Oak Abuse: Progress - all the way to the drip line

I have told versions and parts of this story dozens of times on this blog, but I can't convey the importance of the photographs below without telling it again.

I got into this whole wacky oak caper back in the 80s.  I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and watched new housing development after new housing development roll over the oak woodlands where I used to hike, run, fish and (if we're being honest) blow things up and generally goof around.  In high school I worked at a local nursery and garden center loading up cars with the crushed landscape rock, plastic weed fabric and edging, seedless green ash trees and Crimson King Norway maples that replaced the oaks that were lost (oaks, of course, were far too "slow growing" and "messy" to plant back into the landscape).

I entered the Urban Forestry program at the University of Minnesota to learn how homes could be built in wooded areas with a minimum of damage.  I quickly learned that greater minds than mine (and I have yet to find another forester's mind that isn't) had already figured this out.  So I decided to be the guy who would bridge the gap between foresters and the rest of the world - developers, builders, homeowners - and bring that information to a wider audience.  My one and only attempt to make myself useful.

I started a non-profit organization called Lasting Woodlands, and put out a kind-of-sorta-when-I-had-the-time-and-money-bi-montly newsletter, put on seminars, spoke to builders and realtors groups and generally made a pompous nuisance of myself.  We're talking a lot of very late nights at Kinko's.

Lasting Woodlands was mostly famous for putting the non- in non-profit, and died a slow death in the 1990s as my other career - that of tree tube peddlar - demanded more and more of my time. Equally unprofitably.

But my interest in and passion for protecting construction zone oak trees has never abated, and I have continued to try to use every forum possible to spread the word - including some TV spots back in Minnesota a couple years ago (here's a link to the post with with that video - sorry for the glare off my forehead).

When speaking to builders I always found that the sarcastic approach worked best.  Actually, I don't know if the sarcastic approach worked best but since it's my default approach to everything it's what I went with.  I also knew that most times I was talking to builders or realtors it was a captive audience of folks getting continuing education credit toward their license renewals, so I could be pretty well assured they wouldn't get up and walk out on me.  I would tell builders, "Look, anyone can kill an oak tree the obvious ways - cut it down, bash into it with a bulldozer, snap off its branches in the middle of oak wilt season so that the tree dies by the 4th of July.  Those things don't take any skill at all.  But it takes a real expert to kill an oak tree so that it dies slowly over the course of several years, so that by the time it dies no one realizes the damage was done years before when the house was built."  The arboreal version of the perfect crime.

Then I would tell the assembled builders exactly how to kill an oak tree slowly.

First, you need to realize that the roots of an oak tree extend out away from the as far as - and usually much farther than - the longest branches.  The imaginary line from the longest branch tips to the ground is known as the drip line.  The circle created by tracing the drip line around the the entire tree is the root zone.

Second, you need to know that the vast majority of roots - especially the feeder roots that absorb moisture and nutrients - are in the top few inches of soil.

Third, you need to know that soil consists largely of air, and roots need that air to survive.

Fourth, you need to know how to kill those roots.  There are 4 time-honored methods of doing this:

1) Lower the grade of the ground in the root zone (thus scraping away and removing feeder roots)

2) Compact the soil in the root zone by driving construction vehicles underneath the branches - here's a tip: vehicles with tires are much more effective at compacting the soil as compared to vehicles with tracks

3) Raise the grade of the ground in the root zone (thus suffocating feeder roots under tons of fill)

4) Severe the roots to install utilities, sprinkler systems, etc.

The two great things about damaging the roots are a) it really takes very little damage to send the tree into a downward health spiral, and b) that downward spiral can occur over the course of several years.  By the time the tree dies no one will attribute its demise to construction activities that happened a decade ago, and instead will blame its death on whatever insects or diseases secondarily attacked a stressed tree already in decline.  Like I said, it's the perfect crime.

The only downside to this perfect crime is that - on the off chance anyone is actually concerned about saving the trees - it is equally easy to prevent.  Just put up a fence around the drip line - better yet a bit beyond the drip line - and don't allow any changes of grade or construction traffic in that area. 

No, you won't get the thrill of knowing you committed a tree murder that will never be solved, but you will get the less exciting but nonetheless palpable satisfaction of having done the right thing.

