Telling The Difference Between Hardwood And Softwood

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.

Telling the difference between hardwood and softwood.

In contrast trees with seeds that are not enclosed are softwood. With this test you press your fingernail against a piece of wood or scratch it along the wood in a direction parallel to the edge of your fingernail. In reality the technical distinction has to do with the reproductive biology of the species. How to tell the difference between hardwood and softwood the general rule for distinguishing whether a wood is hardwood or softwood is to use the fingernail test.

These coatings can either take the shape of a fruit or a shell. Hardwoods shed their leaves over a period of time in autumn and winter. Softwoods are conifers which have needles rather than traditional leaves and retain them through the winter. Softwoods tend to keep their needles throughout the year.

More specifically the type of seeds produced by a tree determines whether it is hardwood or softwood. Hardwood has a slower growth rate. A wood will be classified as a hardwood if the seeds that the tree produces have a coating. Trees with seeds that are enclosed such as within a shell or fruit are categorized as hardwood.

The primary distinction between hardwood and softwood is based on the reproductive biology of the tree species. Softwood is typically less expensive compared to hardwood. 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. Informally trees categorized as hardwoods are usually deciduous meaning they lose their leaves in the autumn.