Leaf-fall

[Osbourne One-Nil]

The Ash trees arond here are rapidly starting to lose their leaves. I'd say the one in my garden is about 1/2 cleared already. Even for Ash, this is remarkably early. I can only assume it's down to the hot weather in July.

On the way back from Newcastle yesterday, the Sycamores high above Alston were already turning very autumnal and brown, so, with the exception of Horse Chestnuts which seem to have been half-killed by the hot weather, is anyone else starting to notice leaf-fall yet?

[Somerset Squall]

The Ash trees arond here are rapidly starting to lose their leaves. I'd say the one in my garden is about 1/2 cleared already. Even for Ash, this is remarkably early. I can only assume it's down to the hot weather in July.

On the way back from Newcastle yesterday, the Sycamores high above Alston were already turning very autumnal and brown, so, with the exception of Horse Chestnuts which seem to have been half-killed by the hot weather, is anyone else starting to notice leaf-fall yet?

The only trees here that are almost bald are the Beech and Alder, but this is more down to lack of water. The willows are beginning to turn yellow now but the ash and oak are still green here.

[pottyprof]

only a slight colour change in the odd tree here..

[MahFL]

Hey Newcastle, my old stomping ground. I visited the UK for the first time in 3 years in July. We went to the Lakes and it was of course red hot. I wonder which Rail company will be the first to utter "leaves on the line" this year.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

If yesterday was anything to go by, it'll be the Carlisle - Newcastle line.

[Andy Bown]

The leaves are gradually changing here but nothing more than to yellow or brown (apart from one tree in the nearby village that always puts on a show!) - still look lovely in sunshine though.

A few cold, dry nights would help better colours to come through, but they're not going to happen quickly.

[M'Lady]

The only trees looking autumnal round here are the Horse Chestnuts... however the magnificent total of three leaves on the Cherry Blossom tree in our garden have realised it is autumn and decided to turn yellow.

[lesta_snow]

ive noticed at the tops of trees there turning red so i guess autums here yey

[coldfingers]

An awful lot of trees round here have had brown leaves since early July, sadly the effects of a very dry year.

A Hazel Contorta in my garden now thinks it is spring as it lost all it's leaves in July and is now growing some more since the heavy rain we have had at times in September :lol: Otherwise some trees are begining to change colour but it's hard to believe it is because it is Autumn as we have yet to get any Autumn weather, still stuck in summer here. :o

[coldfingers]

There are increasing signs here of leaves starting to turn and fall here, autumn is slowly arriving. :blink:

This may be down to the hot weather in July, although when the leaves started falling at this time last year I thought it was due to the dry weather in July last year. Maybe it's just autumn.

I remember going to the New Forest in early october on a few ocassions and the leaves where already lovely colours, there had been early frosts those years though.

[frozen_north]

The leaves here are starting to rapidly turn brown in within the past 2 days. The cooler weather to come should help make the place look more Autumnal.

[Rustynailer]

Very slight signs here at the moment, Poplars look scruffy so do Beech and Cherry. Horse chestnut's have looked crap since they caught leaf-miner in a big way in June. Firewood sales have just started up

Roll on the frost

[mushymanrob]

leaf fall here in derby is on cue, whatever that is! lol, after all, there is no set date when leaves should fall !!!!!

leaf clearance is my main task throughout november, one site has 300 trees!! and things are certainly 'on coarse'.

i have several trees speciese that are now bare/95% bare, poplars in particular (an early dropper) are bang on cue. other early 'droppers' (lime, horse chestnut) are a little later (about a week/10 days) but are certainly within the 'normal' timeframe.

interestingly some of the traditionally 'late droppers' are starting EARLY! prunus speciese that are often the last to drop are already colouring up 2-3 weeks early. hawthorn too and ash are dropping early.

oak are the last, but they just turn brown on the tree and the leaves dont often actually fall until into december or even january.

so dispite some people reckoning that leaf fall is LATE this year, here in derby it appears that everythings going normaly and the warm autumn doesnt appear to have effected leaf drop.

please note though that no 2 seasons are the same, with differing speciese dropping at different times and at different rates year by year. whilst leaves might sometimes start colouring up earlier then others, it doesnt equate to ALL leaves dropping early. sometimes all leaves take 2 months to clear, other times they all come down together within a month...

