Trying to predict the peak of fall color year to year is a challenge since much depends on the weather and the microclimate around each tree. Fortunately, Georgia’s variety of tree species ensures you can count on a show of fall colors each year.
Visit our GFC Leaf Watch page, the Georgia State Parks website, and the links listed below for Leaf Watch reports, photo galleries, and more.
Georgia Forestry Commission Forest Health experts say moving firewood has been linked to the spread of destructive, non-native insects and diseases to forest ecosystems. While these pests can’t move far on their own, they can travel hundreds of miles when people move firewood, logs, chips, and mulch. Forest pests can kill our native trees and be very expensive, if not impossible, to control.
Shorter days and cooler nights start a precise clockwork of physical and chemical interactions within leaf cells bringing forests ablaze with color as they prepare for winter dormancy. In response to certain environmental stimuli, leaf pigments begin to reveal themselves in the leaves of Georgia’s deciduous trees. The amount of pigments in trees depends on the tree species, soil composition, and other environmental components.
These are generally considered the fall colors during peak season. Habitat, weather, genetics, and other components can give variations to the general. Nature determines fall color, not exact science.
