When the winter is coming, animals bustle around to make preparations for the cold. Some store food in many places, or some eat a large portion and save it inside their bodies, and some prepare a place for hibernation. Then, what about trees which are immobile?
In winter, the amount of sunshine reduces and it gets dry, which makes it hard to make nutrient through photosynthesis. So when it starts cooling down, trees stop growing so that they can store nourishment and moisture, and they shake off their dense leaves.
This is how a tree shakes off its leaves. First, it moves the leaves’ nourishment to the stems and then it makes a strong cell layer called “abscission layer” in the petiole. Then the nutrition cannot pass through as the passage between the leaf and the branch gets blocked. Once the remaining chlorophyll is destroyed, the colors that were hidden behind it are revealed, which is why the once-green leaves turn red or yellow. The leaves dry little by little like that, and fall to the ground when the wind blows. The autumn leaves which please our eyes are actually a phenomenon that occurs while the trees get ready for winter.
Trees make a festive mood, decorating the mountains and streets in all different colors as if they are telling us that they are not afraid of winter. With that beautiful preparation, trees overcome the north wind and snow.