Our big oak has received some extra attention this year - some fairly good rains, a covering of wood chips within the dripline, and a visit from our arborist. We recently had a heat spell that propelled the temperature to the high 70s during midday, followed by the oak dropping quite a few leaves overnight (all of which are dry and brown). Glenn Keator in The Life of an Oak: An Intimate Portrait describes this process of live oaks periodically dropping old leaves, typically in conjunction with a change in day length and a combination of chilly nights and warm days. The oak is also putting out new growth, and releasing yellow pollen that covers the patio furniture and cars in the night.
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| Quercus agrifolia new growth |
Oaks are in the Quercus sub-family of the Fagacea family. Quercus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species. Its range spans the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa, and includes cool temperate and tropical latitudes. Quercus agrifolia, also known as "live oak" or "coast live oak", grows west of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from Mendocino County, California, south to northern Baja California in Mexico. Live oaks thrive in the coastal environment here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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| Oak canopy |
Both birds and squirrels stash acorns throughout the yard. They go to great lengths to keep their stashes hidden, sometimes digging them up to hide again. In the spring we are continually on "oak patrol" to pull up the seedlings from nuts that were not eaten during the winter.
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| Acorn seedling |
The oak is a focal point in our landscape, and provides shade, beauty and habitat for birds, squirrels, moths and so forth. Ours is in a precarious position, located on the fenceline, and with its roots wedged between two utility boxes streetside. Still, we try to take care of it as well as we can to ensure that it thrives for years to come.
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