You’ve probably noticed a lot of trees in Southwest Florida have turned brown recently, but what’s causing this?
Board-certified master arborist Chris Comer said he thinks Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton are to blame.
“We're experiencing some leaf desiccation. It's when the leaves dry out. Basically, it's the wind whipped the leaves around and sucked all the moisture out before the leaves could rejuvenate themselves,” said Comer.
The hurricanes also put a lot of stress on the trees and brought in a lot of salt water.
“The salt water can have that effect. If you live on the coast and you have that salt spray, it can definitely dry it out. Also, the roots taking up the salt can cause a lot of desiccation as well,” Comer explained.
The good news is that Comer said the trees should heal on their own.
“A lot of the times after these storms, we do too much. We come back, and we try to overwater, and we overfeed, and we're adding more salt. The best option right now is just to leave them alone, see what they do, let them come back,” said Comer.