7 Ways to Prepare Your Garden for Hurricane Season

Summer brings tons of life to the garden, and it also brings hurricane season, which can be difficult to contend with. Florida gardener Melissa Strauss shares some tips on prepping your garden to withstand damage from a severe storm.

Written by Melissa Strauss Horticulture review by Sarah Jay Last updated: May 11, 2025 | 6 min read

Young celery plants growing in a row in mulched soil, covered with cone-shaped plastic translucent containers, preparing the garden for a hurricane.

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Hurricanes are terrifying, and in my neck of the woods, inevitable. Growing up in Florida, I’ve seen my share of severe weather warnings and wind gusts that could carry off the sturdiest lawn furniture. While the primary concern facing a hurricane of this magnitude is personal safety and the preservation of your home, for gardeners, there are also concerns about their plants.

The official start to hurricane season is June 1st, with an end date of November 30th. That’s quite an extended portion of the year, and most of the growing season. These large, powerful storms bring with them a lot of rain, and most importantly, strong, damaging winds. If you’re close to the coast, storm surge is another concern.

If an exorbitant amount of rainfall occurs before the damaging winds, they tend to cause significantly more damage. The ground is softer when wet, so roots dislodge easily.

Naturally, strong winds can cause immense damage, whether they flatten herbaceous plants or topple trees; this is the biggest threat. If you frequently encounter storm surges, plants that are susceptible to salt are best avoided.

When it comes to gardening in an area commonly affected by hurricanes, there is little you can do to prevent any damage. However, in the days leading up to a hurricane, there are several things you can do to prepare and preserve your garden and landscape.

Take Down Baskets and Bring in Pots

An old man with a gray beard and hat takes down hanging containers of blooming yellow and purple petunias on the porch. — Even a mild storm can toss around unprotected planters.

Potted and hanging plants are among those most vulnerable to heavy winds, and the first garden plants you should prepare before a hurricane. Hanging plants are particularly at risk of blowing away and causing damage to other objects and structures. What you do with these plants should hinge on the intensity of the hurricane.

For tropical storms and Category 1 hurricanes, I tend to worry less about containers and spend more time supporting in-ground plants. I do take down hanging baskets, and I move containers to a more protected, low-lying area. If you have a deck or other covered structure, this is a good place to stash them.

For larger and more powerful hurricanes, I bring potted and hanging containers into the garage or house. Strong winds can send these objects flying, causing more damage to windows and standing structures than is necessary. When in doubt, I try to over-prepare. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Cover Delicate Plants

Young lettuce seedlings are covered with glass garden cloches in a garden bed. — Cloches aren’t just cute—they keep tender greens from snapping.

For garden plants in the ground that get damaged easily, sometimes the best you can do to prepare them for a hurricane is cover them up and hope for the best. Sadly, this applies to many of the tropical plants we know and love. Since hurricanes often disproportionately affect tropical areas, this can be problematic. Other plants affected include those with flowers that stand on tall stems, as well as tall, herbaceous plants in general.

Work with what you have if possible. Cover these plants with large nursery pots and other containers if possible. If you have a grouping, a large plastic storage container is an effective solution. Cloches work well for smaller plants, while for larger ones, an upside-down trash can can serve as a good defense.

Now, simply placing these things over your plants could create more loose objects to blow around and do more damage. It’s important to weigh them down with heavy objects to keep them in place. The taller the covering, the more weight you want to put on it. Bricks may work for cloches or other small containers. For larger ones, it’s good to have some cinderblocks or large, flat pavers to put on top.

Mulch

Another way that hurricanes damage the garden is by eroding the soil around roots and other areas of the garden. Heavy rainfall paired with strong winds can wash away soil, exposing vulnerable roots and the base of tender plants.

Soft mulch, such as pine needles or bark, is preferable to harder materials like river rock or crushed granite. These harder objects can turn into projectiles, doing more damage than good.

Mulch can help to hold the soil in place during a hurricane and even in the case of storm surge. It protects roots, preventing the soil from washing away and exposing them to the elements. It also retains moisture, which helps the tops of your plants stay strong before, during, and after the storm.

Trim Damaged Limbs and Branches

A gardener trims dry damaged branches of an apple tree in a summer garden using a handsaw. — Trimming trees early keeps the rest of the yard safer.

