For the love of trees

Experts offer advice on how best to care for your home trees

ELAYNA TRUCKER

About a month ago, my HOA had some tree work done. I could hear the racket of their saws and woodchipper for hours as I worked in my home office. There are two tall trees on either side of our parking lot; I don’t know what kind, but they shake tremendously in the wind and it was not uncommon for large branches to fall off in a gust, so they clearly needed some attention.

The next day, when I went to see the result of all that noise, I was dismayed to find these once-proud trees butchered beyond recognition. This wasn’t a mere pruning – this was practically an assassination. I know little about trees and tree care, but it seemed obvious even to me that the workers had no idea what they were doing, beyond trying to remove mass.

The plants were denuded, with spindly branches suddenly bare to the sky and bizarre formations made out of the branches that hung down and to the sides. One of my neighbors declared that after seeing the hack job done on these trees she cried. It got me thinking: besides being unsightly, what damage could have been done to the trees with this poor pruning?

I turned to two Napa locals who have been working on trees for a long time. Bill Pramuk, Consulting Arborist with Pramuk, Trees and Associates; and Joe Schneider of Pacific Tree Care, based in Calistoga. I knew their decades of experience could help me understand the consequences of bad pruning, as well as inform us of how we can best care for our trees in our fire-prone, drying climate.

Both experts agreed that pruning should be done sparingly, and Joe cautioned that this is especially the case in drought conditions. Pruning a tree is all about structural integrity: some trees add a fair amount of weight as they get older and, if they’re in your yard, tree owners will want to occasionally get rid of older branches so young growth has a better chance. Joe noted that our indigenous oak species can live up to Bill Pramuk seven hundred years (the oldest he’s ever come across was about four hundred), and they grow out and down, with old branches eventually sloughing off. That’s all well and good in a wild landscape, but on your property, you might need to guide this process. Propped limbs – branches that help prop up the tree – tend to be pruned away in favor of elevation, but this practice should be discouraged, as it can weaken a tree’s structural development.

Bill says that “trees should be mindfully examined at least once per year, and not at the same

A Canary Island pine, Spain.

A large coast live oak tree, near San Jose.

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time of the year every year.” An arborist will look at the architecture of the tree to see where there might be potential for failure, and then prune with an eye to discouraging that from happening. The key to it all: exercise restraint. As Bill notes, “trees and forests existed just fine for tens of millions of years with no pruning before Homo sapiens appeared.”

“You want a happy tree,” Joe adds, “put it back in the forest. Create the amenities that 400 million years of evolution have added.”

Why is it important to properly prune your trees? Bill lists a litany of reasons: structural failure, permanent disfigurement, increased risk of disease and pests, “temporary loss of normal flowering or fruiting,” and even conflicts with your neighbors. Joe likens good pruning to a hug, and bad pruning to a punch. You want the tree to respond to pruning with increased vitality, not react to aggressive pruning which might cause a tree to put on a lot more growth over a short period of time, defeating the purpose.

Joe loves to speak in analogies: “Leaves are the employees – they’re making money for the business. They get paid in nutrients and water. If you overprune your tree and fire the employees, you have less money coming in and have to hire new employees. They’re still in training,” meaning they won’t do as good a job at resource management, hence

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Joe Schneider, right and his Pacific Tree Care crew planted new trees along Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga on Jan. 31, 2020 replacing trees that were dying.

that possible loss of fruit or flowers that Bill noted.

Both experts agreed that drought care includes a lot of attention paid to the soil and root systems, not so much to the tree above ground. Mulch is the most important component, according to Joe. A hearty amount of mulch helps maintain moisture levels, which in a drought, helps maximize water usage. Chip mulch from wood chippers is a great base, and if you can add composted

Please see Trees, Page 50

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A coastal redwood, Washington state

TREES

From Page 49

mulch, that’s even better. You want to keep the microorganisms in the soil happy, because they are integral to a healthy root system. There are even injectable fungi spores for soil treatments, to help build your soil, if necessary. If you do irrigate, water with a drip system or laser-cut tubing, the best ways to keep soil moist without wasting water.

Pruning during a drought can lead to poor resource management. Open wounds (i.e. pruning cuts) make a tree react with defensive measures, when they should be focusing on keeping their root systems healthy. And if too many branches are removed, the ones remaining may become sun-damaged.

I asked both Bill and Joe what tree species they think will do well as our climate continues to heat up and dry out. Bill mentioned the work of arborist Dave Muffly of Oaktopia, who believes the netleaf oak (Quercus rugosa), a tree native to Mexico that is well-adapted to hot weather, might do well in our area. As an added bonus, it might not be susceptible to

A Chinese elm in Laguna Woods, California.

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Sudden Oak Death. Joe stressed that native species are always the way to go, but if you do decide to go with an exotic plant, do your research so you know how to care for it.

Fires are another growing presence in our area, so I asked the two arborists about the best way to protect trees on your property from fire damage. Both agree that creating a defensible space is the smartest thing to do, and Joe admonishes that elevating the tree with pruning will only lead to more light getting to the ground beneath the tree, spurring the growth of fire-prone plants like grasses. Bill suggests working with your local Fire Safe Council, if you’re in an area that has one, and if your property is wooded or forested, to check if you qualify for funding through the Napa County Resource Conservation District or Natural Resource Conservation Service.

