Fairfax County Welcomes Fall Earlier This Year

Rev. Dr. Kay Rodgers of Reston has to sweep the red berries that fell onto the sidewalk from her Japanese dogwood tree in the mid-August this year. Normally she does so into Fall. She believes that Fall has arrived earlier this year.

According to Vienna Connection, "A woman sweeping leaves from the sidewalk of her townhouse community near the Fairfax County Government Center on a Wednesday evening Aug. 7 admits it’s uncommon for her to do this chore during summer and wonders why. A woman in Centreville rakes the leaves from her yard on a Friday afternoon Sept. 6 off Little Rocky Run Circle. Experts say many factors contribute to the early defoliation of some area trees and it takes several years for these causes to take their cumulative toll." Forest health manager Lori Chamberlin says, "Advanced tree age and prolonged periods of drought are also common predisposing factors in Virginia." As per the Vienna Connection, "Inciting factors are short-term incidents that rarely kill the tree but add to its decline. Frost, drought and defoliating insects fall into this category. It can take an oak tree up to 10 years to respond to any of these."

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