RENEGADE GARDENER™
The lone voice of horticultural reason
Don’t freak out in fall when your evergreens develop orange needles that drop off.
It’s that time of year when people e-mail me, concerned because some of the needles on their pine trees are turning orange and dropping off.
Perfectly normal, and nothing to worry about. Upon closer inspection, you’ll see that these needles are interior needles. Pine, spruce, arborvitae, fir, hemlock, cypress, sequoia, about every evergreen I can think of drop needles from previous years in the fall. Due to their large needles and more open habit, pines are among the most noticeable.
It’s a fine and natural thing. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t have that beautiful orange carpet of needles gracing the area around them.
Don Engebretson
The Renegade Gardener