Sowing the Native Acorn

No, it’s not an environmental art work you see next to I 280 at the Trousdale exit on your way south. 

The deftly arranged posts across the open space are actually protective tubes, each carefully inserted above a single acorn that’s been carefully placed into a hole about 2 inches deep. The six-foot tube will safeguard the fragile young Coastal live oak sapling from deer and rodents while ensuring a straight, strong trunk.  

The native acorns were gathered last fall from nearby mature forests. The  future young forest here will be  one of several we're planting at different watershed locations under the Habitat Restoration Program to bring back a total of about 180 acres of native grassland, wetland and woodland. The historic habitats provide essential food and shelter for a variety of native plant, butterfly, bird and other wildlife species, some found nowhere else in California.