Almost all conifers are evergreens, but there are exceptions: some species shed their needles for the winter. These include swamp cypress and larch.
Taxodium and swamp cypress are large coniferous trees that grow in damp areas and forested swamps in the southeastern United States. For us it is still an exotic plant and you can find it in the parks of the southern coast of Crimea. Although swamp cypress seedlings are appearing in our garden center. But larch is well known to us.

European larch

European larch is distributed throughout Europe. Not demanding on soils. Frost-resistant, resistant to urban conditions. This larch is durable, living up to 500 years or more. The peculiarity of larch is that it is a deciduous tree, that is, the leaves fall off in the winter, and in the spring new green needles appear.
European larch is very large plant Some specimens reach a height of more than 50 m and a width of up to 15 meters; the crown shape is regular and cone-shaped. For such a tree you will need a lot of space on your site. European larch is planted in massifs, groups, alleys, and rows.
Despite the fact that European larch is a fast-growing tree, many people want to plant a ready-made one right away. tall tree. This is not a problem; in the garden center, large larches are dug up with a lump of earth and packed in burlap and netting (if necessary). Special equipment is used to transplant and deliver such a plant. If the size of the plot is small, then the growth of the tree can be restrained by regular pruning or you can choose compact varieties. Larch trees with a weeping crown shape are very beautiful.

Matesequoia

It's deciduous conifer tree up to 40 m high with a trunk diameter of 2.5 m. The crown is slender and cone-shaped. The barrel at the bottom has many indentations and looks very impressive.
The needles are 1-3 cm long and 2 mm wide at first light green and bright, then darken in the summer, before falling in the fall it becomes depending on the location and weather conditions pale yellow or light pink to ruby ​​red and reddish brown. The needles are unusually soft. They grow late - by the end of May, and fall in early November.
Metasequoia is shade-tolerant, but develops better in open areas. It grows quickly, is heat-resistant and frost-resistant down to -30°, wind-resistant, is not demanding on soils, but prefers well-drained, fertile and moist ones, and is stable in urban conditions. In China, it grows successfully on the streets and even along the sides of highways. Looks good near bodies of water.

Coniferous trees with needles falling off in winter

With the word “coniferous” we associate the idea of ​​trees that always remain green, like spruce or pine. Indeed, almost all conifers are evergreen. However, there are exceptions to this rule. What conifers shed their needles for the winter? Ask this question to a person who is not very experienced in botany, and you will get the answer: “larch.” This is correct, but only partly. Indeed, larch turns yellow in the fall, and then completely sheds its soft needles, i.e. it behaves like our northern deciduous trees(hence its name).

But is this the only tree that sheds its needles for the winter? Are there other conifers that behave in a similar way? A person unfamiliar with botany will not answer these questions. Meanwhile, among conifers there are deciduous trees besides larch. Some of them can be seen in the Batumi Botanical Garden.

Here is the first one. In winter, it is very similar in appearance to larch. However, an attentive eye will notice that there is not a single cone on the tree. There are a lot of rhombic, slightly thickened woody plates lying under the tree. Here you can also find winged seeds, reminiscent of pine and spruce seeds, only slightly larger. It is easy to guess that the rhombic plates are nothing more than scales of cones that have fallen from the tree. Consequently, the cones crumble when ripe, just like real cedar. And if so, then it is not larch (its cones never fall apart and hang “intact” on the branches for a long time). Before us is a completely different plant - Kaempfer's false larch (Pseudolarix kaempferi). The area of ​​its natural distribution is the mountains of Eastern China. There it grows in coniferous forests at an altitude of 900-1200 m above sea level. In culture, false larch is valued as an ornamental tree because of its beautiful needles.

The second deciduous coniferous tree is Taxodium distichum. His homeland is North America. The tree is named swamp cypress because it often grows in swamps. It is also not called cypress by chance: its spherical cones resemble the cones of a real cypress. But if the cones of an ordinary cypress are very strong and difficult to break with your hand, then those of a swamp cypress are completely different. As soon as you pick up a mature cone from the ground and squeeze it a little in your hand, it crumbles into pieces.

Swamp cypress has the rare ability to develop special respiratory roots, the so-called pneumatophores. Unlike ordinary roots, they grow upward, rising above the ground. Appearance They are very peculiar - thick, woody shoots of a bizarre shape, looking either like skittles or some kind of knotty bottles. Breathing roots consist of very light, porous wood, although quite strong; there is a channel inside. They are vital for the plant important. Through these shoots, air penetrates to the root system of the tree, hidden in the swamp soil. And the soil of swamps is very unfavorable for plant life due to excess water and lack of oxygen. Without special pneumatophores, the tree could have died. Breathing roots grow from thick horizontal roots spreading from the trunk in different directions.

