Oaks over Bays

An upland tree strategy for Northern California

Why and when to choose Oaks over Bays

When managing the long-term health of rural properties, we often need to remove trees.

While each situation has its own unique circumstances, as a general rule, we choose Oaks over Bays in most upland situations.

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Bay trees are hosts to Sudden Oak Death, with clear data showing higher Sudden Oak Death infection rates based on proximity to Bays.

In most cases, this tends to be an easy decision as the upland ecosystems are generally Oak-dominated and the Bays are minimal.

However, once you enter the riparian corridors or even drainages, the percentage of Bays increases as this is more of their natural position in the ecosystem.

Removing Bays to protect Oaks in these areas is a more complicated decision and should be based on the specific ecosystem status and fire risk.

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Why not just let nature take its course?

Let's look a little down the road and bring fire into the conversation.

At its most simplistic, Oaks resist fire, and Bays burn and sprout from the base.

When a Bay is severely damaged, it simply sprouts up from the base and starts again.

Manzanita, Madrone, Coyote Bush, and many others have also developed this adaptation to our fire-based ecology.

Oaks not only resist fire, but their mature canopies also limit undergrowth density, reducing fuel loads and slowing a fire's progress.

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Bays threaten the health of our Oaks both as a vector for Sudden Oak Death and through their opposing reaction to fire.

If we are left with Bay-dominated uplands, we could lose our upland canopies entirely.

Imagine our Oaks gone and replaced with Bay thickets that go up in flames at each fire.

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As with all of my work, site-specific conditions and nuance are critical to making good decisions.

Rick has spent 25 years designing and developing rural properties in Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino Counties

Elder Creek Design Studios

*images pulled from web appears to be the work of Saxon Holt

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Rick Taylor

Founder

Elder Creek Design Studios