Oaks and other trees in Atherton, CA respond to fire mimicry

Last year I (and my dedicated crew) treated several coast live oaks along with a valley oak, a California buckeye, a jacaranda, and an ornamental pear with fire mimicry. Yesterday I inspected and re-photographed these trees. Here are the photos showing the results after just one year. I’m happy to report that most of the trees are showing a noticeable increase in canopy density and greenness. BTW, four of the coast live oaks are infected with a stem canker disease, probably Sudden Oak Death. Bet you can’t tell which oaks are infected!

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Valley oaks in Walnut Creek, CA respond to fire mimicry

I recently inspected a grove of sick valley oaks that have been treated with fire mimicry for the past two years. The results are very encouraging. Most of the oaks have responded with a noticeable increase in canopy greenness and density. Note that valley oaks do not contract sudden oak death disease, but are still declining in many places. They, too, are generally suffering from a lack of ground fires. Fortunately, these results point to a way forward for improving the health of our great valley oaks using fire mimicry practices.

Recovery of oaks following the 2017 Sonoma fires

Yesterday I inspected a grove of oaks that had burned during the 2017 Sonoma fires.  Previous to the fire these oaks had been treated with fire mimicry, which included pruning the lower branches (ladder fuel), clearing away underbrush, removing mosses and lichens from the trunks, fertilizing the soils with compost tea and soil minerals, and applying a limewash to the trunks. During the fires all of the ground vegetation burned, but none of the flames spread into the upper canopies. Thus, all of the oaks survived (as did several nearby homes), and, as the photos show, are doing well after 1.5 years. A caveat – these results are influenced by the spring flush of new leaves, and a better comparison can be made when I visit the site again this October.

These findings represent the combined effects of a ground fire AND fire mimicry treatments on improving the health of California oaks.

Esalen oaks respond to fire mimicry

On April 20, 2012 I gave an Earth Day workshop on at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, where I initiated fire mimicry treatments on several coast live oaks. Since then I have been tending these oaks on a regular basis. Today I inspected the oaks and treated them again. The photos (above and below) show the response after 7 years . . .

Oaks in Burlingame, CA respond to fire mimicry

Last week I inspected a grove of oaks in Burlingame, CA that I’ve been tending with fire mimicry for five years. Here are recent photos showing their progress . . .

Fire mimicry results after 7 years in Hillsborough, CA

Today I inspected several coast live oaks that I began treating with fire mimicry in 2012. the photos above an below shoe the progress of these oaks over the past 7 years. If you believe that these results are due to the recent wet weather, please scroll down to see results from the drought years.

Fire mimicry results on Marin County oaks

This past week I checked on several coast live oaks in Marin County that I’ve been treating for the past 1 to 7 years using fire mimicry techniques. The photos above are of an oak that I’ve treated for the past 7 years. The next two photos are of an oak I’ve treated for the past 5 years. The remainder of the photos are results of oaks I treated last year. I trust you can see the benefits of using fire mimicry in aiding the health of oaks.