09/02/2026
After a hot, dry summer, Douglas firs across the valley start showing brown or rust-red tops.
That is drought stress showing itself. A long, hot stretch late in summer injures the tree, and the damage often does not appear until the following spring, so the color tends to arrive in waves rather than all at once.
Young firs take the worst of it, roughly twenty years old and under. So does any tree on shallow or poorly drained ground, where the roots cannot keep up with the crown above them.
A stressed fir also becomes an easier target. Bark beetles, twig weevils, and stem cankers move into trees that are already struggling, and that is usually what finishes them off.
A brown top does not settle the question on its own. It does tell you the tree is worth a look before winter wind gets hold of a weakened crown.
Have a fir that changed color this summer? We will come out and take a look at it.
https://l.stumpspecialist.com/sp/53cb6078db4
