trees in distress

The leaves have been falling from the trees around our building I work in for about a month. The rumor was that someone from the Grounds Crew sprayed the trees with pesticide instead of fertilizer, which killed the leaves and made it look like we were in the middle of October. These leaves have sure become the topic to discuss. People come to the front desk just to see what's wrong with the trees.

Well, our whole building received this email from the Dean yesterday...

We have received a visit from the campus Grounds Office with the results of studies and tests conducted on the honey locust trees surrounding our building. As you have noticed (and MANY have called Grounds) the leaves have turned orange and begun dropping very early this year. Tissue samples, soil samples and related materials have been submitted for scientific examination and the results are both good and questionable.

The good results are that the trees are still alive and the various components are healthy and will produce leaves in the normal fashion next year. The questionable part is what caused the unusual event to begin with. No one can determine that cause although several possible theories have been proposed. One idea is a settling of some petroleum products in the ground and the other is the “earthquake sensitive” nature of this particular variety of trees. The trigger for the “earthquake” proposal is the pile-driving activities north of the Marriott Center that may be distressing the trees. No one know for certain but we can all rest easier knowing the trees will come back next spring as normal.

Therefore, all calls to the Grounds Office describing the trees can be curtailed and they can spend less time answering our inquiries.

Thanks for being so observant and concerned.

...you're welcome

p.s. i was not one of the "MANY" who called the grounds office.