Kansas City’s Summer Heat Can Lead To Need For Gutter Guards

Kansas City heat can damage trees. Falling leaves clog gutters. Gutter guards will help prevent clogged gutters.

Trees shed foliage and lead to clogged gutters if not properly cared for with gutter guards..  When temperatures begin to rise, trees and foliage are at risk of falling under stress, just like their human caretakers. Heat stroke hits new, old and soil-limited trees and shrubs hard by heat and drought. High temperatures and dry conditions can affect plants in negative and often fatal ways, causing dead leaves to fall and clog gutters. Trees thrive in temperatures ranging from 70 to 85 degrees, much like us. High heat can kill once healthy trees. Once temperatures rise above this, they are at a much higher risk of death. Kansas City is known for hot summers.  Trees have a heat threshold of about 115 degrees, depending on age, mass, water content and the ability of the tree to adapt to changes in climate. Trees sweat. In order to sweat, leaves must be full of water. Trees can shed their heat loads by sweating if they have enough moisture in their soil. But excessive heat decreases moisture in the air and causes leaf pores to close, preventing a tree’s ability to self-cool. Without this major cooling method, trees must rely on other ways to cool down like long-wave radiation and wind cooling. As a tree tries to cool itself down, it may lose its leaves and clog an unprotected guttering system. Use gutter guards to protect gutters from clogging. Roots also have difficulty absorbing water in high temperatures and often lose water faster than they can absorb it. A tree attempts to compensate during the night and can pull in 20-40% of its water supply through its roots. The plants will drop their oldest foliage from previous years under this kind of heat stress. This is a way for the trees to protect themselves from dehydration, but when this happens homeowners need gutter guards from Gutter Cover of Kansas City.