They might be bare, but they are full of promise!

Knowing when a deciduous tree is in its dormant stage is easy to identify thanks to winter leaf drop signifying the start of the dormancy phase. Conversely the development of new leaf growth typically signals the start of spring and the end to this botanical hibernation.

At Speciality Trees a significant block of potting takes place when limbs are bare.

While it seems a difficult task to sell trees that look like sticks at this time of the year, we mustn't forget that these trees are loaded with potential and promise of beautiful things to come. The very first sign of warmth will generate a pattern of continual colour change in these trees making them the most entertaining and visually stimulating range on offer.

Even though the trees sit as tall sticks like soldiers in a row without a skerrick of foliage cover, it is also the perfect time to buy.

The word ‘deciduous’ means to fall off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves. In horticulture, this is a natural process called abscission and in many cases, although not all, leaf loss coincides with winter. 

The beginnings of leaf drop begins when an abscission layer, formed between the leaf petiole and the stem, and subject to a change in the existence of a plant hormone called auxin between the trunk and the leaf, is broken, allowing the leaf to break off. This process starts in autumn.  However, before they shed, nitrogen and carbon is removed from the foliage by the tree and stored as protein. It is this protein that assists the development of new foliage and/or flowers in spring.

So buying and planting in the Winter months is a low-risk thing to do.

For our guide to planting, click here.

Another batch of deciduous trees being loaded on our truck