Hot weather, moths and droughts causing trees to die

CANTON, Mass. — Monday marked the first day of fall, and the leaves are starting to turn crimson and yellow, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.

“This is way too early seeing trees changing color,” says Russell Holman, a certified arborist with the Massachusetts Arborists Association.

He says the vivid foliage already showing is far from a sign of vibrancy.

“We're in the first day of fall. That doesn't mean everything should start to fall now,” Holman says.

But leaves are falling. And the immediate reason is the persistent hot weather, as evidenced by Monday’s 80- and 90-degree temperatures, which is 20 degrees above normal.

“I'd say two weeks from now you'll probably be looking at no leaves left on that,” Holman says.

He says the trees have been taking a beating for a long time. Looking back at 2015-16, Holman says those were two of the worst years in Massachusetts’ history for drought.

Drought, combined with years of gypsy moth invasions, and the result is seen just about everywhere you look.

“With a lot of the global shipping and you know, climate change, we're seeing a lot more trees dying than we'd normally expect,” he says.

One of the easiest ways to tell whether a tree is dying is to look at the trunk of the tree and rub off some bark. If it's green underneath the bark, then the tree is alive; if it's brown, the tree is dead.

“I find it very sad to see all these trees dying. It’s tragic to Massachusetts.”

Cox Media Group