In the last two plus decades I have seen a dramatic increase in the use of protective fencing on construction sites.  Sadly it generally is set up to protect only the trunks - and not the root zones - of mature trees, a further twist on the perfect crime that is as sinister as it is brilliant:  The trunk protection fence makes it look like you care about saving the tree, while giving free access to do the root zone damage that won't show up for years.  Brilliant!

But more recently I have been seeing protective fencing on construction sites that is actually, well, protective. 
There are two sights that fill my forester's heart to bursting:  Seeing a newly planted oak tree reach its (astounding) growth potential, and seeing a properly installed drip line fence.

So, without further adieu (because this post has already included way more adieu that anyone could be expected to read), I applaud the California Department of Transportation - Caltrans - for exemplary use of the drip line fence during a renovation of Hwy 101 near the Santa Margarita exit.

Even younger oaks are worthy of drip line protection

(since young oaks are generally where old oaks come from)

 

Even better: Fence the drip line of a stand of trees;

you might end up accidentally saving some non-oaks

in the process, but that can't be helped.

 

That last caption was a bit of sarcasm just to see if you're still with me.

If you are ever out and about and see either construction damage in progress, or in the wildly unlikely event that you actually see well-deployed construction fencing, please let me know and send pictures!

The Oak Wilt Saga Continues: Prologue

In the spring of 1989 I was chosen by my classmates to give the commencement address for the University of Minnesota College of Natural Resources.  I wasn’t sure what I had ever done to them to make them hang that millstone around my neck, but I vowed to repay their cruelty with the longest, most boring graduation speech in school history.  Mission accomplished.

It’s true what they say:  You never remember what your graduation speakers say.  Even if – perhaps especially if – that speaker is you.

I do remember two things I said.  The first is that I quoted Aretha Franklin, something not generally done during a forestry school commencement speech.  Thank you.

The other is that I told a story – a parable really – that went something like this.

A lawyer, a doctor and a forester attend a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend.  Let’s call him Ed.  Over cocktails Ed turns to the lawyer and says, “My company is getting sued by a competitor for…” but before he can even finish his sentence the lawyer holds up his hand to halt him, saying, “Sorry, Ed, but I never discuss legal matters in a social setting.  If you’d like, please set up an appointment with my secretary and I’d be happy to discuss your case at length.”  Ed, ever the genial host, takes no offense and makes a mental note to set up an appointment with the lawyer.

Later, over hor d’oeuvres, Ed says to the doctor, “Say Doc, I have been having this shooting pain in my lower back and I was wondering if…” but once again he is amicably but firmly cut off in mid-sentence by the physician who said, “Sorry Ed, I never discuss legal matters in a social setting.  If you’d like, please set up an appointment with my office and we can discuss your symptoms in detail.”  So once again Ed makes a mental note to call the doctor’s office the following week to make an appointment.

Just as the main course – a sizzling steak with a piping hot baked potato and perfectly steamed broccoli – hits the table, Ed mentions in passing, “You know, I have an oak tree in the back yard that looks sick and…”  For the third time that evening he doesn’t finish his sentence.  Only this time he is not interrupted.  This time the forester has already put down his napkin, stood up and is heading for the back door to examine the ailing tree.  Reluctantly, Ed takes a longing look at his perfectly prepared steak and follows the forester out the door.

Over the course of the next 45 minutes Ed receives an impromptu tree care seminar, on everything from proper planting and watering, to insect and fungal pests of oaks.  Ladders, pruning saws, and ropes are involved.  By the time they return to the table the forester is dripping in sweat, the dinner is stone cold, and Ed has received about $3000 worth of free advice and services.

My point – and I did have one – was not that foresters shouldn’t be generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise.  It was simply that we should place a higher value on that expertise.  Until foresters start placing a higher value on their own specialized knowledge, how can they expect others to do so?  How can they expect to earn the r-e-s-p-e-c-t (yes, this is where Aretha came in, and no, I did not sing it) deserving of a profession every bit as noble and important as medicine or law?

I think that part of the reason foresters don’t value their expertise more highly is that they are more acutely aware of – and more deeply troubled by – the limits of that knowledge.  Medicine can go from leeching and releasing bad humours to radiation therapy in less than 150 years and still maintain the fiction that they have all the answers, that they have reached the acme of health care.  Lawyers can argue contradictory precedents at $400 per hour, and as long as people pay them to sue others will hire them to defend.

Yes, this is all apropos something, a bigger story.  And yes, it does have to do with oak wilt.  And I will (finally) get to the point... in the next post!

