Expert: Jim Hyland - 9/19/2009

Question
What time of year do pine trees shed their needles? I think ours are all finished and my husband thinks they haven't started yet.
Thankyou. We live in Maine

Answer
Most evergreens drop their needles in the fall, but some evergreens shed their needles in the spring or early summer. Each species of evergreen is different. Evergreens that normally shed one-year-old leaves or needles are arborvitae and white pine.

White pines are the most dramatically affected. This species commonly bears three years' needles in the summer and two in the winter. In October or November of some years, this species may have only one year of needles still attached. Matured white pine needles turn yellow throughout the tree. The tree will appear unhealthy when the yellowed needles outnumber green ones of the current season.