The Oaks' Trees Find New Homes at Rain-Ravaged Parks

Six days of unrelenting rain from Dec. 17-22 caused widespread flooding and mudslides, resulting in damaged homes, washed-out roads and uprooted trees.

Many of those displaced trees, particularly in the Santa Ana foothills, were giant oak trees that had been around for hundreds of years. Many of those water-ravaged areas will soon see a rebirth.

The Oaks Farms, show jumping and breeding grounds on 20 acres sandwiched between Ortega Highway and San Juan Creek and owned by Joan Irvine Smith—the great-granddaughter of Orange County pioneer James Irvine—recently completed a donation of 250 live oak trees to the Orange County Parks system.

The farm is home to many of the oldest oak trees in the area, some dating back 300 years, and the donated trees are part of the farm’s propagating program that has been in existence for the past decade.

“Every spring and summer we donate these trees to nonprofit organizations; they’re not for personal use," said Sheri Grady-Merkle, the Oaks'  general manager. "Last year we donated 125 to the city of San Juan Capistrano, and I think San Clemente took 15 last fall.

“With the biggest flood in the past 50 years, we’ve had more requests for these beautiful oaks, and we’re happy to oblige.”

Of the 250 California coastal oaks on the farm, 150 went to several Orange County Parks locations, including Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, just up Ortega Highway; O’Neill Regional Park, Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park and Limestone Canyon in Trabuco Canyon; and the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. The remaining 100 trees went to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine.

The biggest trees range in height from 8 to 15 feet.

“They get to be pretty significant size,” Grady-Merkle said.

The oak trees start out as seedlings dropped primarily from a 300-year-old oak tree affectionately referred to by the people on the farm as Rock Star and Big Boy. They are planted in 1-gallon containers for the first year, moved to 5-gallon containers for the next couple of years, and finally go into 15-gallon containers until they are ready to leave.

“With the number of trees, the number of man-hours needed to take care of them, and, of course, the water, which isn’t cheap, it gets to be pretty expensive,” Grady-Merkle said.

The last of the 24 15-gallon oaks were dispersed two weeks ago, with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy picking up the cost for labor and transportation. For the Orange County Parks, the donation of these trees is welcome—especially with so many trees uprooted during the December storms.

“This gift was so appreciated by the county,” said Joanette Willert, supervising park ranger. “I’ve worked with Joan Irvine Smith on many levels at the Irvine Ranch Historical Park, so when she contacted us regarding the oak trees she had, it was extremely exciting.”

Most of the oaks have yet to be planted by the various parks. In fact, some of the larger ones, were given to the Great Park, can remain in the containers for a couple of years as long as they are watered at regular intervals. But most will be planted in the fall when the whether is cooler.

“It is quite a project to pick them up without disturbing the staff and the farm and get them to the different parks,” Willert said. “We could have spent a fortune on replacing those trees, but Mrs. Smith always has been giving to the park system.”

Willert said the parks department would love to have more oaks next spring when the next batch of trees from the Oaks Farms is expected to be ready to disperse. The city of San Juan Capistrano wants another 100 trees in 18-24 months, and the Great Park also is likely to come back for more, according to Grady-Merkle.

Until then, however, the 20-acre property——will continue to act as a home and breeding ground to one of the most prominent symbols of California beauty and a tribute to the historical roots of the great California coastal oak.