Oak Wilt Clip

With very sincere thanks to the fantastic production staff at Minnesota Bound, here's the clip on oak wilt they aired this past spring.



We're losing enough oak trees through forest succession, land "development," disease and poor natural regeneration due to high deer populations. We don't need to lose any more oaks to something as ridiculously preventable as oak wilt.

The Vigil Starts Again...

I have told the story before... neighbor's (sweetest old lady in the world) gorgeous red oaks pruned by a "professional tree care company" on May 22, 2009, smack dab in the middle of oak wilt season... two month vigil watching for signs of flagging... 36" diameter red oak collapsed in August, diagnosed with oak wilt... top quality tree care company S&S Tree Specialists injected the adjacent 2 trees on either side in hopes of preventing its spread... Excellent local tree care company Cannon River Tree Care removed it in March.

So now the question is: Will the two adjacent trees - about 23 feet away from the dead tree - survive? Did we treat them in time? A new vigil starts. The branches of one adjacent tree that overhang the street appear to be flagging - or at least not to have leafed out this spring. Could be nothing. Then again, that's how it started with the first tree.

Please be nothing.

I can't stand to see another of these beautiful oaks die just because some idiot with a chainsaw and a truck decided he could make money convincing elderly people their trees need pruning.

Oak Wilt Prevention on Minnesota Bound

The first of my three segments focusing on nurturing our oak trees aired on "Minnesota Bound." You can view the whole show here. The episode should also air again locally in Twin Cities on KARE-11 Saturday at noon, and elsewhere in the upper Midwest.

This first one is about oak wilt prevention, a very timely topic since the early & warm spring here in Minnesota lends new urgency to the danger of pruning oak trees in April, May & June. The segment is the "Rapala Almanac" piece right after Ron Schara's segment on turkey hunting in NW Iowa.

I have an appreciation for TV producers and hosts who, due to time constraints, have to convey complex information in a very short time. You really have to try to communicate 1 or 2 key ideas that are easy for the viewer to remember (even if they don't remember the underlying reasons for them). There is a point at which you can simplify a topic to the point of being inaccurate. I hope I didn't reach that point. I would appreciate your feedback - and brutal honesty. (Although perhaps not as brutally honest as my son, who suggested next time I should wear a cap to "cut down on the glare" off my head, or my daughter who thinks my voice on TV sounds like Kermit the Frog!)

The piece has already done some good: A viewer called the show and they relayed her question to me. She had received some very dubious advice from a Master Gardener help line; she was told she could prune a dead branch from an oak at this time. In theory, IF it could be determined that the branch and the connecting tissue at the branch collar were COMPLETELY dead and would not "bleed" any sap at all when pruned, then yes should could prune the branch now. But how, exactly , would one make that determination on the phone (let alone in person)? Why not take the "better safe than sorry" - "first do no harm" - "a pound of prevention..." approach and wait to prune until a safer time?

That was my advice, and the caller was grateful.

(As an aside, she was also told by this gardening expert that tree branches should be pruned as close to the trunk as possible, which of course is completely wrong. Hopefully I'll get the chance to do another segment later in the summer on correct pruning methods!)

As (Soon To Be) Seen On TV

I just filmed three short spots to appear on Ron Schara's Minnesota Bound TV show. The tentative schedule is:
April 18 - Oak wilt prevention
May 2 - Protecting trees from construction site damage
May 9 - Planting new trees, with an empasis on planting (fast growing!) oaks

The show airs on Sundays at 11:35pm, and then again the following Saturday at noon.

Thanks a million to Steve Plummer and Adam McFarlane of Ron Schara Productions for taking a break from working with pros to put up with filming a rank amateur trip over his tongue. And thanks to Ron for airing the pieces. I hope they raise awareness of oak wilt, construction damage, and the need to plant more oaks.

The show can also be viewed online. I'll post links when the episodes are up.

A Sad End To The Story

Last summer I blogged about how my elderly neighbor (sweetest lady in the world) was talked into having her northern red oaks pruned... on May 22nd... by a disreputable tree care company. It never ceases to amaze me that possession of a chain saw and truck are the only qualifications necessary to become a "tree care company."

One of those red oaks, a 36" diameter giant, was infected with oak wilt and was dead by the end of August. My neighbor's red oaks are part of a row of 12 beautiful reds spanning 5 different front yards. The neighbors must have planted them at the same time 80+ years ago.

