We frequently are asked if someone’s conifer is dying or diseased because a lot of dead needles are seen. In most cases they are needles that are on the interior of the branches. Fall needle drop is a natural condition and is not a sign of disease or insect infestation, however, any factor that increases stress on evergreen trees will intensify the autumn needle drop. Stress factors include drought, herbicide injury, root damage and insect or disease damage. The dead needles may stay on the tree for many months before falling off. Some conifer needles only live for 2 or 3 years. Some live for up to 5 to 7 years. This includes pine, spruce, fir & others. Natural needle drop occurs only on the inner needles; if entire branches or needles at the tips of branches are dying, then something else is happening. Believe it or not, there are actually a few types of conifers that shed all their needles EVERY year. These deciduous conifers include larch, bald cypress and dawn redwood. The larch with its golden yellow and the bald cypress and dawn redwood with their bronze hues can add great beauty to the fall landscape. Such trees are unusual enough that more than one story has been told about people that removed such trees after they were mistakenly determined to be dead. Yikes. I actually know a of a new trees pruning service that cut down a 25 year old healthy Larch in the winter because they thought it was a dead tree. Id suggest using only a certified arborist business.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 14:39:42 +0000
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