Trees in southeastern new england holding onto leaves longer this year

[treetop flyer]

My folks live down the cape and their property got hammered by a big storm a couple months ago. I've heard people talking about the reasons for the extensive tree damage down that way. It seems that locals think that the trees held onto their leaves longer this year which in turn provided wind resistance during the storm...resulting in many healthy "looking" trees that either snapped off half way up or just splintered under the force of the wind. Others seem to relate the problem with the winter moth infestation they have been struggling with for the last few years. Any ideas guys?
Thanks
Treetop


MS200t---gets the job done up in the thin air:chainsawguy:

 

[redstree]

It is true. The trees in southern New England did hold onto their leaves much later this fall. Some trees right up to Thanksgiving. All related to the very warm fall.

I am of the school that believes the leaves are what caused the wind damage. I have seen similar things happen in the past. Even during a normal hurricane season it is the most healthy trees, with the fullest canopies, that suffer the worst damage. Standing dead trees will escape damage but a healthy tree right next to it will lose major limbs.

That is one of the reasons that we regularly thinned our customers trees who lived along the water. The trees with full exposure always suffer the most. Individual trees isolated in a field, trees along the edge of a woods all suffer first, depending upon the wind direction.

 

[Wortown Mick]

Yep. All across new england the leaves held out for alot longer than normal.
I was blowing leaves right into december right up to and during the first snowfall.

 

[timberwolf tree]

ny also we turned around and the leafs were falling on the snow

 

[Caring Arborist]

Leaves longer

Trees definately holding leaves longer.

 

[Justice]

tree's here held their leaves much longer than normal as well.

As far as the damage goes I am not familiar personally with the mentioned situation, but there were probably a couple factors.

Here the Ashes lost their leaves first. Different variates of maples and so on and so on. As some tree's lost their leaves they left tree's exposed that usually had some shelter from direct wind forces. They were still holding their leaves so they still had "sail" and they had not grown (muscle wood) in such a way to compensate for the higher wind forces like trees that are usually exposed to these forces, but had already lost their leaves.

I have seen where one tree that usually takes the full force of the wind falls and right in front of me the next tree and the next fall because they never grew to compensate for the higher forces.

Just one factor.

 

[husker80]

Maybe the leaves are Unionized and they didn't want to give up their jobs for fear of outsourcing next year. :monkey: