Dead bits on Cupressus

[tim]

Why should a fir - 54' tall - suddenly have dead ends? They are not the bunches of cones. Today, all the dead stuff is on the ground & the tree looks normal.

[tim]

[Twospot Ladybird]

Drought?

[tim]

It was certainly a dry summer, but we've had much dryer?

[Palustris]

Could just be that for some reason the normal shedding of old leaves, which conifers do all year, did not take place and the dead material stayed on the tree. Conifers do tend to shed old leaves at this time of year, but since they remain green rather than bare we do not notice quite as much. Drought certainly would play a part in this. We may have had hotter droughts but this Summer has seen a very large reduction in the amount of rain.

[tim]

Thanks - both!

[ruudbarb]

It was certainly a dry summer, but we've had much dryer?

Also wind Tim - and salt spray from the roads is lethal.