Fall is a beautiful time of year—the weather starts to cool and trees begin to produce beautiful orange, yellow and red leaves, providing astounding foliage. In this month’s post, we’ll cover what causes leaves to form those gorgeous colors along with how to prepare your trees for the upcoming fall and winter months.
Trees are living organisms that require oxygen, glucose, water and carbon dioxide to survive. As autumn approaches, trees begin to stop their process of photosynthesis by shutting down and living off nutrients they stored during the spring and summer months. Because they start to shut down, chlorophyll—a chemical that gives leaves and other plants their green color—begins to disappear. As a result, the leaves turn from green to yellow, red and orange depending on the type of tree, giving us the beautiful foliage we all love!
Preparing your trees for the upcoming colder months is crucial to their health and overall chances of surviving winter. For young and tropical trees, it’s wise to wrap the bark to help prevent moisture loss. For trees that are dormant during the cooler months, you should avoid pruning until they’ve gone into latency to ensure new growth doesn’t develop damage from the harsh temperatures. You may also want to lay down organic mulch around the base of your trees to retain moisture and avoid winter drought.
It’s best to hire an arborist to identify the needs of specific plants in your landscape. Our Prevention and Management program is designed to help you protect your landscape investment and stop potential problems before they start. Contact us for a free estimate