One type of trees’ leaves are turning yellow to red and are beginning to fall off. What month is it? August, right? Early August. Fall isn’t due for another couple months, isn’t it? So what’s going on?
The gardens are a bit dishevelled, but there’s no problem there or with the rest of the forest: Pic Pic Pic
But what’s going on here? It’s not just one or two trees in the same place—there are several of them in different areas. Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic
The only things I can think of are that I forgot to change my calendar and it’s actually late October; this is what these trees do every year, I just never noticed; and the These Trees Thneed Shoppe that just opened up may be responsible.
Oh, the climate/environ is right outside of New York City.
So the “I never noticed” option. Odd thing is that it’s been hot, but summer-hot, not heatwave hot. And there hasn’t been much change in rainfall from the norm. Maybe what prompted me to ask was that they were all the same kind of tree (I think). The “never noticed” option is best thought–no aliens or whatnot to worry about.
I have a dogwood tree in front of my house that has one particular branch that starts turning in August. It’s getting a little reddish now. This has been going on for many decades, only with this one branch.
I see ‘stress’ upon those trees in the pics, not the ‘average Fall changes’ with all of leaves changing reliably. Many tree species will jettison leaves when stressed (heat, drought, whatever…) and the leaves that get dropped will often show color changes as the leaf dies before it falls off. Colors come from the sugars being used up within leaf’s tissues (in a nutshell, that is) and causing loss of the ‘green’, leaving other colors such as red and orange, etc.
Notice how its not the majority (or all of) of the leaves changing?
Here’s a clip at HuffPo I saw recently that says much the same, iirc. Around me (in Central OK) there’s a lot of trees dropping leaves (sycamores/cottonwoods/oaks/elms…but my watermelons are loving it!) Not much color happening - few species native here are noted for Fall colors anyways.
I’ve noticed the same thing in Ohio. We started with a very wet spring/early summer this year and then had a rapid change to extreme hot and dryness. Maybe the trees had so much new growth with the spring flooding that they can’t support it now that the weather has turned dry?
Another odd thing is that my redbud trees have an insane amount of huge seed pods this year, but sad little withered leaves.
Ran some errands today. It looks like late September to mid-October in some places. All seeming to be the same species of tree. Er, not that I was able to look too closely while driving (I was too busy sending text messages). But lots of yellows and reds in there. I’m going to look up my county extension and see if they have anything to say.
Good way to put it as far as early growth being too much for later conditions to support - no harm to tree overall since its the roots that keep tree going for the most part. Trees will drop leaves dependent upon what is happening with the roots (life-support system, per se). Lengthy to explain overall, but bonsai growing uses little ‘tricks’ to affect growth by messing with roots and leaves at certain times (root pruning/binding is but one way to affect growth of above-soil parts of tree, like internodes and such) - and Nature gives similar results when ‘average’ weather becomes abnormal. Trees can take a beating and still carry on the species
Many species of trees are known to put out a heavy load of seed/fruit when ~‘stressed’ or otherwise not happy…kind of a ‘survival trait’ for long term survival of a species. By making lots of seed when nature is being a bitch, a species can just wait until the next year (or even the next after that one) if large masses of seed are made since usually not all will germinate the next year/Spring.
I know some species such as Quercus (oaks) will cycle every few (~2-4 years, iirc) the load of acorns produced. One year, few made, then the next sees way more than average. Plus, ever seen a fruit tree that is near-death or really old and ready to topple over? Chances are it’ll put out inordinately huge amount of fruit as a response to impending demise - why produce woody-growths when seed is so much better to make new tree for higher assurance of continued species survival? (so goes evolutionary responses, in a nutshell)
Ionizer, you have just solved a mystery that has been on my mind for over half a century. We had a plum tree that was so laden with plums one year that many of its branches touched the ground. We had never seen anything like it. I had to clear away the plums every time before I could mow. But that was the last of its glory. I don’t remember if we even had plums at all after that. Eventually the tree was removed.
Glad my often-rambling wordings helped you After getting into bonsai stuff a decade ago or so, I’ve learned a lot about responses of trees to external stimuli. Its really neat how ‘evolution’ has given plants so many ways to ensure their continued survival. I am enthralled by Gingko biloba and their ‘motile sperm’ that actually move on their own to fertilize the ‘seed’. No need for bees/bugs with this species’ survival - does it all by itself. There’s a neat video on that link showing the sperm moving around - who’d think that a tree had actual moving parts?!
For those interested in the nuts and bolts of how-to’s and good basics of tree-growth, this page is about the best I have ever found. The author is a frequent poster on a few bonsai sites I haunted, and his ‘findings’ have influenced positively many aspects of how to best grow trees-in-pots (bonsai, per se) and has helped me get in-ground landscape stuff to stay much healthier over the longterm. Keeping a tree alive decades in a tiny pot means you must understand the little clues trees give about the environment, etc. Its a very different world underground (roots) than most folks realize. Once a person gets an idea of the relations between leaves and root systems, then the entire organism makes a lot more sense as to what is seen occurring above the soil-line.
In the OP case, I see trees not being able to support (through lack of water to roots) the above-soil growths (leaves), so tree jettisons what it can’t support nutritionally or by amount of moisture inside tree. Different species have different levels of ‘jettisoning’ (love that word!) so not all trees in a forest will suffer similarly - but same species tending to show the ~same effects over a wide area means there’s probably a largish environmental aspect that is affecting them all somewhat uniformly (if that makes sense). Many species leaves turn color as tree shuts off food-supply which leads to leaf-dropping, so species shown is really, really obvious and stands out visually amongst other species.
Bugs eating on leaves typically do not cause ~homogenous color changes as the water/food supply is still active except for distally to bug-damaged portions - ie cut a leaf in half and the proximal portion still has its needs met, so it likely won’t change colors as it would if the entire leaf loses its ‘food’.
I’m hoping the OP does get with the Extension Office to see if (confirm me?) there is a wide variance from average weather that is causing non-typical leaf-drop in the area.