The two adjacent trees on either side of the infected tree were injected to prevent the root-to-root spread of the fungus. My fingers are crossed that the treatment was done in time, given the close proximity of the trees and the rapid spread of the fungus through the roots.

Well, today marks the sad end to the story. The infected tree is being removed. The work is being done by Cannon River Tree Care. Let me make it perfectly clear: CRTC are NOT the guys who pruned the trees in May last year!! They are a terrific local tree care company. Owners Jon and Matt Feldman have been fantastic through the whole process since the disease was first diagnosed, and have bent over backwards to work with the homeowner. I only wish that the homeowner had contacted Jon and Matt before any of this - the story would have been very different.

So while a very reputable and highly qualified local tree care company is cleaning up the damage caused by someone else, that other "tree care company" is probably out there somewhere, talking someone else into pruning their oaks on this warm, sunny April 8. So it goes in the tree care business.

... although next week I hope to make at least a small difference. Stay tuned. Literally.

Oak Abuse, Part 5: Technology Is Amazing

My neighbor has contacted the Kunde Consultants division of S&S Tree Specialists to prevent the spread of oak wilt to other trees in her yard, as well as those in her neighbor's yard since oak roots don't recognize property lines... and in the process I was reminded of what an amazing time we live in.

Steve Kunde was a pioneer in the area of oak wilt prevention and eradication. He was also, and I'll never forget this, an early supporter of a little non-profit organization called Lasting Woodlands that I started as an urban forestry student back in 1988. A few years ago Kunde Company was acquired by S&S Tree Specialists, but remained essentially intact. I saw Steve about 18 months ago and he was really happy about the arrangement, which allows him to focus on the forestry side of things while the larger S&S organization can handle more of the business matters.

Glen Olson is a highly experienced forester with Kunde Consultants. Rather than driving 45 minutes south to Northfield to visit the site in person he brilliantly saved time & gas... and visited the site via satellite. Glen called say he was looking at my neighbor's home via an aerial image on Google Maps. He could see the line of oaks, and the location of the various walkways, sidewalks and driveways that I have always worried would make trenching to sever root grafts difficult if not impossible. He could tell from the imagery which trees were oaks and which were not. Amazing.

The bad news: Trenching is impossible.
The good news: The adjacent trees can be injected with fungicide to prevent infection. This will need to be done now and again in 2 years. The fungicide is called Propiconazole.

I was happy to provide some "ground truth" (as we say in the remote imaging game) by taking diameter measurements of the trees so that Glen could complete his quote quickly.

The 2 threatened oaks immediately to the north of the infected tree are 28 and 27 inches in diameter. The 2 oaks to the south are even bigger - 29 and 31 inches.

But of course the tree that died was the biggest of the group: 35.5 inches in diameter - 111.5 inches in circumference!

It's been a weird summer... arriving home from work in May 22 to learn that some hacks had pruned my neighbor's red oak trees smack dab in the middle of the danger zone for oak wilt spread... watching those trees all summer, first hoping against hope that they'd be all right, and then hoping against hope that the die back I was seeing was caused by something else, something less deadly... getting the diagnosis of oak wilt... then reconnecting with a great company like Kunde Consultants to do things right and protect the surrounding trees.

Every time I get discouraged that there are guys out there calling themselves tree care professionals who are wantonly (or accidentally through ignorance, which is just as bad) harming trees, I remember that there are people like Steve Kunde and Glen Olson out there who are committed to doing things right. And, who now have technology available to them that allows them to "visit" a site 35 miles away in a matter of minutes so they can do their important work even more efficiently and effectively.

Tree Care Plug

The other day John from Cannon River Tree Care came, at the home owner's request, to have a look at her oak wilt-infected tree and consult about preventing the spread of the fungus to adjacent trees.

While Cannon River Tree Care doesn't have the equipment required to take on this project, I came away really, really impressed with John's knowledge and integrity. Like me he was appalled that a so-called tree care company would prune those gorgeous red oaks in May, and was sick about the consequences.

If you live in the Northfield / Rice County, MN area I highly recommend Cannon River Tree Care. We're lucky to have such a high-quality tree care company here in the area.

Oak Abuse, Part 4

We received notification from the Plant Disease Clinic: It is oak wilt. This is one of those cases where you hate to be right, and wish you had been wrong.

