While very beautiful, this photo was taken on August 10, 2025.
And these are just two examples of what I’ve been seeing all over the Atlanta metro area during the first full week of August. SO MANY trees are already presenting bright green, even yellow and orange leaves. Some are already shedding. Young trees seem to be more affected.
In my entire life, I have never seen leaves change color so early in the year and I grew up in the Northeast (far colder climate). Usually in Georgia we don’t see changes like this until late September.
What would cause fall foliage to appear over 6 weeks earlier than normal???
GnaphaliumUliginosum
It’s a sign of significant stress, usually from drought. The trees have most of their roots under impermeable tarmac, so will be particularly susceptible.
got-bent
It’s usually because they are stressed. I don’t live in Georgia but we had this happen in upstate New York due to an unusually dry July last year.
pbrevis
With rainfall above normal, one culprit could be nutrient deficiency (particularly Nitrogen deficiency), due to leaching.
A quick experiment applying nitrogen as a foliar spray could show whether or not a tree, or part of a tree, recover their green colour.
cannibaltom
Happening up north in Canada too. Ontario has been experiencing severe heat waves the last two months.
7 Comments
While very beautiful, this photo was taken on August 10, 2025.
And these are just two examples of what I’ve been seeing all over the Atlanta metro area during the first full week of August. SO MANY trees are already presenting bright green, even yellow and orange leaves. Some are already shedding. Young trees seem to be more affected.
In my entire life, I have never seen leaves change color so early in the year and I grew up in the Northeast (far colder climate). Usually in Georgia we don’t see changes like this until late September.
What would cause fall foliage to appear over 6 weeks earlier than normal???
It’s a sign of significant stress, usually from drought. The trees have most of their roots under impermeable tarmac, so will be particularly susceptible.
It’s usually because they are stressed. I don’t live in Georgia but we had this happen in upstate New York due to an unusually dry July last year.
With rainfall above normal, one culprit could be nutrient deficiency (particularly Nitrogen deficiency), due to leaching.
A quick experiment applying nitrogen as a foliar spray could show whether or not a tree, or part of a tree, recover their green colour.
Happening up north in Canada too. Ontario has been experiencing severe heat waves the last two months.
“Lack of rainfall likely cause”
[https://www.insidehalton.com/news/help-your-dying-tree-from-heat-stress/article_43652fa3-b188-56fb-89e3-4ca6b339996e.html](https://www.insidehalton.com/news/help-your-dying-tree-from-heat-stress/article_43652fa3-b188-56fb-89e3-4ca6b339996e.html)
That’s not really fall color foliage that looks more like stressed/sick trees and their leaves yellowing. Not the natural fall color transition
I’m in St. Louis, and we’ve had a very hot and wet summer. My trees have started to change for fall too.