How to Protect your Plantings from Storms
November 18, 2020
By Dan Heston
With more and more chances for storms here in the northeast, here are a few tips to consider when you are planting and harvesting next year:
Pick your fruits and veggies as quickly and timely as possible. The old farmer’s adage says: No matter how good a crop looks in the fields it’s really nonexistent until it is harvested and safely in your cooler. So, if there is a hurricane in the forecast, harvest everything you can.
Prune carefully before storm season. Pruning surrounding trees by carefully thinning them out so the Long Island winds can safely sail through them will save you on clean up time, protect your garden plants from falling limbs, and beautify the surrounding landscape.
Plant between hedgerows. Laying out a tender planting with hedgerow protection is a must on Long Island. Hurricanes and tropical storm winds generally come in from the southeast, move to the southwest, and then pass with winds moving to the northwest. Keep this in mind as you lay out your garden. Large plantings like deciduous trees with base shrubs or bushy evergreens make excellent wind breaks. But shrubby plants like berry bushes or low growing fruit trees can also be used to protect more fragile crops. Just lay your garden out with plantings between the rows of shrubs.
Dan Heston
Director of Agricultural Programs
dheston@peconiclandtrust.org