Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Fall Has Arrived

Not really but the red maple near 18 green is reacting to the drought and hot weather as if the first frost covered the course a few days ago. As many of you are seeing from your own neighborhoods, trees are taking a pounding this year. If a tree goes from green to completely brown and drops it's leaves in just a few days, I would think it is done but if it changes to fall color, there might be some hope. Going into dormamcy is a good thing which is a survival mechanism for plants compared to permanent dormancy which is death.

For any severely stressed trees, you can allow a slow running hose sit underneath the canopy for a few hours a couple of days each week until the drought breaks. This will give it enough water to keep it alive. One way to check the viability of a tree is the snap off the end of a branch or two on opposite sides of the tree to see if it is still green and pliable. If the branches are stiff and brittle, its probably at the end.

Joe Wachter
Sent from my LG phone

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