More coast live oaks on the mend

Here’s further evidence that fire mimicry treatments are helping our diseased oaks. In 2005 I began treatment of two sick coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) growing in acidic soils in Mill Valley, CA. Each of the oaks had thin canopies and bleeding stem cankers. The owner informed me at the time that UC Berkeley scientists had confirmed the presence of Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) in trees on the property.

The photos below show how, after four years, the oaks have responded to fire mimicry treatments. The first photo shows a nice recovery of the leaf canopy, and the second photo shows how well the oaks are able to fend off the stem cankers. Bleeding is seen to have completely ceased in one of the oaks in less than four years!


UC scientists and other Sudden Oak Death researchers, those who truly want to help the oaks – we should be talking. Comments, at least?

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Using fire mimicry to treat early leaf senescence in California buckeyes

The buckeye (Aesculus californica) is a deciduous tree, low and broad in stature, that is endemic to California. Every year these trees extend their gratitude by offering up a harvest of enormous size nuts. The species is a vital part of the California ecosystem and ever so worthy of our attention. Some even believe that tending the buckeyes is a responsibility passed on to us by the native people, who for the past few thousand years have been tending California’s buckeye groves.

Buckeyes do very well in open forests and savannas, especially in places where fires have been allowed to burn. However, on unburned lands buckeyes are often seen to be in poor health. Where forests are overgrown and acidified the buckeyes are experiencing serious health problems, including stem failure, canopy dieback, and any numbers of leaf blights including anthracnose and sudden oak death.

One of the first symptoms of ill health in buckeyes is the early seasonal onset of leaf senescence. Several years ago an astute friend of mine began noticing that for several years the buckeyes near her home had been losing their leaves earlier than usual. She contacted me about the problem and I suggested we try fire mimicry, the same treatments that I’ve been using on the oaks.

After four years of ongoing treatment here are the results . . .