To state the obvious, many of our landscape trees and shrubs really show the signs of excessive heat and extreme drought. Some trees are losing leaves and may be turning color before they drop. Others have turned completely brown while still remaining attached.

Early fall color and/or defoliation is common when plants are under stress and this season has been quite challenging for many trees, shrubs and turf. The intense heat made it difficult for plants to keep up with water and cooling requirements, even in areas where moisture was adequate. Combine extreme heat with drought, and it is a wonder any plants survive.

We can also expect that next year’s foliage and early spring flowers will be impacted by the stressful summer. The buds for next year’s foliage and early spring flower buds have already been formed with likely inadequate carbohydrate reserves.

Deciduous plants (those that lose their leaves each winter) may look brown or defoliated, but may still have viable buds that will leaf out next spring. Cut through a few buds to look for green tissue inside. If buds are brown and crispy, that branch is not likely to survive.

All evergreens shed needles at some time, but healthy plants do not shed all needles at once as deciduous plants do. White pine and arborvitae dramatically drop older needles in late summer or early fall, which might happen earlier this year. However if evergreens are completely brown now, they are not going to leaf out again.