What are all the trees dropping on the ground in the spring?
It is springtime!The sun is shining and the flowers are starting to bloom.The trees are getting involved.
There are a lot of tree reproductive parts on the ground around our neighborhood.The brown stringy stuff, the tiny helicopters, and the funny little worm-shaped things are all tree droppings.
The brown stuff falls from oaks in the spring.They are messy and fragile.A lot of tiny grains fall off when you touch one.You can track them in the house with your shoes.
The brown tassels are called catkins.The male pollen structures are produced by oak trees.They hang in the trees like tassels on the end of bike handlebars, releasing their pollen into the wind to fertilize the female flowers.The mats of the stuff are created after the pollen is gone.
There are two large oak trees next to our driveway.The stringy brown stuff that falls from the oak trees covers our cars.When we use a leaf blower on the driveway, it rolls up into mats of tree debris.
What do you do with the oak tree droppings?If you rake up the oak catkins, you can put them in your compost pile or bin.When you add rich compost to your garden, the nutrients will return to the soil.
Many people call the seeds of maple trees names like helicopters or whirlybirds because they spin as the tree falls.A maple tree can make a lot of noise.
The samara is made up of a wing made of papery tissue which is attached to a nutlet.A single tree.You can find them all around the ground if you produce tons of them.Depending on the maple tree species, smarans range in size from very tiny to much larger.
The maple tree helicopter looks like a small fish with a fancy tail at the end.
If you end up with a lot of maple trees in your future soil, I don't recommend adding samaras to your compost pile or bin.
I don't know how to describe the reproductive parts of a tree.The balls are attached to a stem.These are the male flowers of the Sweetgum tree.
Sweetgums have both male and female flowers and are wind-pollinated.The male flowers fall to the ground after releasing their pollen.
They are often laying side-by-side with their fruit, and we call them gum balls.Birds and small mammals eat the seeds from these spiky fruits.These balls are dropped all over the ground.
The spiky balls were used as projectiles to hurl at one another.Don't step on them.It hurts.
There are small worm-like brown things laying on the ground underneath the pine trees.The male pine cones are in the spring.The male and female cones are different from the large brown hard pine cones you are familiar with.
The male cones of the pine tree release pollen into the air to pollinate the female flowers.
The male cones fall to the ground after releasing their pollen.Both types of cones can make a mess if you have a pine tree.
Although the tulip poplar tree has pretty flowers, most people don't notice them as they are high above their heads.You may wonder what the flowers are when they fall to the ground.
There is a fluorescent orange stripe near the base of the tulip tree flower.The pistils and stamens look like a bunch of white matchsticks.
The tulip poplar tree's seeds are brown and thin with wings.In the spring, brown seeds cover the ground because you can see how many seeds each flower produces.
If you find tree debris on the ground in the spring, you can either rake it up or use a leaf blower to create a pile.The reproductive parts of the trees are what will add to the soil.