Welcome to Hamlen's
Helping Hand!
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6th Newsletter of 2009

Computer Landscape Design Seminar
Wondering how to landscape your home? Have the expertise of a landscape designer help you turn your dream design into a workable plan. This 30 minute session is only $25.

Nursery Stock "Blow Out" Sale
Visit us for great pricing on remaining nursery stock.
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The 1818 Rachel Hamlen homestead is looking for a new owner! Rachel’s lovely vintage home on St. Albans Road would be the perfect location and fit for a family, a cozy B&B, or an ice cream parlor/café restaurant. Interested? Give Dave a call at Hamlen’s (802) 868-4255.

Address: 165 ST. Albans Rd., Swanton, VT. 05488

There are two types of trees: deciduous and evergreen. In the fall, the deciduous trees turn color and drop their leaves, making autumn a beautiful season painted with red, orange and yellow. The evergreen trees have “needles” for leaves and remain green all year long, forming a picturesque backdrop to the more brightly colored deciduous trees.

In the Northern Hemisphere, we know this process begins in September…but in the Southern Hemisphere, it begins in March, which is the onset of autumn there!

Many people wonder why the deciduous trees’ leaves change color and drop off. First, it helps to remember that to survive, trees need to: 1) gather sunlight, and 2) retain moisture. The evergreen trees are better at retaining moisture, because their needles are coated with wax, which keeps the moisture in. But because the needles are small, they’re not as efficient at gathering sunlight.

Since the deciduous trees have larger leaves, they’re better at gathering sunlight. But they’re not as efficient at retaining moisture, so they drop their leaves as the air gets colder. This keeps the tree from drying out, since cold air can’t hold as much moisture as warm air. It sounds simple, but there are many complex changes going on!

One thing that makes a difference is that the nights get longer in the fall. A chemical called “chlorophyll” gives leaves their green color. Chlorophyll also changes sunlight into food for the trees during spring and summer (this process is called “photosynthesis”). When there is less sunlight because of longer nights in the fall, the chlorophyll breaks down and the other colors (yellow, orange, red) begin showing through. It turns out that these colors were there all along, also helping with photosynthesis! Their chemical names are “xanthophyll” (which gives leaves the yellow color) and “carotene” (which gives leaves the orange or red color).

The spectacular bright purple red color that also shows in some trees comes from a chemical called “anthocyanin”, but this only happens when there are enough warm summer days in the fall. If it’s too cloudy, not enough of this chemical is produced to make the bright red fall colors. This helps explain why some autumns might not seem as colorful as others that you remember.

As we enjoy the beauty of this autumn, we’ll also appreciate nature’s amazing show going on “behind the scenes”!

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Something’s bruin…

Two guys are out in the woods hiking. All of a sudden, a bear starts chasing them. They climb a tree, but the bear starts climbing up the tree after them. The first guy gets his sneakers out of his knapsack and starts putting them on. The second guy says, “What are you doing?” His friend says, “I figure when the bear gets too close, we’ll have to jump down and make a run for it.” The second guy says, “Are you crazy? You can’t outrun a bear!” The first guy says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you…”

GCPS November 2008

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"Though a tree grows so high, the falling leaves return to the root."
Malay proverb

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