Trees and Wind Resistance

[phantomcrab]

Of interest to those of us that live in storm prone areas. Nothing is said about root strength.
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-trees-size-species.html
42 meters/sec = 93.95 miles/hour

[LivingParadise]

Perhaps more directly relevant to those growing in FL, here is a chart that shows a very extensive list of trees and their survival rate by species in 4 major FL hurricanes: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR17500.pdf

Generally speaking, pruning a tree down before the rainy season can help it withstand hurricane-force winds a lot without ripping out by the roots or throwing branches at local houses. No tree in a FL residential area should be allowed to grow tall enough close to a building or power line, that if it fell over it would hit it. You also don't want a tree so big that if it snapped or fell over, you would be blocking roads for emergency vehicles. The closer to structures, the shorter the plant.

For that reason, concerned growers might want to consider dwarf plants, and even growing them in a container that you can drag indoors during storms.

Not a lot of popular fruit plants did astoudingly well in surviving high-wind storms in the charts. But some of the ones with higher resistance were lychee, coconut, and date palms. Some of the worst were mango, avocado, and loquat.

Do us all a favor, though, and if you have fruit on a tree -especially mangoes, coconuts, or avocados - cut them all off and bring them inside before a storm hits. Nobody wants fruit missiles flying through the air to crack someone's skull, window, or windshield.

Flood-tolerant plants are also a great choice in storm-prone locations, especially of course near the coast. Even if the wind doesn't get it, the water might - especially salty or brackish water. A tree that can withstand sitting in water for a day or two has a much better shot at long-term survival. 

Here is a list of salt tolerance:
http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Salt_tolerance_of_different_fruiting_trees.pdf
And a list of flood tolerance:
http://www.growables.org/information/selectingtreesforfloodtolerance.htm

Between the three charts, it should give a good idea of what can handle hurricane conditions, and what you should expect to be gone in the first Cat 1.