Street trees in San Francisco respond to fire mimicry

A few years ago I began fire mimicry treatments on several street trees (young mayten and olive trees) in San Francisco. They were not diseased or stressed but the owners wanted to ensure the health of their trees using natural, non-toxic fertilizers and ecologically-based treatments. Now, 2+ years later, the mayten and olive trees are clearly showing more vibrant, lush canopies. It is interesting to me that even street trees can be aided with fire mimicry treatments.

Grandmother oak, year 3

Three years ago I began fire mimicry treatments on an ancient coast live oak (estimated at over 500 years old) in Loma Mar, CA that shows clear signs of being pollarded and otherwise tended by the Costanoan Ohlone native people. As reported in a previous post on Grandmother oak, the massive tree was heavily overgrown with young bay laurel and Douglas fir trees under and around the canopy. Several of the limbs were dying and the canopy was thin and sickly. We cleared away the young trees, pruned some of the lower branches, removed the mosses and lichens from the trunk, fertilized the soils with compost tea and alkaline-rich minerals, and applied a limewash to the main trunk. The photo sets above and below show how well this oak has responded to the renewed care. Enjoy!

Diseased oaks in Los Altos, CA respond to fire mimicry

Three years ago I began fire mimicry treatments on several coast live oaks and redwood trees in Los Altos, CA. Three of the largest oaks, one of which appears to be an Indian-era tree, had bleeding stem cankers, probably Sudden Oak Death disease. In addition to fertilizing the soils with compost tea and alkaline-rich minerals, I performed several surgical procedures on the stem cankers. While I can’t say at this point that the oaks are free of disease, the photos do suggest that the oaks are on the mend. The two coast redwood trees in the last photo set also show a positive response to the treatments, although the larger redwood is starting to show signs of drought stress (e.g. thinning top). Otherwise, I’m pretty pleased with the results, as are the clients.

Wind-damaged oaks recover with the help of fire mimicry

In late February of 2019 are large wind storm hit Big Sur and damaged many trees. Here I present photos of several coast live oak trees treated with fire mimicry that were affected by the wind event. As you can see, the oaks have recovered nicely.