What to do if the trees did not shed their leaves for the winter. Larch sheds needle leaves for the winter, features of deciduous conifers Which coniferous tree sheds leaves in autumn

Well-known and common representatives include the following.

Swamp (double-row taxodium)

The plant is native to North America. It is distinguished by strong wood and the presence of respiratory roots (pneumatophores). The development of the latter is due to the natural range of distribution of the species.

Found in swampy areas of the United States (from Texas to Delaware). Since marsh soil is characterized by a large amount of moisture and a lack of air, respiratory roots provide the plant with an additional source of oxygen. By autumn, not only leaves fall, but also twigs.

False Kempfmer

Outwardly, it is very similar to the Siberian Larch, it is easy for an inexperienced gardener to make a mistake. The difference lies in the fact that this species does not have cones that crumble when ripe into diamond-shaped plates, like in.

The plant's distribution area is the mountains of East China, where the plant forms forests. It has received distribution in landscape gardening culture due to the peculiar beauty of the needles.

metasequoia

The tall tree is distinguished by a straight trunk and a wide conical crown of light green color. The needles of the plant are soft, by autumn they turn yellow and fall, sometimes even along with the twigs.

The speed is different. growth and unpretentious care. It is unstable to temperature fluctuations, but grows better in the humid subtropics, along the outskirts of hollows and river beds.

Metasequoia and Taxodium are related species, despite the fact that they are distributed on different continents. Each of the deciduous species has a number of features, but the seasonal shedding of needles unites them.

Siberian larch sheds needle leaves for the winter, what else is interesting about it

Siberian is distributed in Russia from Sea of ​​Okhotsk before Lake Onega. It is considered the main species that forms the forests of this region.

Features of the species include:

• Unlike other types of wood, over time, the durability of wood only increases, so it is often used in the construction of houses, shipbuilding. In museums, there are products made of larch, which have only darkened over the centuries that have been spent in the barrows of Altai.
• A large number of Russian cities were built on this wood. In addition, it is known that even in tsarist times it was allowed for export. So the piles of houses in Venice were also made from this breed;
• In addition to deciduousness, the plant is different, it can live from four hundred to five hundred years;
• Larch belongs to dioecious plants, that is, both female and male cones are located on the same tree, which is typical for many coniferous species;
• The plant perfectly tolerates not only a decrease, but also a significant increase in temperature. This feature makes it possible to grow it not only in the harsh conditions of the north, but also in the hot south. Drought, with proper care, will not harm the tree;
• Tree trunks are straight, can reach a height of thirty to forty meters. But sometimes they can exceed this size up to fifty meters with a trunk thickness of up to two.

The mechanism of dropping foliage for the winter has developed in larch as a result of climate change. Seasonal cooling significantly impairs the process of enriching the plant with water, and in the presence of green foliage, this deficiency is greatly aggravated.

To avoid the danger of dying due to lack of water and oxygen, larch had to adapt.

Being an unpretentious and hardy species, larch has spread widely in many regions and regions. the globe. It is used both as a horticultural and industrial crop. A tree can not only decorate the site, but also ensure the longevity of the building.

Does fir drop needles for the winter

There are several types of deciduous conifers. Falling leaves in these species arose as a result of adaptation to a cooling climate. However, for most conifers, the preservation of a cheerful green appearance at all times of the year remains characteristic.

One of prominent representatives evergreen plant is considered to belong to the Pine family.

The main features of the species include:

• Unlike other representatives of evergreen trees, fir reproduces not only by seeds, but also by layering, which are formed as a result of the grounding of its lower branches;
• Monoecious - the trees are dioecious, both male and female genital organs are simultaneously formed on the same plant;
• It tolerates shade well, the lack of good lighting does not depress the plant;
• Growth in the first ten years of life is slow and only after that begins to accelerate sharply;
• The average lifespan of a tree is from three hundred to five hundred years, sometimes it can live up to seven hundred;
• Flowering begins at the age of sixty when grown in the forest and at the fortieth in the park;
• Fir cones, unlike pine and spruce, are arranged vertically, resembling candles. They do not fall off, maintaining their integrity, but crumble on a branch, like in cedar and false larch in autumn or early winter.

Since fir belongs to evergreen trees. Unlike larch, this species does not completely shed its needles for the winter.

The renewal of the needles occurs gradually, regardless of the time of year. That is why it seems that the fir does not drop foliage at all.

The common belief that all conifers are evergreen is erroneous.

A striking example of deciduous representatives is considered to be larch - a tree unique in its durability, widespread in horticulture. Used for landscaping areas of various sizes, wood is highly valued in construction.

