19 The Marches, Kingsfold, Horsham, England, RH12 3SY
19 The Marches, Kingsfold, Horsham, England, RH12 3SY
Trees draw water from the soil through their root systems. That water travels up through the trunk, into branches, and out via the leaves in a process called transpiration. During a hot, dry summer, soil moisture drops. When roots can no longer access enough water, the effects move upward through the tree and become visible in the canopy.
That is the point at which what looked like a cosmetic problem becomes a genuine safety concern. Tree Marshalls carries out assessments across Surrey and Sussex precisely because many of these problems are not obvious from a distance and are not something most homeowners are trained to read.
Walk up close to a tree that has had a difficult summer, and the leaves often tell you immediately. The edges go brown and crispy while the rest of the leaf stays green. It starts on whichever side of the canopy gets the most direct sun and works inward from there. The tree is not dying from the outside in. It is running a water deficit it cannot close fast enough, and the leaves are where that shows first.
Beech, maple and horse chestnut tend to show this earlier than most. If you have any of those in your garden and the leaf edges look singed or papery, do not just put it down to the heat and walk away. Check the rest of the tree. Look at how much of the canopy is affected.
A handful of scorched leaves after a long dry spell is not the end of the world. The same damage running across most of the crown is a different problem, and the Tree Marshalls team can tell you which one you are dealing with.
Most trees start dropping leaves in October. Some push into November. If yours is losing them in July or August, that is not the season changing early. That is a tree under stress making a decision.
Shedding foliage is how a tree reduces the surface area it has to keep watered when the soil cannot provide enough moisture. It is a practical response to an impossible situation. The tree is not giving up. It is cutting its losses.
One or two branches dropping a few leaves ahead of time is probably nothing to worry about. A tree losing large amounts of foliage across the whole canopy, especially when those leaves look scorched or discoloured on the way down, is worth getting eyes on before autumn storms arrive and test the structure properly.
Stand back and look at the tree as a whole. A healthy tree in full leaf should have a reasonably full canopy. A tree that has had a difficult summer may look noticeably sparse, with sections carrying far fewer leaves than the rest, or with branches that appear bare while the rest of the tree still has foliage.
This thinning is sometimes called crown dieback. It tends to start at the tips of branches and work back toward the trunk. A small amount of dieback at branch tips after a dry summer is common and does not always indicate lasting damage. Dieback that extends back into larger limbs, or that covers a significant section of the crown, suggests the tree has been under sustained stress. Tree Marshalls recommends getting that assessed before the following growing season, not after it.
Rapid swings between very hot, dry conditions and sudden rainfall can cause bark to crack. Those cracks are not just cosmetic. They create entry points for fungal infections, bacteria and pest species that a healthy tree would normally resist without difficulty.
New splits or cracks on the trunk or main limbs, particularly around the base of a mature tree, are worth having someone look at. The crack itself may not be the primary problem. What gains entry through it can be.
Some deadwood in a mature tree is entirely normal. Trees naturally shed smaller branches that are no longer receiving enough energy to sustain. After a hot summer, that amount of deadwood can increase noticeably as branches that were already marginal fail to recover.
Deadwood is a safety issue as much as a health indicator. Dead branches do not bend in the wind the way live wood does. They break. If there is noticeably more dead or brittle material than usual in a tree sitting over a garden, path, vehicle or structure, that is not something to leave until spring.
Tree Marshalls carries out dead wooding and hazard assessments across Surrey and Sussex as part of its tree care work, and these jobs often follow a difficult summer when homeowners start to notice changes they had not seen before.
In Surrey and Sussex gardens, beech, birch and sycamore tend to show drought stress earliest. All three have relatively high water requirements and are among the first to drop leaves or show scorch before more drought-tolerant neighbours show any outward signs of trouble.
Native English oak and hornbeam are generally more resilient. Their root systems tend to go deeper, and their water use is more conservative. That said, even these species will show stress after a severe or prolonged dry period.
Newly planted trees, regardless of species, sit in the highest risk category. Any tree planted within the last two to three years has a limited root system and is largely dependent on moisture in the top layer of soil. These trees need supplementary watering during dry spells and should be checked carefully after any extended period of heat.
If a tree is showing early signs of drought stress and conditions are still dry, deep watering around the base helps. The goal is to get moisture down into the root zone rather than just wetting the surface. A slow, deep soak is more effective than frequent light watering.
Spreading mulch around the base, keeping a clear gap around the trunk itself, helps retain soil moisture and regulate soil temperature around the roots. Avoid compacting the soil near the base through heavy foot traffic or machinery, which restricts the oxygen and water the roots need.
Hold off on significant pruning if the tree is still under stress. Removing foliage reduces the tree’s ability to photosynthesise and recover. Unless there is an immediate safety concern, structural pruning is better carried out once the tree has had a chance to stabilise.
Some of what a hot summer does to a tree is cosmetic and recoverable. Some of it is not. The signs which justify a professional assessment rather than a watch-and-wait approach include significant deadwood in the upper canopy, cracked bark on the trunk or main limbs, major dieback across a large portion of the crown, or any fungal growth visible at the base of the tree.
Trees close to buildings, paths, driveways or structures need to be looked at sooner rather than later if they are showing multiple signs of stress. A weakened root system or compromised branch structure can make a tree unpredictable in the autumn and winter wind conditions that follow a dry summer.
Tree Marshalls carries out tree health assessments for domestic and commercial clients across Surrey and Sussex. Dillon Marshall, the Managing Director, carries out every site visit personally. You get a qualified assessment from someone who will actually be doing the work, not a salesperson passing the job to someone else.
To find out more about the full range of tree care and surgery services Tree Marshalls provides, or to learn more about the team’s qualifications and experience, visit the Tree Marshalls About Us page. For businesses, schools and commercial sites with trees that need professional management, the commercial tree services page covers what Tree Marshalls offers for larger or more complex sites.
Call 07551 525136 or email info@treemarshalls.co.uk to arrange a free site visit. No obligation, no pressure. Just a qualified pair of eyes on your trees before the problem gets any bigger.