Case studies | Sudden Oak Life by Lee Klinger

Recovery of a coast redwood after construction damage

6 05 2020

In 2011 I was approached by a land owner who wanted to do construction around the base of a coast redwood. About a quarter of the root system of the tree would have to be removed in the process. I advised fire mimicry treatment of the tree prior to excavation, and follow up treatments afterwards. I told him that the tree would likely show a decreased canopy following the root damage, but that with proper care it could recover. The owner agreed to my plan, so I treated the redwood before construction, and several years post construction. The repeat photo series below shows the progress of the recovery over that past 9 years. This is a fine example of the great resilience of redwoods!

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Categories : Case studies, Fire mimicry, Peninsula, Redwoods, Repeat photography

Coast live oaks, pines, and redwoods in the Bay Area respond to fire mimicry

27 04 2020

Today I inspected several oaks, pines, and redwood trees that have received fire mimicry treatments in recent years. The coast live oak above has been treated periodically for 8 years. The results shown above and below provide encouraging news about our ability to bring sick and diseased trees back to health using an ecological approach to tree care.

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Categories : Case studies, Fire mimicry, North Bay, Oak health, Peninsula, Pine health, Redwoods, Repeat photography, Sudden Oak Death

Results with eucalyptus and various fruit trees

24 04 2020

Last year I began fire mimicry treatments on several eucalyptus trees in Big Sur, CA and assorted fruit trees in Davis, CA. I recently checked on them and it sure seems that these trees fancy the care we gave them. Enjoy!

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Categories : Big Sur, Case studies, Fire mimicry, Repeat photography

Street trees in San Francisco respond to fire mimicry

9 03 2020

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.

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Categories : Case studies, Fire mimicry, Repeat photography

Grandmother oak, year 3

9 03 2020

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!

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Categories : Case studies, Fire mimicry, Native people, Oak health, Peninsula, Repeat photography, Sudden Oak Death

Diseased oaks in Los Altos, CA respond to fire mimicry

7 03 2020

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.

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Categories : Case studies, Fire mimicry, Native people, Oak health, Peninsula, Redwoods, Repeat photography, Sudden Oak Death

Wind-damaged oaks recover with the help of fire mimicry

2 03 2020

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.

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Categories : Big Sur, Case studies, Fire mimicry, Oak health, Repeat photography, Sudden Oak Death

Coast live oaks in Novato, CA respond to fire mimicry

19 02 2020

Last year I began fire mimicry treatments on three coast live oaks in Novato, CA. The first oak, shown in the images above and below (Case Nos. 20190220.1 & 20190220.1b), is an ancient Miwok-era oak with an estimated age of more than 300 years. It was in fairly good health when I treated it and is now showing an even denser canopy than before. Also, note that the last photo set in this series shows two oaks, one treated and the other untreated. The untreated oak is showing some increased browning of the canopy, while the treated oak is showing a clear increase in canopy density.

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Categories : Case studies, Fire mimicry, North Bay, Oak health, Repeat photography, Sudden Oak Death

A Decade of Fire Mimicry

30 12 2019

Dead an dying coast live oak trees in Big Sur, CA

The past decade has been a tough one on California oaks. Tens of thousands of oaks have died and many more are in distress, simply because they are no longer being tended. For millennia the Indigenous People of California used, and still use, fire to improve the health of the native trees and forests.

Also over the past decade I and others have been tasked with restoring to health many of these oaks. During this time we have tended well over 1,000 oaks and other trees, with mostly positive, if not remarkable, results. Due to the severely overgrown nature of fire-suppressed forests, applying fire is not an immediate option. Therefore, we have been developing tending practices that mimic fire in ways that benefit the oaks.

Below are a selection of oaks, one per year of this past decade, that have inspired me to stay committed to tending our oaks. Many of these are legacies of the indigenous past and will, with our help, continue to be legacies in our future.

A decade of healing oaks . . .

Hearst Castle oak – 2010

Fairfax oak – 2011

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Categories : Big Sur, Case studies, East Bay, Fire mimicry, Monterey/Carmel, North Bay, Oak health, Peninsula, Repeat photography, Sonoma, Sudden Oak Death

Fire mimicry results from Boulder Creek, CA

15 12 2019

Last December I gave a talk at the Santa Cruz Public Library on “Living With Fire”. One of the participants asked me to apply the fire mimicry treatments I described on their oaks in Boulder Creek, CA. Here are the results after one year. Note that some of the oaks were diseased, including one that did not survive. Otherwise, most of the oaks are showing a positive response to the treatments.