You will learn more about larch and the secrets of its cultivation when watching the video:

Coniferous trees and their features

Conifers have long and firmly occupied a special place in landscape gardening culture, thanks to their unpretentiousness and durability. Green spaces look spectacular in winter under a snow cap, which only increases their level of attractiveness.

However, it is worth remembering that not all trees of this group are evergreen. So larch, metasequoia and swamp cypress shed their needles with a decrease in temperature. In the rest of the representatives, the leaves fall off gradually and non-simultaneously. Moreover, the fall does not depend on the season.

The benefits of conifers include:

• Actively used in traditional and alternative medicine;
• Thanks to natural correct form, practically do not need crown formation;
• A variety of shapes and types, which makes it possible to use in garden plots various sizes;
• Good tolerance of lack of water and light.

Coniferous trees with needles falling for the winter

But is this tree alone shedding needles for the winter? Are there any other conifers that behave in a similar way? A person unfamiliar with botany will not answer these questions. Meanwhile, among the conifers there are deciduous trees, and in addition to larch. Some of them can be seen in the Batumi Botanical Garden.

Here is the first one. In winter, it is very similar in appearance to larch. However, a careful eye will notice that there is not a single cone on the tree. Under the tree, there are a lot of some kind of rhombic slightly thickened woody plates. Here you can also find winged seeds, reminiscent of pine and spruce seeds, only somewhat larger.

It is easy to guess that rhombic plates are nothing more than scales of cones that have fallen from a tree. Consequently, the cones crumble when ripe, like a real cedar. And if so, then this is not a larch (her cones never crumble and hang “whole” on the branches for a long time). Before us is a completely different plant - the false Kaempfer larch (Pseudolarix kaempferi).

Second deciduous conifer tree- taxodium two-row, or swamp cypress (Taxodium distichum). His homeland North America. The tree is named swamp cypress because it often grows in swamps. It is also called cypress not by chance: its spherical cones resemble the cones of a real cypress.

Swamp cypress has a rare ability to develop special respiratory roots, the so-called pneumatophores. Unlike ordinary roots, they grow upward, rising above the ground. Appearance they are very peculiar - thick, woody processes of a bizarre shape, looking either like skittles or some kind of knotty bottles.

Respiratory roots are composed of very light, porous wood, although quite strong; a channel runs inside. They are vital to the plant. Through these processes, air penetrates to the root system of the tree, hidden in the marsh soil. And the soil of swamps is very unfavorable for plant life due to excess water and lack of oxygen.

Discard needles as they die, especially in spring, without exception, all coniferous trees. Only cedar can really be called evergreen, it grows where there is never winter and frost. And in winter, larch needles drop to the ground. Its needles are thick, but soft compared to spruce or pine. By autumn, the needles on larch turn into a soft golden color, and by the beginning of winter they fall off like ordinary leaves on all of our familiar hardwood trees. It is for this property that the tree got its name.

About larch.

Larch is not demanding on the soil, it is not afraid of blizzards and very coldy, do not break its branches and strong winds. Larch has a very strong and so heavy wood that it sinks in water. Meanwhile, it larch was previously used to build ships. Its wood has a lot of resin and therefore it does not rot for a long time. And in the old days, larch wood was used to build houses standing on wet grounds, and until now, a floor made from larch is considered the best, second only to oak and beech in quality.

With the onset of autumn, most trees and shrubs shed their leaves in preparation for wintering. Before this process, a change in the color of the leaves is observed. But sometimes it happens that the leaves remain on the branches even when cold weather sets in. Let's find out together why this happens, what it can lead to and how to help the trees.

The role of leaves in the life of a tree

The most the main role foliage - the formation of organic products. Flattened sheet plate perfectly absorbs sunlight. The cells of its tissue contain a large number of chloroplasts, in which photosynthesis takes place, resulting in the formation of organic substances.

Did you know? Throughout life, plants evaporate a large amount of moisture. For example, an adult birch loses up to 40 liters of water per day, and Australian eucalyptus(most tall tree in the world) evaporates more than 500 liters.

The leaves of the plant also remove water. Moisture enters them through a system of vessels that stretch from the rhizome. Inside the leaf plate, water moves between cells to depressions, through which it subsequently evaporates. This is how the flow goes mineral elements through the whole plant. Plants can adjust the intensity of moisture output on their own by closing and opening the stomata. If moisture needs to be preserved, the stomata close. This mainly happens when the air is too dry and has high temperature. Also, through the leaves, gas exchange occurs between plants and the atmosphere. Through their stomata, they take in the carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) necessary for the production of organic matter and release the oxygen produced during photosynthesis. By saturating the air with oxygen, plants support the vital activity of other living beings on Earth.

