October is one of nature’s busiest months. Most seeds must be ripened before killing frost. Deciduous trees and shrubs are gradually preparing for winter. Terminal growth is stopping, dormant buds are forming.
Falling Leaves
In the hardwood forest, we see one of nature’s plans still in operation. The shedding of leaves not only protects trees from injury by cold, but also carpets the forest floor to help it retain moisture, and prevent erosion and loss of rich food materials.
These fallen leaves gradually decompose, forming a valuable layer of humus for plant use. Of course, this plan does not work in cities where the fallen leaves are raked and burned rather than using them for compost.
Do not become unduly alarmed if you have just noticed all those brown needles on the inner twigs and branches of your white pines. It is perfectly normal for white pines to shed their two-year-old needles in the fall, but retain the needles which have been produced this season.
Evergreens remain green all year because they do not lose all of their foliage at once. Pines that have two or three needles in a cluster retain their green foliage ordinarily from three to six years.
Other evergreens which retain green needles from three to five years or more are spruce, fir, hemlock, and yew.
Most needle-bearing trees drop their foliage in the fall, but broadleaf evergreens, such as holly and southern magnolia, drop their leaves in spring or early summer about the time new foliage covers the ends of the branches.
When the foliage of arborvitae becomes two years old, it turns brown and drops off in early fall. This normal shedding of most evergreens is usually gradual and is less noticeable than the leaf fall of deciduous trees.
Transplanting
If an evergreen sheds all its needles at one time, the tree is dying or already dead. Pines and spruces which drop all their needles after transplanting will not recover from the shock. There are two exceptions to this rule here in our area, for larch and bald cypress are conifers that normally shed all leaves in the fall and produce a new crop the next spring.
American holly, even though well transplanted in the spring, will frequently lose all its leaves. Usually, these trees survive if given proper watering and feeding.
Evergreens planted in wet or poorly-drained soils often show a lot of leaf yellowing on inside branches. Also if you do not give recently transplanted trees water during a dry summer, needle drops may occur earlier than normal and be more severe.
If you have kept the secret of a nearby prairie field that has never felt the plow, now is the time to look for the deep blue cup-shaped flowers of the downy gentian (Gentiana puberula). The plants, about a foot high, are nestled in the cover of the taller prairie hay.
Their discovery is indeed a thrill for the lover of wildflowers. It is the same virgin field that early in the season was bright with yellow puccoon, dainty pink prairie downy phlox, and blue prairie violet. Here is the field where the prairie plover returns each spring to make its nest. But this must all be kept a secret lest the greedy public swarms in and strips it of its beauty.
44659 by Stanley R. Mclane