Many trees in the Chicago area are still proudly holding on to their beautifully colored leaves, even as we enter December. A double-edged sword for those who have annoyance toward raking up one of autumn's token icons.
Doris Taylor, manager of the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle states that people will be raking up leaves later in the season, but there is nothing wrong with the trees themselves. They just did not drop their leaves at the usual time because of weather fluctuations.
The process of dropping leaves is part of the process of trees going dormant for the winter. These changes happen at the base of each leaf where layers of cells grow to cut the leaf off and heal the wound left behind. This process is triggered by a mix of signals from temperature, shortening day length, and moisture. This up-and-down weather is making it hard for trees to respond as they usually would.
Doris Taylor said that the wet spring encouraged many trees to grow sort of a "bumper" of leaves. But then the unusually dry end of summer spurred them to drop their leaves a bit early. But, the weather soon turned cool which halted the entire process. An indication of these mixed signals were the patchy color and late turning of the leaves.
It is encouraged by Doris Taylor to capture these late falling leaves and use them as compostable nutrients for gardens. This will help insulate the garden and prevent sprouting in winter warm spells that are most likely going to happen.
Original article by Beth Botts found here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/home/ct-sun-1210-garden-morton-2-20171204-story.html
No comments:
Post a Comment