Anybody else noticed

[Walker570]

I was sat in one of my cabins waiting for a tree rat and noticed that leaves where falling like it was October.  The poplars are usually the first to lose leaves but not before the end of September here in Leicestershire. I have already run around the grass areas with the mower once, to shred them making it easier for the grass to grow through. Tree tops thinning enough to flight pigeons.

Obviously due to the unusually dry spell and it will be interesting to see if December and January turn out like '76  '77 when tractors couldn't get onto the fields without sinking up to the axles after torrential rainfall for weeks.

Looking at the forecast predicted for September looks like some pleasant days on the partridges as the dry weather continues but temps drop.

Edited August 22, 2018 by Walker570

[hawkfanz]

in my little wood the canopy is thin enough to shoot sqizers with shotgun.

[Dougy]

Its been too dry, don't be too surprised if you see a few trees fall this Autumn, roots are weak so the trees are basicly quite sick after the long hot summer. 

[Mr gen]

Noticed this today also, parked up by a poplar today and the leaves were falling like we had just had a hard frost. Horse Chestnut are usually the first to show sign and although they are all browned off like tobacco leaves they aren't shedding like the poplars.   

[Mice!]

the pine wood we shoot was like this a month ago, needles and cones everywhere, and that was my thought autumn has come early. This is in a damp area as well so i imagine higher places are really bad.

[mel b3]

We've been noticing it at work for about a month , the green waste bins have been full of dried leaves instead of grass cuttings.

[Bigbob]

I noticed a couple of weeks ago all the trees are covered in fruit , seeds a sure sign i think that they are stressed and trying to breed thinking there going to die ?>

[Benthejockey]

Autumn is well on the way here now. Cool, damp mornings, lots of wild berries ripe already, the geese have started moving about, the swallows are queuing up on the electric wires thinking about going home. It’s still warm in the day but it’s dropping cold at night. Hopefully it stays warm for a good bit longer yet to help the grass recover now there’s a bit of moisture about. 

[Yellow Bear]

Parked under a beech yesterday to keep out of sun - car covered in beech mast when I got back - at least a month early for this area.

[oowee]

That's nothing everything fell off my tree yesterday 

 

[johnphilip]

1 hour ago, oowee said:

That's nothing everything fell off my tree yesterday 

 

Were you scratching  your back lol.

[JohnfromUK]

Sycamore turning colour early (photo today).  Horse chestnuts have leaf miner damage.

[figgy]

in Surrey the trees have been shedding leaves like autumn since end of June,some are looking very poor.

[panoma1]

Funnily enough yesterday I noticed the horse chestnut tree leaves are turning brown...,shows up more against the oaks which are still green!

[Vince Green]

28 minutes ago, panoma1 said:

Funnily enough yesterday I noticed the horse chestnut tree leaves are turning brown...,shows up more against the oaks which are still green!

Yes the horse chestnut outside my kitchen window is very brown

[JohnfromUK]

18 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

Yes the horse chestnut outside my kitchen window is very brown

This is the horse chestnut in my field - and the brown patches are, I have been told, leaf miner damage. 

Locally, there were several large old horse chestnuts, four on my property, and in the last 3 years, three have fallen down (one of these being on my property).  They had canker.  The other three I had, and one belonging to a neighbour, would have caused major damage to (other peoples) property if they fell, so these have been taken down as well.  One of mine was very rotten inside, the other two less so, but with nearby trees falling with no notice, you can't take a chance when it might well demolish someone's thatched cottage!  It is quite a process as we are in a 'Conservation area', so had to get permission and also close to power lines - mine were in the field, so OK, but neighbours had to get the road closed whilst the work was in progress.

The one remaining on my property (pictured) has both leaf miner and canker, but is a much younger, smaller tree (planted by my father in 1973) and won't damage any property if it falls.

The information I have been given is that the leaf miner cannot be treated, and in itself makes the tree 'ill' in that it damages the ability to photosynthesise and grow vigorously, but doesn't kill it.  However - if the tree is weakened growth wise by the leaf miner, the canker can grow and spread more rapidly, leading to physical weakness and possible falling boughs/whole tree.  Neither seem to have any viable 'cures'.

[Walker570]

Of course oak trees have a big old tap root so can get down to some moisture but shallow rooted and poplar ar very shallow rooted are suffering. 

[loriusgarrulus]

A lot of trees have been shedding leaves to slow water loss due to the dry weather round here. Noticed a lot of trees have a thinner canopy of leaves that are still green, but lots of shed brown leaves on the grass underneath.