Oaks in Carmel respond with vigor to fire mimicry treatments

Five years ago I began fire mimicry treatments on these coast live oaks in Carmel, CA. Last week I checked on the oaks and re-photographed them. Here are the results:

Glen Ellen oaks on the mend

Three years ago I began fire mimicry treatments on a number of coast live oaks and valley oaks near Glen Ellen, in Sonoma County, CA. I recently did my annual checkup on these oaks and re-photographed them to assess their response. 

Here are the results.

Hillsborough oaks respond to fire mimicry

Last year I began restoration work using fire mimicry on a stand of oaks in Hillsborough, CA. I did some clearing of woody understory and moss removal from the trunks, and added alkaline-rich minerals and compost tea to the soils. I also applied a lime spray to the trunks.

Here are the results after just one year.

Sick pines respond to fire mimicry

While the focus of work here at Sudden Oak Life is on oak health, there are lots of other kinds of trees that respond to fire mimicry treatments. Today I would like to share with you the results of some work being done on several ponderosa pine trees. These photo sets show how the pines have responded after three years of treatments. Note that the last photo set is of an adjacent UNTREATED pine.

City of Piedmont oaks respond quickly to fire mimicry treatments

In April of 2012 I was asked by the City of Piedmont to treat several oaks along Moraga Ave. that were appearing unhealthy. Some of the oaks were on a cliff, so I set up a belay and worked spreading minerals and compost tea underneath the oak canopies and applying a lime spray to the trunks. In addition to the City of Piedmont oaks, I also treated several oaks on an adjacent private property at the same time.  Here are the results after just one year.

 

Oakland oaks get a reprieve from the chainsaws

Healthy grove of oaks in Oakland slated for removal (January 2013)

As is evident in the city’s name, Oakland was named for the large area of oak woodland that originally grew in the region back when it was settled. These days, however, most of original oaks have died or been removed, and those that do remain are mostly limited to the Oakland hills. So it seems baffling why the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) would want to remove a flourishing oak grove from its lands within the city of Oakland.

Yet that is exactly the situation I came across last month when a friend contacted me about a large oak grove near her home in Oakland that had been slated for removal by EBMUD.  At that time the removal of the trees was imminent. My concerned friend who lives near the oak grove requested I come assess the situation. She felt, based on photographs she had taken, that the oak grove was not in poor health, as was suggested in a consulting firm’s report to EBMUD. The report, written in August of 2010, stated that several oaks were showing signs of the sudden oak death pathogen or were otherwise in poor health, and that the majority of the oaks should be removed. About 50 trees, mostly oaks, but also some redwood, cedar, and pine trees, were recommended and eventually marked for removal.

Oaks in Santa Barbara thriving after 4 years of fire mimicry

I’ve had several recent posts showing how oaks in Santa Barbara are flourishing after fire mimicry treatments. Here is another set of photos from a grove of oaks in Santa Barbara that have been receiving fire mimicry treatments for the past four years. Compare these results with the results in this same grove posted last year after three years of treatments.

Enjoy!