It's only natural to be worried when you see your beautiful evergreens turning brown in the center and needles scattered on the ground. Rest assured, this is just yearly needle shedding, called Fall Needle Drop. Even evergreens can't hold onto all their leaves forever. The older needles, near the interior of the tree, eventually give out. Be patient. There will be new growth next season.
However, look carefully. If more than the inner needles are browning, it could be a totally different problem and you don't want it to get out of hand.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
Great blog.
I just wanted to mention larch. Because they have ‘needles’ some folks think they are evergreens but in fact,they are deciduous conifers.They turn yellow and drop their needles in Fall.
I just mention it because I’ve seen many folks freak when what they thought was an evergreen dropped all its needles!
I didn’t know the time span of pine and spruce shedding the old timers:)Very interesting.
I hadn’t thought of larches. That must be quite a shock to folks who don’t know they’re deciduous, lol. Good point.