[Somerset Squall]

Beeches are bald here along with the alder, but they have been bald since late August (lack of rain)! A few ashes are almost bald wheras others are still green and in full leaf. The withys are beginning to lose their leaves now along with the horse chestnuts. Oaks and sycamores still in full leaf here.

[mushymanrob]

ahhh... beech, they are also early this year, but they look like they are having a long drop as oposed to their usual 'all in one go' dumping.

[Daisy]

please note though that no 2 seasons are the same, with differing speciese dropping at different times and at different rates year by year. whilst leaves might sometimes start colouring up earlier then others, it doesnt equate to ALL leaves dropping early. sometimes all leaves take 2 months to clear, other times they all come down together within a month...

Do you know if leaf fall is related to number of daylight hours, like flowering with some plants (photoperiodism)? If this is the case, then presumably temperature would not be the most important factor in leaf fall, and perhaps not be related at all?

I don't know if day length does have an effect, maybe there are some botanists/ plant physiology experts out there who know more? I would be interested to know.

Thanks

D

Edit: Just did a bit of quick surfing on the web. It does look like with some species day length is a factor that causes leaves to change colour see here

Edited November 3, 2006 by Daisy

[mushymanrob]

Do you know if leaf fall is related to number of daylight hours, like flowering with some plants (photoperiodism)? If this is the case, then presumably temperature would not be the most important factor in leaf fall, and perhaps not be related at all?

I don't know if day length does have an effect, maybe there are some botanists/ plant physiology experts out there who know more? I would be interested to know.

Thanks

D

Edit: Just did a bit of quick surfing on the web. It does look like with some species day length is a factor that causes leaves to change colour see here

well yes it is.... but putting a big black cloth over a tree in july will not induce leaf fall alone!

leaves fall when the 'abscision layer' forms at the leafs stalk base. this cuts off sap to and from the leaf and hence, it dies. im not sure though what causes the abscision layer to form, though i believe its a combination of factors... daylength and temperature, though these requirements are of differing proportion in differing speciese

[Daisy]

Thanks mushymanrob (unusual name!), for the info

[James M]

Well things have really come along in the last few weeks, 90% of trees around here have changed colour with not a hint of green and 20% of those are almost bare now.

Edited November 20, 2006 by James M

[mushymanrob]

Well things have really come along in the last few weeks, 90% of trees around here have changed colour with not a hint of green and 20% of those are almost bare now.

really?..... 90% of my trees are bare with only a stubborn italian alder (alnus incarna) still green (but that never sheds a leaf before december anyway)

this has been a good leaf season for me, alot of dry windy weather and the leaves falling on time.... :lol:

[Heavywater]

The leaves of my cherry tree completely refuse to change colour. It nearly blew over in the wind yesterday.

Only the apple trees seem to be losing their leaves.

Saying that, i was trudging through piles of fallen leaves when i was walking home, so maybe it's because our garden is pretty sheltered...

[Hemlock]

Well, after last nights wind the tree's have gone from have almost full leaf albeit, autunmal colours, to empty twigs, all of a sudden it looks very wintry out there.

[Heavywater]

Just looks very autumny down here.

I blame the gulf stream (and i'm usually right when i blame something)

[Angel15]

Most of the trees outside the front and back have dropped the majority of their leaves (sweeping up time constantly now!), but a few still have leaves of gold and red clinging to them.

[Shiny_Bottom_1]

Ihave to agree with mushy on this (well...considering we live in the same place, its to be expected).

The hawthorns out the back have deminished rather rapidly over the last 1-2 weeks (although the old berries are sticking on like glue at the mo).

Was also driving through Luton this morning (couldnt find Crazy), and there was actually quite a large leaf fall around there too (I think oaks).

Hawthorns do seem to have dropped earlier this year (as well, last year, the leaf fall seemed to coincide with berry fall from the hawthorns).