Sudden Oak Life by Lee Klinger

I recently inspected a grove of oaks that I treated with fire mimicry methods four years ago. Two of these oaks have stem canker infections, possibly Sudden Oak Death, that were present before the oaks were treated. As the photo sets show, the oaks responded dramatically after only one year. The property owners, pleased with the results, opted to not continue treatments of their oaks despite my recommendation that the oaks receive at least three annual treatments. While some of the oaks are still showing improvement four years after the 2012 treatment, these photos demonstrate that the oaks have undergone a clear decrease in canopy density after the initial response. I believe this decline is because they did not receive followup treatments.

Consider the huge volume of soil encompassed by the roots of an oak tree. These soils have been undergoing nutrient depletion for however long its been since a fire last burned, decades, perhaps centuries ago. Reconditioning this large volume of soil by replacing lost nutrients, especially alkaline-rich minerals, takes a significant effort that requires fertilization over several years.

These results further demonstrate the efficacy of the fire mimicry approach. Not only is there a positive response when we apply these methods, there is also a negative response when we forgo these methods.

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Last April (2015) I was contacted by a home owner in Ross, CA (Marin County) regarding a very sick coast live oak tree (above) growing near his home. I promptly inspected the oak and found it was badly infected with a stem canker disease (probably Sudden Oak Death) and told him that I was not optimistic it could be helped. During my inspection I found few other oaks with SOD-like cankers. He asked that I try the fire mimicry techniques to see if they would help his sick oaks.

I visited the oaks last week to inspect and photograph their response. The photos show that the very sick oak has surprisingly responded with a nice flush of leaves in just one year. Several of the other sick oaks have also shown a good response (see below). The sick oak still has a severe stem canker infection and may not survive in the long run, but this is further evidence that we can improve the health and extend the lives of diseased oaks.

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Below are photo comparisons of several coast live oaks that have been treated with fire mimicry techniques over the past few years. Some of the oaks have bleeding stem cankers, possibly Sudden Oak Death disease, though most appear uninfected. Positive responses in canopy density are visible in most of the oaks.

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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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