Trees and Spanish Moss Just Go Together in the North County

Spanish Moss in Templeton

Before I moved to San Luis Obispo County, I thought long strands of Spanish moss could only be found in the South. I was wrong. When I moved to Templeton, it seemed that Spanish moss was decorating most of the trees I saw. It is especially prevalent in old and shady oak forests. But it's certainly not limited to forests.

Spanish Moss on Oak, © B. Radisavljevic

The moss is also often seen in orchards -- especially old orchards. You can see it here in my very old almond tree. Spanish moss can usually be found in the neglected orchards remaining from the days when Paso Robles was a major almond grower. These orchards are usually found on back roads and on hilltops around the city.

Spanish Moss on Almond Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

Although Spanish moss is often found on trees that seem to be dying, the moss itself does not hurt host trees. It does not steal any of its nourishment or water. Where there is a heavy growth of moss, it does sometimes shade the lower branches and prevent light from reaching them, but in a forest, other trees will do the same thing. You will sometimes find mistletoe right beside Spanish moss. The mistletoe is detrimental to a tree's health.

Spanish Moss and Mistletoe Together on Oak Trees , © B. Radisavljevic

This photo shows one of the longest strands of Spanish moss I've seen on any of my trees. I was trying to interest my neighbor's cat in playing with it, but since I wanted her to, she wouldn't.

I should consider myself lucky to have so much Spanish moss around. If I want to use if for mulch or in planters, I don't have to buy it. If anyone does want to buy it, Amazon has packaged Spanish moss for sale

A Rope of Spanish Moss, © B. Radisavljevic

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• The California drought is killing almond trees, too

What the Wildlife Left Intact in Our Orchard

I haven't been home much this summer to pay attention to what's left of our orchard. One of our apple trees died a few years ago - the most productive one. It had been so heavily loaded that it split, and we were unable to save it. We still mourn its loss. The Fuji apple tree we planted never got established before it died. What you see in the photo is our remaining tree, and we are hoping the wildlife will leave us some of these apples. We expect them to get ripe soon. Maybe they are already ripe, but just small, due to the drought.

We have not been as fortunate with our grapes. Our most productive vine happened to be in the spot where the septic tank people decided to dig a new leach field. It happened while I was gone, and when  I came home, our entire fenced garden area was gone except for the garden gate. That left us only this exposed grape vine. The grapes were tiny this year due to the drought. We still had some bunches of tiny green grapes when I was last in Templeton a couple of weeks ago, but when I checked Saturday, it appears they had been ripening, and this is all the deer left us. If you click the photo, it will get larger.

All the little green apricots I saw on our tree last month have disappeared. The walnut trees seem to have a fair-sized crop, and the quince tree is doing well.

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Almond Trees are in Bloom Everywhere

This is the time of year I become obsessed with finding almond trees in bloom. I know they are here. But they can be in some out-of the way places. Many are in long-neglected orchards left from the era when almonds were more important than grapes in Paso Robles. They are left on hillsides to bloom as God sees fit to keep them going, and many of these orchards can be found along Kiler Canyon Road between Vine Street and Arbor Road.

I found some other blooming trees today where I did not expect to find them. In the top photo is one (or is it two) of them.  Almond blossoms are very small.


What's amazing to me about this tree, or trees, is that the small one, though appearing to be separate, is also connected to the mother tree, which is some distance to the left. Perhaps it's a sucker. But in this photo you can see how the roots are all connected --  if you click on the photo.

There were a couple of other trees near this one on this same wall of soil that looked like baby trees, and they indeed might have sprung from fallen nuts years ago, or might have sprung from the roots of older trees. It's hard to tell. But it is unusual to see them on the side of the road on a slope like this with so many roots exposed.

Have you seen almond trees do this before? What trees are in bloom where you live?