of Florida IFAS Extension, you should avoid planting the following trees:

• Water oak
• Laurel oak
• Sand pine
• Chinese elm

Tip: If you plan to plant trees in your hurricane-resistant landscaping, make sure they are wind-resistant trees. Also, choose trees with straight roots, a single dominant trunk, and well-spaced branches. These trees are strong and likely to grow into survivor trees.

2. Apply Soft Mulch

Mulch has numerous benefits, but it can get tossed around in the yard during a hurricane. Rocks and pea gravel add interesting texture to the landscape, but these hard mulches can also cause significant damage during a hurricane or tropical storm. Strong winds would scatter these mulches around your yard, and rocks and pebbles can ricochet off windows, cars, and siding.

Therefore, you should use soft, organic mulches such as shredded leaves, pine needles, wood chips, and shredded bark. These mulches will stay in place longer than hard mulches, and they also provide many benefits to your plants.

3. Install Hurricane-resistant Fencing

A common myth is that solid privacy fences are best for hurricane-resistant landscaping because they block the wind. But this is their flaw. The built-up wind resistance will push the fence down due to the pressure of high winds. Wooden fences, even the strongest ones, can easily be blown over if gaps are not wide enough to allow wind to pass through. Instead, slatted fences allow air to move through freely, making them less likely to tip over in severe winds.

Your fencing material matters too. Metal fences are more resistant to storm and wind damage than wooden and vinyl fences. While you may love the look of certain fences, you should always focus on durability and hurricane resistance when choosing a fence. You must invest in hurricane-resistant fencing to avoid expensive fence during a storm. The best option is to go for slatted fences.

4. Choose Salt-tolerant and Native Plants

Homeowners living near the saltwater or along the coast face another challenge: extra salt in their landscapes due to salt spray and bigger storm surges. Too much salt can harm or even kill your salt-intolerant plants. In such a case, you can help your trees, shrubs, and flower beds survive the storm by planting salt-tolerant plants. A hurricane can cover your landscape in salt spray, which is small droplets of salt water released by crashing waves and intense winds.

High levels of salt can cause plants to dry out, prevent their roots from absorbing water, and reduce nutrient uptake. So, plant salt-tolerant and native plants because they are low-maintenance, have deep roots, and don't need fertilizers or pesticides. Some popular salt-tolerant plants include sea grape, sea blight, dune sunflower, seaside goldenrod, beach morning glory, and beach evening primrose.

5. Ensure Smart and Functional Drainage

Heavy rains during hurricanes can overflow your property's natural drainage system, resulting in standing water and potential flood damage. Water can damage your home's foundation, and wooden parts of the home, such as doors and porches, can also swell. To protect your home and landscape from water damage, your landscape must have several drainage pathways for water to pass through. Follow preventive drainage measures and invest in smart yard drainage solutions to manage storm water runoff.

The best drainage solutions include French drains, catch basins, dry wells, rain gardens, and rainwater catchment systems like rain barrels. French drains and bioswales direct water down predetermined pathways to rain gardens or other safe areas. These drains collect and channel water from high-risk areas using a perforated pipeline buried under a substrate (usually gravel).

6. Plant Trees Away from Your House and Power Lines

When planting trees in your landscape, always consider their planting location. Trees add shade and beauty to your property, but if they are planted too close to your home, power lines, or other infrastructure, they can cause significant damage during a storm.

A tree falling on the roof or taking out the power lines will make you hide under the bed covers during a storm. Therefore, you must protect your home, garden shed, power lines, and garage from storm damage by planting trees a safe distance away from vulnerable structures. Ensure the trees don't interfere with these structures. If a tree falls during a hurricane, your home would be out of harm's way.

7. Group Trees Together

Strategic clustered planting of trees creates effective windbreaks that lower wind velocity and distribute storm forces. If you plan to plant trees in your landscape, plant them in groups. We recommend growing a group of five or more trees, with each tree growing within 10 feet of the others, but not in a row. A group planting wind-resistant trees serves as a useful wind buffer against a heavy storm.

Arrange the clusters in staggered formations facing the current dominant hurricane winds for maximum protection. Additionally, utilize a diverse range of tree species with varying root depths and growth patterns to enhance overall stability and resilience.

8. Prune and Trim Trees

Trim any weak, overgrown, broken, and dying tree branches before storm season so they can't damage your home or car. The long, weak branch hanging over your roof indicates storm hazard. It can break through your windows or smash your cars. When a hurricane rolls through, that branch will snap off. Properly pruned trees have a higher survival rate compared to unpruned trees.

Pruning benefits trees by promoting new growth and keeping them smaller with less dense canopies. You can prune your own trees properly using high-quality pruning shears like Fiskars pruners and loppers like Fiskars Telescope Bypassing Loppers.

9. Grade Your Yard Properly

Ensure your yard slopes away from your home to prevent water from accumulating near your foundation. Proper grading involves creating gentle slopes that make water flow away from your home's foundation. Even a gentle 2% slope can prevent water from accumulating near structures.

Storm grading begins at the home foundation and gradually slopes away from your home at a minimum 2% grade for the first 10 feet. Avoid building troughs or low areas where water can collect. Instead, create gentle ridges and swales to guide water toward specific drainage areas, such as rain gardens or storm drains.

10. Build a Seawall

If your home is on the waterfront, installing a seawall is the best decision to protect your property. A seawall is a barrier that separates the water from the edge of the landscape. It is built to protect your beachfront property from the battering of waves and to prevent erosion.

Without a seawall, smashing waves will erode your landscape's edge, while hurricanes may cause flooding. A seawall prevents flooding during storm surges and saves you a lot of money in repairs. Wood, concrete, steel, vinyl, and rocks are all the best materials used to construct a seawall.

The Bottom Line

Hurricanes and storms are unpredictable, and climate change is exacerbating their impact in hurricane-prone areas, such as Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, and Louisiana.

Despite their unpredictable nature, there are essential steps you can take to prepare for these storms. If you prepare your hurricane-proof landscape just right, you should be able to return home to an undamaged roof, running power lines, and no broken windows. From choosing the right native plants and trees to installing drainage solutions, you must take the time and plan. These ideas can keep you and your home safe during this hurricane season.

Visit DripWorks today to discover high-quality drainage solutions, efficient irrigation systems, and landscaping products that will help make your landscape beautiful and resilient to handle any storm.