…….Or can I be forgiven for thinking that it looks like November?
The woodland is looking decidedly autumnal with half the Horse Chestnut leaves lying on the woodland floor.
This is partly due to the little moth that lays its eggs between the 2 layers of the leaf surface, then the caterpillar eats the leaf from the inside,
and partly from the lack of rain that we have had for the past few months.
It is only the rest of the leaves staying green that tell me, yes, we are still in July!
Does your garden play tricks on you?
My neighbor’s large maple tree starts to turn early every summer because of our summer drought. In fact, early leaf drop happens all the time here in the PNW especially to the natives, it’s how they cope with our summers where we normally have so little rain. I’m already seeing a lot of brown in them. The only trick right now that could make me think it was November would be if our rain came back.
We are so used to rain in the summer Alison, there isn’t normally a problem, maybe we will just have to get used to it, I feel sorry for the poor trees though.
Goodness, it does look autumnal. The beech trees are holding their leaves here, for now!xxx
My oaks and ash seem to be hanging onto their leaves Dina, thank goodness, just the horse chestnuts showing signs of stress. More rain definitely needed!
With our summer heat, it only takes a few dry days to start turning leaves brown. But we have fortunately had lots of rain this year, so the garden still looks very green and summery. So far! I hope you get more rain soon!
I envy you your rain Deb, we really could do with it here! We had some Friday night but it didn’t really make any difference to the garden.
Good luck, I hope a nice steady rain finds you soon.
We are jut now sitting through a tropical depression which has worked it’s way up North. We’ve had at least 4 inches already with maybe another three in the forecast. I wish I could share some!
I would love you to share some of your rain with us Frank, maybe it will make its way across to us soon! At the moment we and the rest of Europe, have really hot air coming straight up from Africa, people are warned to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day.
I noticed idly that the ground looked autumnal on our woodland walk last night – thanks for pointing out why. The local reservoirs are looking very empty.
Hi Susurrus, nice to hear from you. We are supposed to get rain tomorrow, lets hope we get some and it doesn’t just pass us by! Reservoirs down here in the SW aren’t too bad but the farmers are feeding winter feed to their animals as the grass has no nourishment any more and fruit & veg growers are are watching their crops wither and die, we certainly need rain!
We have had the moth that wreaks havoc on nearby chestnut foliage for several years now Pauline 🙁 I have noticed quite a number of silver birches with desiccated brown foliage. I think they may be shallow rooted. Here we have a hosepipe ban coming into force soon despite as you know being one of the wettest parts of England!
Yes, Anna, I remember it well, all the rain in the NW, I couldn’t believe it when I saw a hosepipe ban for your area! The chestnuts are continuing to lose their leaves due to the moths, but I’m sure the drought hasn’t helped.
Oh, that’s just painful to look at! We haven’t had a severe drought in years, but the last one drove me to despair. I hope that the summer improves for you, or at least that you have a better autumn.
Even more leaves are down now Jason, but at last we have some serious rain forecast for later in the week, thank goodness. Some plants are doing remarkably well, those who like a hotter climate, those with bulbs or tubers and grasses.
I’ve seen a lot of evergreen trees drop their leaves like that when they are distressed from lack of water. Hopefully it will help them get through the heat and the dry.
I’m hoping too Catmint, that there won’t be any permanent damage and that the trees will recover before next year.
Pauline, does my garden play tricks on me, I should say so, in fact sometimes it leads me up the garden path.
Very good! Thanks for leaving a message.
My garden looks the same. our poor silver birch trees are suffering and the beech trees have decided it’s autumn. Please can you e mail me your address. you have won a copy of Revive your Garden over on my blog. k.gimson@btinternet.com