Rapid response by oaks to fire mimicry treatment

The coast live oaks and one bay laurel in these photos were treated nearly one year ago with fire mimicry. Several of these oaks had stem canker infections (probably Sudden Oak Death), so I used a surgical procedure to remove the cankers on these oaks. The near-term results are impressive and show that oaks can respond rapidly (less than one year) to mindful tending of the plants and soils.

Someday many others will awake to this revolution happening in the oaks forests of California. For my part, that day will arrive one tree at a time . . .

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Oaks responding to fire mimicry after just two years

I started fire mimicry treatments on these oaks just two years ago. I’ll let these photos tell you the rest of the story . . .

Eleven years of fire mimicry . . .

Eleven years ago I began fire mimicry treatments on several coast live oak trees in Fairfax, CA. These oaks represent the longest record of fire mimicry results to date. The oak shown above has had a bleeding canker (probably Sudden Oak Death) for the entire time, and clearly demonstrates that infected trees can survive with proper care for many years. For most of the time, Leith Carstarphen has been implementing the treatments, and as you can see from the photos here he has done and excellent job! Please check out Leith’s website at ecologiclandscaping.com.