Oaks and madrones in Felton, CA thriving after mimicry treatments

Coast live oak with roots compromised by adjacent construction still faring well

In November 2020 I began fire mimicry treatments on several coast live oaks and Pacific madrones in Felton, CA. Last year, when I checked on these trees, they were already showing a nice improvement (see here). Now after two years nearly all of the trees are showing noticeable positive responses to the treatments, even at the height of drought conditions. Several of the oaks have undergone major stem canker surgeries, but still seem to be on the mend. Hope you enjoy these results as much as these trees.

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More photos showing a surgery on a stem canker infection in a coast live oak

Here are a set of photos showing a surgical procedure on a coast live oak in Santa Cruz, CA infected with a stem canker disease (probably Sudden Oak Death). This is a good example of a major infection that appears minor at the surface. The surgery ended up being fairly large for a tree this size, but I do believe the oak will recover.

Fire mimicry responses of 20 oaks in Soquel, CA

In 2019 I began fire mimicry treatments on a grove of 20 coast live oaks in Soquel, CA, including several “Ancestor” oaks (ancient oaks that were pollarded and otherwise tended by the Ohlone people). Today, I inspected and re-photographed the oaks, with the results shown here. While most of the oaks show noticeable increase in canopy density (leaf area), a few of the oaks have shown little improvement, and one oak died in 2021. Still, I continue to be encouraged by these and other results. Enjoy!

Coast live oaks before and after fire mimicry

My latest results of coast live oaks before and after fire mimicry treatments.

Oaks in Felton, CA respond to fire mimicry despite drought conditions

Last year we treated several coast live oaks, some of them ancestor oaks, with fire mimicry on a property in Felton, CA. They all received compost tea, soil minerals, and limewash, and some of them also had stem canker surgeries. Here are the results, a pretty decent recovery IMO after only one year, under drought conditions …