As a continuation of Shasta Chapter CNPS hikes and acorn plantings that were done on New Year’s Day over the past two years, Shasta Environmental Alliance (SEA) will be planting more blue oak acorns on the Westside Trail in Redding on various days during the month of January. Most of the blue oaks are not resprouting following the Carr Fire, although black oak and interior live oak are, and toyon is doing great.
This year we will be putting up small stakes and wire enclosures to keep out deer for 20 to 30 trees. For these trees, we will haul up water in a garden wagon to deep water several times during the summer until they are established. The rest of the acorns will be planted without protection.
Thank you to Margaret Beck and Tom Morehouse for collecting many of the acorns. These efforts will not only restore habitat but will sequester a lot of CO2 over the +250-year lifespan of a blue oak.
We will also do some pruning of black oak and interior live oak trees that have sprouted from the root crown. This will involve cutting some of the suckers and leaving the tallest leaders so that most of the growth of the plant will go into a few sprouts, resulting in a faster growing tree.
Due to the pandemic, we can only take four or five new people each planting day, and everyone must wear masks and practice social distancing. Planting days will depend on the rain; however, we have already scheduled planting days for Tuesday, January 5, and Saturday, January 9, and will schedule other days as volunteers are available. If you would like to volunteer, contact me at dledger@sbcglobal.net for further information. ~David Ledger