Now comes the task of protecting the adjacent trees from the fungus. Now that one tree got infected via the inefficient means of a picnic beetle carrying fungal spores from a diseased tree to the May 22 pruning wounds made on this tree, oak wilt now becomes a much deadlier threat, spreading at an approximate rate of 30 feet per year through the roots from one tree to the next.

Oak wilt transmission overland via the picnic beetle is a question of "if." Transmission via the root systems is a matter of "when." Oak trees form root grafts with nearby oaks of the same species - northern red oak to northern red oak, bur oak to bur oak, etc. Whether this is an example of aboreal socialism which allows a stand of oaks to share water and nutrient resources, or is a Darwinian means by which stronger oaks draw upon the resources of weaker ones, I don't know.

What I do know is it makes a great highway by which systemic fungal infections can travel from one oak tree to the next... and the next... and the next.

But we have been hard at work getting the right people involved in preventing the spread of the fungus to adjacent trees, and these experts have more tools at their disposal than they did 20 years ago when I was first learning about and giving talks about oak wilt.

Oak Abuse, Part 3

(click to enlarge)
Well, it has happened, my fears are (nearly) confirmed. Remember, a soon-to-be named south Twin Cities metro tree "care" company pruned my neighbor's gorgeous red oak trees on May 22 - smack dab in the middle of oak wilt season. When they remained healthy throughout June and part of July, I was hopeful that we had dodged a bullet and that the trees had escaped infection. No such luck. Since showing the first signs of flagging & die back in July, the tree collapsed rapidly in August. Samples have been sent to the Plant Disease Clinic at the University of Minnesota for culture & diagnosis. Results are expected in 1-2 weeks, but the technician was convinced that it is indeed oak wilt, and a tree inspector from a Mpls suburb who was dropping off samples believes it is oak wilt.

So, in all likelihood, these guys killed my neighbor's tree. Actually, trees - since this red oak is part of a row of huge red oaks that spans 5 different front yards. Sidewalks, driveways, the street and buried electrical/cable/phone lines will make it very difficult to effectively trench to severe the root grafts between the trees and prevent the spread of the fungus from this diseased tree to its cohorts.

So we have the cost of removal and the cost of trenching to try to save the remaining trees. We'll be having a "chat" with this particular tree "care" company very soon. Stay tuned.

Oak Abuse Update

I recently blogged about my neighbor's gorgeous red oak trees, and a tree care company that committed the Cardinal Sin of pruning those oaks on May 22 - smack dab in the middle of the oak wilt danger zone.

I noticed some flagging about 3/4 of the way up the tree. Today I took this photo today from the middle of the street looking up (click to enlarge). I hope it's nothing but the die back sometimes common to mature oaks. I hope it's not the early warning signs of oak wilt. Red oaks usually succumb very quickly - within a matter of months or even weeks - while white oaks sometimes can survive longer before the fungus finally plugs all of the vascular tissue.

Please remember if a tree care "professional" ever offers to prune your oaks in April, May or June - don't let him anywhere near your trees, oaks or otherwise. He has no idea what he's doing.

Meanwhile, I'll keep crossing my fingers for this tree - especially because it's part of a row of at least eight mature red oaks that...

1. Have interlocking, grafted root systems that will spread oak will from tree to tree

2. Are too close together, and have too many impediments such as sidewalks, driveways and street in the way to allow for successful trenching with a vibratory plow to prevent the spread of the fungus from an infected tree to its neighbors.

Oak Abuse - Pruning in Oak Wilt Season

I started writing about and giving seminars on Oak Wilt Prevention nearly 20 years ago... and I was late to the party compared to Dr. David French, Don Willeke and so many other dedicated tree advocates. Cardinal Rule: DO NOT WOUND OR PRUNE OAK TREES IN APRIL, MAY OR JUNE. Simple enough, right?

That's why it was so disheartening to return home from work one evening to find that a "professional" tree care company had just pruned my elderly neighbor's gorgeous mature red oak trees... on May 22 (oh yeah, and charged her a king's ransom to do it).

I called the owner of the company and asked if he knew about the risks of oak wilt. He proudly stated he's been pruning oaks during April, May and June for nearly 20 years and "hasn't lost a tree yet." Right. He was completely unapologetic, completely arrogant. Another example of chain saw + pick up truck = tree care company.

With so few oaks being planted, and so many being lost to construction damage & natural/accidental oak wilt, we sure as hell don't need so-called tree care experts doing the fungus' work for it.