Unexpected Leaf Drop

It may be autumn but not all leaf drop is a good thing. Some trees simply aren’t designed to lose their leaves -or very few at least. Evergreens will still drop their leaves occasionally but it’s really when healthy, vigorous trees start to shed their foliage when they shouldn’t, that we should begin to worry.

Any number of problems can cause a tree to start dropping its leaves but by far the most common reason is stress. It could be due to a lack of water, too much water, irregular watering, pests, disease or even a change in soil level around its trunk, but one common variable in all of this is that stress is being placed on the tree and is almost certainly the underlying reason behind unexplained leaf drop.

Signs of stress are obvious -a healthy tree with a once-dense canopy suddenly deteriorates, dropping its leaves with smaller branches beginning to die off. The stressed tree may also send out small sprouts from the trunk, small emergency branches that are the trees valiant attempt to balance out this loss of canopy.

To combat stress-induced leaf drop you’ll need to start a regular watering schedule. A mix of seaweed solution can be applied to assist in the recovery and in dryer soils a wetting agent can be used so that water is always available to the tree. If this fails, please call us to assess the tree in question with a free, no-obligation quote on 1300 887 417.