Hollies Are Just Letting Go

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Is something wrong with your holly tree? How come so many leaves are turning yellow and falling off? It's probably just spring leaf drop.

Many evergreen trees, including hollies and magnolias decide to drop their oldest leaves around this time of the year. Maybe you never noticed it before or there might be more this year that caught your eye, - sometimes it's up to a third of the leaves. But it usually happens almost all at once - the oldest leaves turn yellow and drop to the ground.

Take a look and you'll see that new leaves are forming on the tree at the same time. Unlike deciduous trees which lose all their leaves in the fall and stand bare all winter, for many hollies, spring is the time to let go of some old leaves. Once those yellowed leaves fall, you can sweep or rake them up and that's it for the year. While the new leaves will unfurl and fill in to keep your holly tree looking full and fresh and evergreen.

Read more about how different evergreen trees shed and refresh their needles and leaves: Clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/plant_problems.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio