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| Photo by Carol King |
Are your pine trees dropping their needles? There is no cause for alarm; they are probably naturally losing their needles. Everyone knows that deciduous trees lose their leaves in the fall, but fewer people learn that evergreen trees also lose their old needles in the late summer and fall. Evergreens normally do shed previous years' needles on a regular basis. Often there can be a "heavy" needle drop on Front Range landscape pines, spruces and firs. The most common causes of excessive needle drop are too-wet and too-dry soils. It has been very dry this summer and fall.
There may be a problem if there is yellowing or dieback on the tips of branches. Consider drought, salts, root damage, spray damage, soil compaction, conifer aphids, mountain pine beetle and other factors. Occasionally, "deciduous conifers" such as bald cypress, larch and dawn redwood are found in Colorado landscapes. These conifers lose all their needles every autumn, to be replaced the following spring.
For more information, check out these articles at Planttalk Colorado™.