What trees shed their leaves for the winter

Leaf fall is a natural stage in the development of most plants. This is how nature intended, because in the naked state, the surface of evaporation of moisture is reduced, the risk of branch breakage, etc. is reduced.

Important! Leaf fall is a vital process, without which the plant can simply die.

At different types Trees dropping leaves takes place in different ways. But the following crops shed their leaves every year:

• poplar (begins to drop leaves at the end of September);
• Linden;
• bird cherry;
• birch;
• oak (leaf fall begins in early September);
• mountain ash (loses leaves in October);
• apple tree (one of the last fruit crops that shed their leaves - in early October);
• nut;
• maple (can stand with leaves until frost);

Did you know? In fact, conifers also drop needles. Only they do it not annually, but once every 2-4 years, gradually.

Reasons why leaves do not fall

Leaves that have not fallen in autumn indicate the incompleteness of the tree growth stage. This is typical for the most part for cultures of southern or Western European origin. They are not adapted to short summers and need a long and warm growing season. However, even winter-hardy crops can stay through the winter with green foliage.

This situation may arise in the following cases:

1. There was a glut of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. They stimulate the growth process.
2. A dry summer quickly gave way to a rainy cold autumn. In this case, frequent watering only exacerbates the situation.
3. The climate is not suitable for this variety. Perhaps the plant did not have time to fully complete the development phase.
4. Wrong cut. If this work is done illiterately and out of time, it can provoke the rapid development of new shoots and leaves.

Important! Diseased foliage negatively affects the condition of the whole plant, reduces yield and reduces resistance to pests.

How to help and what to do

Specialists and experienced gardeners know that even trees unprepared for wintering can be helped. First of all, it is necessary to develop resistance to frost. For this you need:

1. To sniff (remove) foliage. This process is carried out by running the palm of the hand along the branches from the bottom up, separating the dry and frail leaves. You can't force them to break.
2. Whitewash the central branches and trunk of the tree. This procedure must be performed before frost.
3. Create a rhizome thermal cushion. To do this, the first snow is trampled down, and a mixture of peat and sawdust is poured on top. The next fallen snow is also trampled down.
4. Limited feeding. In autumn and late summer, only potash-phosphorus fertilizers can be applied and the tree should not be overfed.

Almost all conifers are evergreens, but there are exceptions among them: some species shed their needles for the winter. These include swamp cypress and larch.
Taxodium, swamp cypress - large coniferous trees that grow in damp places and forest swamps in the southeastern United States. For us, it is still an exotic plant and you can meet it in the parks of the southern coast of Crimea. Although swamp cypress seedlings appear in our garden center. But larch is well known to us.

European larch

European larch is distributed throughout Europe. It is not demanding on soils. Frost-resistant, resistant to urban conditions. This larch is durable, lives up to 500 years or more. The peculiarity of larch is that it deciduous tree, that is, the leaves fall for the winter, and in the spring it has new green needles.
European larch is a very large plant. Individual specimens reach a height of more than 50 m and a width of up to 15 meters. The shape of the crown is regular, cone-shaped. For such a tree on your site you will need a lot of space. European larch is planted in arrays, groups, in alleys, in rows.
Despite the fact that European larch is a fast-growing tree, many people want to immediately plant a ready-made tall tree. This is not a problem, in the garden center large-sized larches are dug out with a clod of earth and packed in burlap and netting (if necessary). In the transplantation and delivery of such a plant, a special technique is used. If the size of the plot is small, then the growth of the tree can be restrained by regular pruning or compact varieties can be chosen. Very beautiful larches with a weeping crown shape.

matesequoia

This is a deciduous coniferous tree up to 40 m high with a trunk diameter of 2.5 m. The crown is slender cone-shaped. The barrel at the bottom has many recesses and looks very impressive.
The needles are 1-3 cm long, 2 mm wide, at first bright light green, then darkens in summer, before falling off in autumn it becomes depending on location and weather conditions pale yellow or light pink to ruby ​​red and reddish brown. The needles are extremely soft. They grow late - by the end of May, and fall off in early November.
Metasequoia is shade-tolerant, but develops better on open places. It grows quickly, heat-resistant and frost-resistant down to -30°C, wind-resistant, not demanding on soils, but prefers well-drained, fertile and moist, resistant in urban conditions. In China, it grows successfully on the streets and even on the sides of freeways. Looks good on waterways.