When you walk through the center of the University of California Riverside\u2019s campus, you will see two large oak trees, often referred to as sister trees. They were planted around the same time that the campus was being developed, some 60 years ago, and have grown into large, shady trees. <\/p>\n
But one of them has been experiencing some difficulty and was showing signs of sickness. So with the help of an arborist, Toshio Ishida, assistant director of Landscape and Refuse Services at UCR, took on the challenge of helping the tree before it was too late.<\/p>\n
They began by looking at many possible causes of the tree\u2019s decline, including a soil test to see if nematodes might have been a factor, but came up short. The biggest indicator of the tree\u2019s sickness was the north side of the tree. It started to wither around five years ago, and it looked split right down the center up until recently when the other side began to decline as well.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest factors in the tree\u2019s decline was construction happening on campus. With all of the traffic and a change in the draining system, the tree had been through a lot. After further testing, Ishida and others found that the soil around the roots was extremely compacted; they had no room to grow.<\/p>\n
![\"Toshio](\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree_researchres.jpg\")
Toshio Ishida and Mark Jones discuss the placement of a soil sensor beneath the oak tree. (Credit: University of California, Riverside)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe dug holes and did compaction tests and found that from all the traffic and stuff, the soil was very compacted under the root zone of the tree,\u201d said Ishida. \u201cThat\u2019s when we started to realize that was part of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
To fix this, they dug eight trenches from the center of the tree out with an air spade system, a technique that doesn\u2019t damage the roots. The trenches were 2 feet deep and 12 to 18 inches wide. They then filled them with a fertilizer and mulch mix to give the roots nice, airy space to grow.<\/p>\n
They also removed all grass growing under the tree so that the roots don\u2019t have to compete for nutrients and water. And now that there is a layer of mulch surrounding it, people tend to avoid stepping on it.<\/p>\n
Ishida said he won\u2019t know for at least two growing seasons if the measures they took will help the tree. \u201cOak trees are very slow, they take a long time to show stress and to show healing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But, Ishida said they are hopeful that the tree will return to its former glory.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents and faculty have said they are happy to see us try to save it because it is the center of campus,\u201d Ishida said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing for us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top image:\u00a0Grounds managers believe the large lawn that the tree is sitting on could be contributing to its problems, as trees and lawns absorb water differently. (Credit: University of California, Riverside)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":23222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,5],"tags":[345,60,109,138,255],"class_list":["post-23229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-atmosphere","category-featured-articles","tag-earth-atmosphere","tag-featured","tag-news-ticker","tag-soil","tag-university-of-california"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\n
University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Environmental Monitor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-15T19:32:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-10T20:40:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassie Kelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassie Kelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassie Kelly\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dd2b9d44f9029d17aa54886278f60021\"},\"headline\":\"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-15T19:32:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-10T20:40:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\"},\"wordCount\":522,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/oaktree.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Earth & Atmosphere\",\"featured\",\"news ticker\",\"soil\",\"University of California\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Earth & Atmosphere\",\"Featured Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\",\"name\":\"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/oaktree.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-15T19:32:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-10T20:40:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dd2b9d44f9029d17aa54886278f60021\"},\"description\":\"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/oaktree.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/oaktree.jpg\",\"width\":420,\"height\":470,\"caption\":\"Grounds managers believe the large lawn that the tree is sitting on could be contributing to its problems, as trees and lawns absorb water differently. (Credit: University of California, Riverside)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Environmental Monitor\",\"description\":\"Application and technology news for environmental professionals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dd2b9d44f9029d17aa54886278f60021\",\"name\":\"Cassie Kelly\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c53d71f108c8b94d0827fbc15f199a02acac7b947435d94d2eee088337a1d00?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c53d71f108c8b94d0827fbc15f199a02acac7b947435d94d2eee088337a1d00?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c53d71f108c8b94d0827fbc15f199a02acac7b947435d94d2eee088337a1d00?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cassie Kelly\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/cassiekelly\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree","description":"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree","og_description":"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm","og_site_name":"Environmental Monitor","article_published_time":"2015-09-15T19:32:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-10T20:40:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":420,"height":470,"url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cassie Kelly","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cassie Kelly","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm"},"author":{"name":"Cassie Kelly","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/dd2b9d44f9029d17aa54886278f60021"},"headline":"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree","datePublished":"2015-09-15T19:32:35+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-10T20:40:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm"},"wordCount":522,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree.jpg","keywords":["Earth & Atmosphere","featured","news ticker","soil","University of California"],"articleSection":["Earth & Atmosphere","Featured Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm","url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm","name":"University Of California Riverside Takes Measures To Heal Iconic Oak Tree","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-15T19:32:35+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-10T20:40:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/dd2b9d44f9029d17aa54886278f60021"},"description":"To help heal an iconic oak tree on campus, experts at University of California, Riverside, have loosened soil around roots and put in soil sensors.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/university-of-california-riverside-takes-measures-to-heal-iconic-oak-tree.htm#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/oaktree.jpg","width":420,"height":470,"caption":"Grounds managers believe the large lawn that the tree is sitting on could be contributing to its problems, as trees and lawns absorb water differently. (Credit: University of California, Riverside)"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/","name":"Environmental Monitor","description":"Application and technology news for environmental professionals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/dd2b9d44f9029d17aa54886278f60021","name":"Cassie Kelly","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c53d71f108c8b94d0827fbc15f199a02acac7b947435d94d2eee088337a1d00?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c53d71f108c8b94d0827fbc15f199a02acac7b947435d94d2eee088337a1d00?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c53d71f108c8b94d0827fbc15f199a02acac7b947435d94d2eee088337a1d00?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cassie Kelly"},"url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/author\/cassiekelly"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23231,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23229\/revisions\/23231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}