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ERIE, PA (Erie News Now) – It’s only August, but you may have noticed leaves falling off your trees already and you wouldn’t expect to hear the crunch of leaves on a walk in the summer.
Leaves are already falling on the ground, but the question is why?
Experts say it’s happening due to weather.
Mark Spitulski, the owner of MKS Arborist Services explained, “With the amount of rain that we had this spring, when the rain hits those leaves, it causes spores to spread throughout the crown of the tree and that’s why we are seeing that early leaf drop this year.”
Spitulski said this is commonly known as anthracnose which affects the red and silver maple trees.
“The tar spot is what’s causing all the early leaf drop that we are seeing specifically on the Norway Maple trees”, Spitulski elaborated.
Foresters from the DCNR agree, the weather is to blame for the falling leaves.
Cecile Stelter, the District Forester said, “I think the extremes is what’s contributing to some of the premature leaf fall. We had an early spring, we didn’t have any lake frosts.”
Erie County isn’t the only place losing leaves. Experts said the problem isn’t just in Erie but all of our surrounding counties as well throughout Northwest Pennsylvania, like Venango County, Crawford County, and Warren County.”
Arborists said there’s nothing that can be done this year and you shouldn’t worry about next year yet.
“This disease does not kill your tree, you do not have to panic and go cut your trees down. The tree might event re-leaf out this year or it will real leaf out next year”, explained Spitulski.
Experts biggest piece of advice is to rake up your leaves so the diseases don’t spread to other plants or grasses.
They also said if you are concerned about your trees then to get them inspected by an arborist.
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