This is a particularly important way to prepare your garden if you live in a hurricane-prone area with a high density of larger trees and shrubs. Near coastal regions, you’ll have less to contend with, but hurricanes don’t only cause damage where they come ashore. A strong storm can cause significant damage, extending many miles inland.

Get out there with a pair of loppers and a ladder, if necessary, and inspect your larger plants, trees, and shrubs for any potential issues. If there are dead or damaged branches and limbs, cut them off. These are the things that cause severe damage in intense hurricanes.

Better yet, before the season gets underway, do some pruning to get your trees in order. If you have trees that are taller than you’re able to reach, contact an arborist or tree company to come remove those that are in jeopardy of falling on your home or another structure.

Harvest

You’ve invested a lot of time, money, and energy in your vegetable garden and fruit trees. You protected them from birds, bunnies, squirrels, and other creatures that would make a meal of them. And now they’re at risk of a hurricane tearing through and ruining them.

Don’t let this happen. I know it’s not going to be at the top of your prep list, but if you have time, go out and harvest whatever you can. Many fruits and vegetables are climacteric, which means that they continue to ripen after removing them from the plant. You can harvest these early and allow them to ripen indoors, so that they don’t go to waste.

Some examples of climacteric fruits and veggies include: tomatoes, potatoes, hot peppers, apples, peaches, pears, and plums. These produce ethylene, which is a hormone that induces ripening. Some other plants do not, so if they are not ripe in time, you might want to take a chance and leave them be.

Some examples of non-climacteric fruits and vegetables include: most berries, citrus, cucumbers, cherries, eggplants, squash, melons, and sweet peppers. If these are ripe enough to eat, bring them in; if not, you can leave them and cover them up for protection. Use burlap, sheets, and other lightweight cloth to wrap fruit trees and taller shrubs.

Additionally, if you have a cutting garden, I recommend harvesting as much as possible to enjoy indoors, as many of these plants will be destroyed in a hurricane. For those that continue to open after cutting, I would take a chance even if they are still in tight buds.

Stake Tall Plants

Close-up of bright large flowering dahlias growing between established stakes in a sunny garden. — Stakes and cages are peace of mind for petals.

Last year, I grew some seriously tall dahlias. Typically, the larger the bloom, the taller the plant. These large flowers can be heavy enough to topple their stems alone, so they don’t stand a chance when exposed to heavy winds. Sadly, I forgot to offer my dahlias extra support last year, and most of them ended up snapping in two and lying on the ground.

For these and other tall, herbaceous plants in the garden, support is crucial to help prepare them for a hurricane. Even a weaker hurricane can cause significant damage to these. I recommend doing this one, even if you’re not worried about much else.

Tomato cages work well for many of these plants. I always have some bamboo stakes on hand, although these need to be fairly deep in the ground to hold up. Ensure you use sufficient support for the plant’s size.

Pay special attention to plants and shrubs that have shallow roots, as these can blow over easily. Azalea, hydrangea, juniper, holly, and yew are examples of shrubs with shallow roots that will benefit from staking before a hurricane.

Secure Large Objects

Garden furniture is covered with a tarp on a wooden porch, next to a stepladder and a shelf full of logs. — Garden structures can fly—ground them before they do.

Finally, pay attention to the non-plant objects in your garden. Some major damage results from lawn chairs blowing around. A patio umbrella can launch like a spear if a strong wind catches it at the right angle.

If you have any arbors or arches that are not securely sunk into the ground, pull them up and lay them on the ground. The things you’re growing on them may not look as good after the hurricane, but chances are they will still be alive. The structure they grow on won’t get yanked up and thrown into your neighbor’s pool.

If you’re able, bring patio and other outdoor furnishings indoors or into a garage or shed. If you don’t have a way to bring them indoors, try your best to secure them. Stack chairs and lay them on their side, then use bungee cords to hold them together and potentially secure them to a larger structure like a deck post.

You may have heard that you should put patio furnishings into your pool during a hurricane, if you have one. This is ill-advised, and you should avoid doing it. You can damage the inside of the pool and hurt the plumbing, and there is no guarantee that the water and furniture won’t blow out of the pool.