Recently there was an interesting coincidence when two callers asked about moving native oak trees. Both were interested in saving younger oaks volunteering in yards that were about to be relandscaped.

This is an important question, I remarked, because oak trees, especially certain species of our local native oaks, may be in a serious decline. I also suggested that transplanting oaks is very difficult and is usually an unsuccessful process.

I also decided though I had best talk to someone who might have more experience. As I am fast learning, my general knowledge of ecology can always use some support, if not some correcting. For the best information on moving oaks, I was referred through the UC Davis Herbarium to Rob Gross of Dendrotech in Santa Rosa, a specialist working with native oaks in landscaping.

Rob agreed that moving oaks is very difficult. We have a Mediterranean climate in our area, which means we have long dry summers, and wet winters. Oaks here have evolved with these conditions so that seedlings quickly send down a long tap root to search for water. A seedling of only five inches may already have a tap root over one foot long. If you try to move the plant, especially as a seedling, you will probably kill it because you will likely cut off this root.

As the tree matures though, it sends out more and more roots into the shallow soil around it. By the time it is an adult, like many trees, it will have concentrated most of its roots in the top six inches of soil and extended its roots out far beyond the canopy of the tree. If you remove these few inches of soil, or, if you let the soil get too wet for too long, so that the roots can't get air, then you risk killing the tree. (Unlike leaves, roots need oxygen to grow.) An adult tree can be moved, but it is risky and it takes a long time for the tree to come out of shock and to reestablish a root system capable of supporting the tree. Call a specialist for information if you are thinking about doing this.

For those who are interested in saving seedlings, Rob suggests it is better to gather acorns in the fall and plant them in places where you'd like them to grow. Plant them early enough that they have a chance to establish before summer. You can also purchase native oak seedlings in long tubes that protect their tap roots for under two dollars from Circuit Rider Productions in Windsor. Plant these early as well. He recommends their publication on native oaks called "From Acorn to Oak", for about five dollars. He said one of the best things you can do is to help groups like the Sonoma Ecology Center protect and restore oak habitat. The same energy you might spend trying to move a small seedling you can redirect into any of these activities and do the most good.

Following your desire to help the earth by taking one of these actions, in a few short hundred years you may have made a contribution that is more important, or at least more tangible, to those living than most any other thing you can do today!