An Ecological Approach to Sudden Oak Death Prevention

In workshops offered recently by Hidden Villa, ecologist Lee Klinger demonstrated ways to prevent Sudden Oak Death. If you've driven through our hills and noticed whole oaks turned brown and dead, you may be looking at an example of this blight on our oak trees.
Klinger's method mimics the effects of forest fires. His theory is that oaks are fire-adapted and thus need periodic fires to remain healthy.

“Fire replenishes minerals, removes competition and reduces sources of acidity such as mosses and lichens.” With Sudden Oak Death, the plant pathogen, phytophthora ramorum, attacks the trees through the trunks.

To mimic the effects of forest fires, he recommends cutting back underbrush that crowds the tree, removing mosses and lichens from the trunk of the oaks, spraying the tree trunk with lime, adding minerals to the soil and topping with compost and mulch.

Read more in the Los Altos Patch