Sudden Oak Death Info

A new disease for oak trees in the North Bay Area appeared in 1995. Hundreds of bay area oak trees appeared to be dying suddenly across the landscape, both in woodlands and in suburban properties around the San Francisco Bay Area, but most especially in cities in the Bay Area foothills, such as  Palo Alto, Atherton, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos.

The essentials about Sudden Oak Death Syndrome:

1. The whole SF Bay Area is potentially at risk for Sudden Oak Death Syndrome.
2. Tan Oaks, black oaks, coast live oaks are all able to contract sudden oak death.
3. This oak tree disease can be prevented according to the latest science.

Why is Sudden Oak Death Syndrome so sudden? Usually diseases that kill oak trees take ten or fifteen years of progress to kill a large, well established tree. Sudden Oak Death Syndrome can destroy an Oak Tree within a years time. Infections by Phytophthora ramorum (the pathogen which corelates to Sudden Oak Death) on oaks were originally called “Sudden Oak Death” because of the very quick (2 to 4 weeks) browning of the leaves without an obvious prolonged period of visible decline.

Sudden Oak Death could be one of the most dangerous threats to California Coast Live Oaks, Black Oaks, and Tan Oaks in the history of the state of California. However, it can be put off and managed by regular spraying. We recommend regular bark applications for all of these three kinds of oaks. If the oak treas are properly treated with the right chemical materials, they are quite unlikely to be affected by Sudden Oak Death Syndrome. It is totally possible to manage the rapid progress of Sudden Oak Death and even possible to keep a tree from dying when it has caught the disease, but prevention is much more effective. If you have any of the above kinds of oak trees, call us to obtain regular spray service. We’ll help you save your trees!

Sudden Oak Death has been found killing oak trees widely in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties as well as in the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area.