The Difference Between Hardwood And Softwood Trees

Unlike hardwood trees that lose their leaves and go dormant in the winter softwood trees keep their leaves and remain active.

The difference between hardwood and softwood trees.

In reality the technical distinction has to do with the reproductive biology of the species. The primary difference between hardwood and softwood trees in a landscape is that hardwoods shed their leaves once a year whereas softwood trees retain their leaves throughout the year. Softwoods are conifers which have needles rather than traditional leaves and retain them through the winter. Key difference between hardwood and softwood.

The primary distinction between hardwood and softwood is based on the reproductive biology of the tree species. You can generally tell the difference between a hardwood or a softwood by looking at the seeds around the tree. Botanical difference between hardwood and softwood gymnosperms and angiosperms image. Trees with seeds that are enclosed such as within a shell or fruit are categorized.

This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a. Wikimedia commons coming to the reproductive description in botanical terms softwood trees are gymnosperms whereas hardwood trees are angiosperms the seeds of hardwood trees will have a shell or a fruit. Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods. Informally trees categorized as hardwoods are usually deciduous meaning they lose their leaves in the autumn.

If your landscape consists primarily of softwood trees you won t have to worry about leaves blanketing your lawn and restricting your grass of sunlight.