Our Oaks Are Living History

Menlo Oak residents are the beneficiaries of San Mateo County’s valuable oak savannah, and these natural sculptures have a prestigious and valuable history. They also provide many health advantages to each of us.

Just How Old Is That Tree In Your Yard? 

If you have an oak that’s 75″ in diameter, it is roughly 300 years old.

No Need To Count The Rings.

There’s a safe way to get a general idea of the age of your natural asset, understanding that arborists have a more complicated formula and urban trees grow more slowly than forest trees because of stress.

Use This Formula To Determine How Old Your Tree Is.  

Diameter x Growth Factor = Age

To find the diameter, measure around the trunk of your tree at about 4.5′ or 54″ from ground level.  The measurement around the outside of the trunk is the circumference.  Divide that number by Pi, or 3.14, to get the diameter.

Multiply the diameter by the tree’s growth factor.  A Coast Live Oak has a growth factor of 4; a Valley oak has a growth factor of 5.

Help Them Live Another 100 Years.

It takes a long, long time for our senior trees to develop.  But during their 100- or 300-year lives they provide many benefits. They actually add greatly to your property value. They cut down noise levels and provide many, many proven health benefits.

Caring for them does require commitments, just like those you make to taking care of your home.

  • Have them inspected and treated to keep them in good health every year or two.
  • Have them trimmed at least every year or two—to keep the weight of higher growth in the tree crown from weighting down the limbs which could cause them to
  • Consider developing a tree care plan with your arborist to makes sure that disease or incursion by bugs and moths that impact the health of the trees are

Going Forward

  • Don’t frivolously cut down younger oaks or native trees; let them thrive.
  • Incorporate old-growth trees into your designs for new patios, barbecue and sports areas, and into new additions to your homes.
  • Keep your trees trimmed.
  • Set up a Tree Care Plan and make sure to follow tree care advice from a licensed arborist.
  • Plant more oaks; encourage seedlings you find in your yard. Help them mature into larger trees.