Let's re-oak California

Special to Village News

What's more iconic than California's golden hills and dales dotted with the state's native oak trees?

California's landscape has some of the most diverse plants and flora on this planet and it needs our help now. Native oaks are a vital important component of the vegetation of California and they grow in a wide variety of habitats that helps provide a distinctive character to our entire state.

They provide food and shelter for many wildlife species, they stabilize soil and help counteract the "greenhouse effect" by taking up carbon and produce life-giving oxygen.

Within the oak woodland lives multiple forms of life, from frogs, skunks, butterflies, hawks, coyotes, ferns, mushrooms, lichen, worms, varied species of bugs and so much more. It is a rich diversity of a living community and is hard to compare to any other environment. And did you know the oak is our national tree across America?

This rich and natural plant and animal world has been heavily impacted by man. The state has lost over 75% of the oaks that was originally here when the early settlers peered from the top of the Sierra Mountains and looked down upon a sea of verdant oak trees in the vast valleys below. Those settlers found shelter, food and a lifestyle that was their first home in the abundant oak woodlands.

But these forests soon become a resource to exploit and trees were cut down for firewood, wagon wheels, building homes, barrels, ax handles and tools, to mention a few.

Vast agricultural investments in California with massive stands of oaks were replaced for farming and history was lost when the oak woodlands were removed. Entire ecosystems were lost.

Concern for California's native oak heritage has generated tremendous statewide interest in planting the next generation of oaks. Planting efforts can assist Mother Nature in establishing sufficient young seedlings to replace trees that have died or have been removed and may ensure that the magnificent native oaks, which have graced our valleys and hillsides for thousands of years, will be around for the enjoyment of future generations.

I recently attended three days of tree learning program at California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo and came home soaked with new research and information about replenishing our California woodlands. There is poor natural regeneration affecting the long-term fate of these species and residents can help in bringing back the mighty oak.

I have often said that trees are like people, with no two trees exactly alike. Each tree has its own genetic makeup which will vary from site to site. Exposure, soils, water, terrain, nutrition and minerals all come into play in a trees personality and health.

Some trees are strong and vibrant and in good stature, while other trees may not have such good characteristics. So when collecting oak acorns stand back and take these factors into consideration.

The following guidelines provide successful techniques for growing oak trees by collecting local acorns at this time of the year.

I prefer collecting acorns from a mature tree and not from the ground. It may be more difficult, but I never know how long acorns on the ground have been there and perhaps are a bit dehydrated.

The starches and sugars found in an acorn are the lifeline for its germination for a strong seedling grown oak tree. In picking off the tree, use a ladder and collect from the tree's canopy or use a long pole to knock them off. It is best to collect when the acorns are turning from green to brown and come off easily from their caps covering the rounded end of the acorn.

Fill a bucket with water and submerge the collected acorns; those that float should be discarded. Dry the acorns and place them in a plastic bag immediately and store them in the refrigerator and leave the plastic bag open so not to have molds develop.

After this procedure is complete, the acorns are ready to be set into deep tree tubes around December. I recommend a good rich potting soil available at nurseries or farm stores. The acorns are buried on their sides, about 1 inch below the soil surface. The deep tree tube allows the primary tap root to establish itself in the tree growing containers.

Keep them well-watered and, by spring, the first sign of the erupting leaves will break the soil. Allow the new oak seedling to grow to about 18-24 inches before setting them out into their new planting sites. At planting time, I stake the young trees to encourage them to grow straight and have a strong, healthy future.

Understand that you want to consider the right planting site and how large the oak tree will become in years ahead. When laying out the planting area, consider spacing seedlings in a naturalistic manner, rather than in straight rows, using surrounding oak trees as a model if they are in the area.

There are translucent tube shelters that vary in heights that can be placed around the new seedlings, and it encourages tree growth while warding off browsing animals if in a rangeland setting.

Another critical factor affecting young seedlings is competing vegetation like grasses or weeds, which can rob and deplete moisture for the young oak seedling. You can always mulch new seedlings with bark chips, straw, compost, mulching paper or black plastic can be used.

Management in the first few years of development is vital for the success in getting the new trees up and growing. Often I see people who enjoy plant trees but don't really understand the TLC required when setting trees into the ground.

Remember that you are the young oak tree's guardian, and it's like raising children for they need tending and looking after in their growing up years.

I am hoping that this information will alert you to the important issue of our times that the earth needs our help in healing and cooling the planet now, not tomorrow, not next month, but now.

Fall is acorn harvesting time and they are on the trees now, so go out with the children, neighbors or friends and start growing oaks today.

Trees are not the only answer to climatic change, but they may be a big one. More and more people are spending time on trails, in parks and special places. The health and well-being benefits from the transformative power and peace gained from personally experiencing California's infrastructure are dynamic.

The earth, air, and water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So we have to hand it over to them as it was handed to us with all the benefits that nature gives, on this little blue marble floating in space.

Roger Boddaert, The Tree Man of Fallbrook, is the San Diego County adviser for the California Oak Foundation and can be reached at (760) 728-4297 or [email protected] for consultations.