Is your tree starting to change it’s leaf color already?. Is that a sign of a short summer and an early winter season? Not at all, trees will at times change color early if they are dealing with some sort of environmental or physiological stress.
One of our arborists recently came across this Autumn Blaze Maple in their neighborhood on an evening walk. A very distinct and symmetrical change in the leaf color indicating this tree is going into early dormancy. Upon further inspection, the side changing color also has some significant trunk damage. This damage is likely impacting the vascular system (veins) of the tree and compounded with hot, dry weather becomes significant stress to the tree. The tree resorts to early dormancy to protect and reserve as much energy as possible for the upcoming dormant season.
This type of early dormancy can happen to trees in our urban forest when they have compounded stresses. In addition to climate and physiological damage, trees can also be stressed by poor or compacted soils, girdling roots, pollution, physical damage, etc.
See if you can find any trees this summer starting to go into early dormancy and try and figure out what may be causing it to do so. Understanding our urban forest and how we interact with it allows us to make the best decisions possible to sustain the health and vitality of our trees.
Learn about all of our plant health care services available to ensure your trees are in great shape!