Thanks to its breathing roots, swamp cypress can grow in areas that are covered with water for weeks or even months. Under these conditions, vertical roots grow to such a height that they are above the surface of the water. Their maximum height reaches 3 m.

In the Batumi Botanical Garden, well-defined respiratory roots can be seen in one of the big trees swamp cypress growing in a very damp place (Fig. 20). Other specimens located in drier areas do not form such roots.

The swamp cypress exhibits the phenomenon of branch fall, which is already familiar to us - in the fall, entire branches fall off along with the needles. True, this does not happen with all branches. Some of them remain on the tree, only needles fall off.

The geographical distribution of swamp cypress is interesting. It currently grows wild only in southeastern North America. But before it was widespread across the globe, including in Europe, where fossil remains of this plant are often found. Swamp cypress is one of North America's most valuable timber trees and is heavily harvested. Its wood is an excellent building and ornamental material; it remains in the soil for a long time.

The foliage of the swamp cypress is beautiful, light green, lacy. This tree is often cultivated for decorative purposes on highly moist soils, along the banks of reservoirs, where other tree species cannot grow.

The third deciduous conifer is the famous metasequoia (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). This tree is in the truest sense of the word “living fossil”: it is as if “resurrected from the dead.” It was found only in fossil form and was considered completely extinct. And suddenly on the 8th of 1941-1942. In one of the regions of China, scientists accidentally discovered a living, rather old metasequoia tree. And a little later, in 1944, a whole grove was found. It turned out that the plant was not extinct at all. This discovery created a real sensation in the botanical world. Zoologists also have similar cases when they find animals that were considered to have long disappeared from the face of the Earth (for example, the coelacanth fish).

It is clear that in the Batumi Botanical Garden, as in other gardens, you can only see young specimens of metasequoia, they are no more than 20-30 years old.

What is metasequoia? This is a slender tree with a straight trunk and a cone-shaped crown, which starts almost from the ground. In summer the tree is very decorative - the crown has a beautiful soft green color. The needles are soft, and individual needles are almost the same as those of a swamp cypress.

In winter, metasequoia does not attract attention to itself - only bare branches. If you look at it from a distance, you won’t even think that it’s a coniferous tree. And even up close you won’t recognize it right away. True, if you look at the ground, you can see that under the tree there are not leaves, but reddish dry needles. More precisely, whole branches with pine needles. Metasequoia, like swamp cypress, is a “branching” tree. IN winter time When there are no needles on the trees, the branches of both plants are quite similar. However, in metasequoia, thin young branches are located differently than in swamp cypress: they extend from thicker branches in pairs, one against the other.

In winter, you can recognize a coniferous tree in a metasequoia by the cones that can be seen here and there among the branches. True, they are small and not very noticeable. Outwardly, they resemble evergreen sequoia cones. This similarity should not be surprising: both trees are quite close relatives. As we already know, one of them grows in North America, and the other in South-East Asia. Again a familiar phenomenon - close relatives on different continents.

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Coniferous trees and their features

Conifers have long and firmly occupied a special place in gardening culture, thanks to their unpretentiousness and durability. Green spaces look spectacular in winter under a cap of snow, which only increases their level of attractiveness.

However, it is worth remembering that not all trees in this group are evergreen. Thus, larch, metasequoia and swamp cypress shed their needles as the temperature drops. In other representatives, the leaves fall off gradually and non-simultaneously. Moreover, the fall does not depend on the season.

The advantages of conifers include:

• Actively used in traditional and alternative medicine;
• Due to the natural correct shape, there is practically no need to form a crown;
• A variety of shapes and types, which makes it possible to use in garden plots of various sizes;
• Good tolerance to lack of water and light.

Coniferous trees with needles falling off in winter

But is this the only tree that sheds its needles for the winter? Are there other conifers that behave in a similar way? A person unfamiliar with botany will not answer these questions. Meanwhile, among conifers there are deciduous trees besides larch. Some of them can be seen in the Batumi Botanical Garden.

Here is the first one. In winter, it is very similar in appearance to larch. However, an attentive eye will notice that there is not a single cone on the tree. There are a lot of rhombic, slightly thickened woody plates lying under the tree. Here you can also find winged seeds, reminiscent of pine and spruce seeds, only slightly larger.

It is easy to guess that the rhombic plates are nothing more than scales of cones that have fallen from the tree. Consequently, the cones crumble when ripe, just like real cedar. And if so, then it is not larch (its cones never fall apart and hang “intact” on the branches for a long time). Before us is a completely different plant - Kaempfer's false larch (Pseudolarix kaempferi).

The second deciduous coniferous tree is Taxodium distichum. Its homeland is North America. The tree is named swamp cypress because it often grows in swamps. It is also not called cypress by chance: its spherical cones resemble the cones of a real cypress.

