The deciduous birch inspires year after year with its colorful leaves. It is all the more surprising for hobby gardeners when the deciduous tree suddenly gets yellow leaves in the hot season and loses them. How can it come to that? You can find the answer to this question in our post.

If the birch loses leaves in summer, it is probably sick

Is losing leaves in summer a bad sign?

Yes, unfortunately. While it is quite normal in the autumn season for birch leaves to turn from a deep green to a beautiful golden yellow and finally to fall off, this process actually has no place in summer. That is, leaf loss indicates there is a problem.

The good news: once you get to the bottom of this problem, it is generally easy to take appropriate countermeasures and avoid further leaf loss in the summer.

Possible causes of birch leaf drop in summer

If your charming birch tree suddenly loses leaf after leaf in summer, this can have three main reasons:

  • lack of water
  • lack of light
  • Diseases)

lack of water

Even if the birch is very easy to care for, it is important to avoid prolonged dryness. Otherwise, yellow leaves and then leaf loss in summer are not uncommon. So you should make sure to water your birch regularly.

lack of light

Birch trees prefer sunny to light semi-shade. If the location is too shady, the leaves (already) tend to shed in summer.

Diseases)

If you can rule out both a lack of water and light as the cause, it is probably diseases, fungi or pests that are causing problems for your tree and are therefore responsible for the loss of leaves in summer. In this case, the yellow discoloration and the later shedding of the leaves serve self-regulation and recovery.

Prevent leaf loss in summer

Dehydration is the easiest thing to fix. When there is a lack of light, it becomes a bit more difficult. Perhaps you can trim other trees so that the birch gets more light? Or do you even have the option of transplanting them to another location? In the case of diseases, fungi or pests, it is important to get to the bottom of the exact cause and take appropriate countermeasures.

Note: Please note that in some years birch trees tend to drop their leaves without a really obvious or preventable or combatable reason.

Category:

Trees