A New Grower of Old Oaks

Written by Jeanne Greenelsh

Coast Oaks is a new grower of old oaks.  The oaks just aren’t old yet; in fact these are the youngest oaks you can buy. Any younger and they would be acorns. And those acorns only grow if they are planted before they dry-out, after a spell of cold weather, and if it is a year when the oak tree bears the nuts (often only one in five).  No wonder it has been estimated that only one in a million acorns grow to be a mature oak tree.

Coast Oaks has taken care to grow the ‘oaklets’ – too small to be saplings, too large to be seedlings – in recycled, biodegradable containers that will easily set right into a small hole.  One oak tree in its lifetime will offset the average American’s carbon footprint for one year. This is a good reason to plant an oak at least once in a lifetime.

Coast Oaks is specializing in the coast live oaks of the Central Coast. These trees are threatened by the Sudden Oak Death pathogen currently quarantined in many Northern California counties. Locally referred to as Red Oak, this is a favorite choice for Bar-B-Ques.  The evergreen tree can grow 1.5 to 4 feet a year according to a quote from the Sunset Western Garden Book, 1979.

Valley Oaks are also available in the convenient recycled, biodegradable containers. They grow up to be the type of trees that produced the acorns that were a diet staple in California for thousands of years. Gone are 75% of the trees that John Muir wrote about when he first arrived in California. Globally, 25 billion trees are cut down every year and only 3.4 billion are planted.  How many trees have you planted?
Coast Oaks Growers is providing people with an affordable way to help the earth now. Visit their booth at Earth Day on April 24 or on Sundays at Triology Farmers Market.