Swamp cypress has the rare ability to develop special respiratory roots, the so-called pneumatophores. Unlike ordinary roots, they grow upward, rising above the ground. Their appearance is very peculiar - thick, woody shoots of a bizarre shape, resembling either skittles or some kind of knotty bottles.

Breathing roots consist of very light, porous wood, although quite strong; there is a channel inside. They are vital for the plant. Through these shoots, air penetrates to the root system of the tree, hidden in the swamp soil. And the soil of swamps is very unfavorable for plant life due to excess water and lack of oxygen.

With the beginning of autumn, most trees and shrubs shed their leaves in preparation for wintering. Before this process, a change in leaf color is observed. But sometimes it happens that the leaves remain on the branches even when cold weather sets in. Let's find out together why this happens, what it can lead to and how to help the trees.

The role of leaves in the life of a tree

The most the main role foliage - formation of organic products. The flattened leaf plate perfectly absorbs sunlight. The cells of its tissue contain a large number of chloroplasts in which photosynthesis takes place, resulting in the formation of organic substances.

Did you know? Throughout their life, plants evaporate large amounts of moisture. For example, an adult birch tree loses up to 40 liters of water per day, and the Australian eucalyptus (the tallest tree in the world) evaporates more than 500 liters.

Plants also remove water through their leaves. Moisture enters them through a system of vessels that extend from the rhizome. Inside the leaf blade, water moves between the cells to the depressions, through which it subsequently evaporates. In this way, the flow of mineral elements occurs through the entire plant. Plants can adjust the intensity of moisture removal on their own by closing and opening their stomata. If moisture needs to be conserved, the stomata close. This mainly happens when the air is dry and has high temperature. Also, through leaves, gas exchange occurs between plants and the atmosphere. Through their stomata they receive carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) needed to produce organic matter and release oxygen produced through photosynthesis. By saturating the air with oxygen, plants support the life of other living creatures on Earth.

Which trees shed their leaves for the winter?

Falling leaves is a natural stage in the development of most plants. This is how nature intended it, because in a naked state, the surface area for moisture evaporation is reduced, the risk of branches breaking, etc. is reduced.

Important! Leaf fall is a vital process, without which the plant may simply die.

U different types Trees shed leaves in different ways. But the following crops shed their leaves every year:

• poplar (begins to shed leaves at the end of September);
• Linden;
• bird cherry;
• birch;
• oak (leaf fall begins in early September);
• rowan (loses leaves in October);
• apple tree (one of the last fruit crops to shed its leaves - in early October);
• nut;
• maple (can stand with leaves until frost);

Only coniferous plants remain green throughout the winter. At short summer Living conditions for the regeneration of leaves every year are extremely unfavorable. That is why there are more evergreen species in the northern regions.

Did you know? In fact, coniferous plants also shed needles. Only they do this not annually, but once every 2-4 years, gradually.

Reasons why leaves don't fall

Foliage that has not fallen in autumn indicates that the tree’s growth stage is incomplete. This is typical for most cultures of southern or Western European origin. They are not adapted to short-term summers and require a long and warm growing season. However, even winter-hardy crops can remain with green foliage over the winter.

This situation may arise in the following cases:

1. There has been a glut of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. They stimulate the growth process.
2. The dry summer gave way abruptly to a rainy, cold autumn. Moreover, frequent watering only aggravates the situation.
3. The climate is not suitable for this variety. Perhaps the plant did not have time to completely complete the development phase.
4. Incorrect trimming. If this work is done incorrectly and at the wrong time, it can provoke the rapid development of new shoots and leaves.

As a rule, all these factors lead to the fact that the plant enters wintering exhausted, with underdeveloped shoots and with delayed leaf fall. In addition, pathogens of various diseases remain in the leaves, which leads to consequences such as frostbite or burns of fragile branches.

Important! Diseased foliage negatively affects the condition of the entire plant, weakens yield and reduces resistance to pests.

How to help and what to do

Specialists and experienced gardeners know that even trees unprepared for winter can be helped. First of all, it is necessary to develop resistance to frost. To do this you need:

1. Scrape (remove) foliage. This process is carried out by running the palm of the hand along the branches from bottom to top, separating dry and frail leaves. You cannot cut them off by force.
2. Whiten the central branches and trunk of the tree. This procedure must be completed before frost.
3. Create a thermal cushion for the rhizome. To do this, the first snow is trampled down, and a mixture of peat and sawdust is poured on top. The next snow that falls is also trampled down.
4. Limited feeding. In autumn and late summer, you can apply only potassium-phosphorus fertilizers and do not overfeed the tree excessively.

In early spring, plants that have stood with leaves on the branches all winter will need to be fed with potassium sulfate, and in the summer, their crowns will need to be sprayed with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Thus, the process of preparing trees should begin in advance so that they do not stray from the circuit established by nature. Only in this case will the tree meet the frosts strong and give a good harvest the next season.