How to Prep Your Yard Before a Storm
A little pre-storm work can save you a lot of post-storm cleanup. Here's what to do when a big system is on the way.
Hurricane season and Carolina thunderstorms are unpredictable, but the damage they cause is often preventable. When you see a serious system on the forecast, here's a checklist worth running before it hits.
1. Walk your property and look up. The biggest post-storm calls we get are for limbs that were already dead or cracked before the storm — the wind just finished the job. Any obvious dead branches, split forks, or hanging limbs should come down before high winds arrive, not after.
2. Clear the debris on the ground. Loose branches, patio furniture, potted plants, trash cans, and toys become projectiles at 60+ mph. Move anything not bolted down into the garage or a shed.
3. Trim branches away from the house and power lines. If a limb is already touching or close to your roof, siding, or a service line, it will do damage when it whips around in the wind. This is worth a same-week call to a tree company.
4. Photograph your trees and landscape. In the days before the storm, take a few smartphone photos of your yard and trees from multiple angles. If something goes down and you need to file an insurance claim, before-and-after documentation makes the process much smoother.
5. Know who to call. Save a tree service number in your phone before you need it. After a major storm, everyone calls at once and response times stretch. Precision customers get priority — we serve existing clients first.
After the storm: don't touch anything near a downed power line, and don't try to remove large limbs from your roof yourself. Both jobs kill homeowners every year. Call us and we'll be out fast.
