Five year results of fire mimicry on oaks in Hillsborough, CA

Last week I inspected several coast live oaks that have received three fire mimicry treatments over the past five years. A couple of these oaks have bleeding stem cankers (probably Sudden Oak Death) that have been treated surgically as well. It will be a few more years before I know if the diseased oaks have recovered, but in the meantime these and the other uninfected oaks appear to be doing fairly well.

A couple of the oaks have lost a few limbs in the storms this past year, but are otherwise healthy. I should add that the wet winter has played some role in the improved canopies, however, results from these same oaks in prior years (2013, 2015) indicate noticeable improvement even under severe drought conditions.