Healthy Red Maple - leaves are healthy green - canopy is full - leaves are uniform size
Our record-breaking heat wave is subsiding. But the need to protect Seattle’s trees from ongoing heat-related stress isn’t ending. Even a normal Seattle summer can be hard on our urban trees, and the recent unusual temps have been especially tough. Each tree we can help through the dry season contributes to the City’s goal of increasing our tree canopy coverage from 18% to 30% in the next 30 years.
SDOT’s Urban Forestry division just published a handy reference paper on how to identify a stressed tree and tips for how to care for trees in the heat. Click here for more information and check out the photos below and after the link on the stages of tree stress.
Stage 1 - leaves are lighter green and look wilted - canopy is beginning to thin - some leaves are smaller in size
Stage 2 - all symptoms in Stage 1 are present, but leaves are showing fall color in summer, as tree is shedding leaves to lessen its water needs
Stage 3 - tree has shed leaves and now branches are dying back - at this point a tree can suffer irreparable damage or can die