The most fire-resistant native tree is the coastal redwood, but these are tough to have on personal property. The coastal live oak, as well as valley oaks, are also good choices. Joe also recommends Canary Island pines and Chinese elms. One of the keys to surviving fire is size; larger trees tend to be more resistant to fire. Another is having lots of meristematic points; these junctures allow a tree to grow new parts out of old parts, and having more of them means a tree might be able to survive a fire better than others.

Certain fires, of course, are just too violent for anything to survive, and if a fire burns hot enough, it could kill the microbiome of the soil, so even if the tree survives the fire, it might not live for much long after. There is no protection for a tree in a firestorm, unfortunately.

If a tree on your property is left standing after a fire, have an arborist come take a look at it soon afterwards, and follow up with examinations for about three years. Joe explained the initial examination process: the arborist will take two-inch plugs of the trees so you can see how healthy it is inside. You want to test the most visibly fire damaged area. If the plug is white and gelatinous, the tree will probably be okay. Put the plug back in, increase irrigation a little bit, and add mulch but no nitrogen. If the plug smells like wine, meaning the liquid inside has fermented, it probably won’t survive. His advice? “Save your money, plant a new tree.”

I had to ask Bill and Joe if they have a favorite tree, and they do. Bill loves coastal redwoods but has often had to recommend removing them if they’re planted too close to a home. He also loves oaks, namely the coastal live oak, which can present some fun and interesting challenges to proper care.

Joe loves the valley oaks as well, with their pendulating limbs and geotropic growth due to gravity’s pull. He’s also deeply inspired by giant sequoias, and once had the opportunity to climb down the inside of a 259-foot tall tree that had been mostly hollowed out by lightning fire, which can smolder inside a tree for hundreds of years. “Talk about a spiritual encounter,” he exclaimed.

Any last advice for tree owners? If an arborist recommends a certain treatment, make sure they tell you why. If they can’t tell you why, it’s probably not necessary for the tree’s health and they’re only trying to make money. Often, the best thing to do for a tree is to leave it alone.

If you want to call in either of these professionals, Bill Pramuk can be reached at info@billpramuk.com or (707) 363-0114; Joe Schneider and Pacific Tree Care can be contacted at info@pacifictreecare.com or (707) 942-0261.

Rooted

IN NAPA VALLEY

TIM CARL

Kirk Venge carries on a wine industry legacy

For more than two decades winemaker Kirk Venge has made some of the finest examples of wines the Napa Valley has to offer. He also nearly lost everything in last year’s 2020 Glass Fire, when he watched as a wall of flames descended toward his winery and tasting room in Calistoga.

“Up until then, the 2020 vintage had looked near perfect, and we were days away from harvesting,” he said.

But in late September a raging inferno ripped through the region — scorching 70,000 acres and incinerating 1,555 structures. Among those were 27 damaged wineries and six that burned to the ground. The fire then left a path of singed vineyards in its wake. That night the flames headed straight at Venge as he tried to wet down his structures with a hose.

“The fire came so fast that at one point I had to get to the middle of the vineyard for safety,” he said. “I was pretty certain the winery was done for.”

Tim Carl LLC

Kirk Venge’s DLCV wine named in honor of his mother, Dianna Lynn Candy Venge.

In a fortunate twist of fate, the winds shifted and the conflagration abruptly turned. Over the next few days, Kirk stood guard, stamping out small fires that started as flaming embers continued dropping from the smoke-filled sky. When the fire had eventually been fully extinguished, all of his structures and vineyards had been left virtually untouched.

“It was pretty amazing,” he said. “We were only able to process about 20% of our wine last year because of smoke damage, but the little we do have is pretty fantastic.”

GOOD BONES

Kirk Venge’s grandfather, Per, the son of immigrants from Denmark, started a wine and spirits import business in Southern California in the mid-20th century, inspiring Kirk’s father, Nils Venge, to become a winemaker.

Nils graduated from UC Davis with a degree in viticulture in 1967, followed by a tour of duty in Vietnam as a Navy reservist before moving to the Napa Valley where he worked for notable wineries, such as Charles Krug, Sterling and Groth. Eventually, in 1976 — the year Kirk was born — his family purchased a 17-acre parcel in Oakville and planted it with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Growing up, Kirk witnessed his father become an influential force within Napa Valley and beyond. Nils made some of the wines ogled over by wine reviewers such as Robert Parker Jr., including the 1985 Groth Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon that received a 100-point

score, which, according to the Saddleback website, made him the first American winemaker to do so.

By the mid-1990s Kirk’s family had launched their own Venge Family wine brand and purchased a second property — the old Rossini “ghost winery” in Bell Canyon, just northeast of St. Helena. Hoping to build a “forever” winery, the family set about renovating the dilapidated building that had sat vacant since being abandoned during Prohibition.

“It was pretty amazing — old stone walls and a cellar — really good bones,” Kirk said.

Kirk was involved with the entire process of renovation, believing that one day the reimagined structure would be where he would make wine as an adult. However, when his parents divorced in 2008 the winery was sold to the William Foley group. Kirk was left adrift and pondering how he might ever afford his own winery.

AN ANGEL

“I always wanted to be a winery owner — even when I was just 6 years old,” Kirk said. “I looked up to my dad, and I thought that working in the vineyards, driving tractors, traveling and being around interesting people seemed like such a great life.”

But purchasing a vineyard and constructing a winery are exceptionally expensive, and with the family’s winery sold, it appeared he might never own his own operation. That’s when his mother and sister stepped in.

“My mother was my first ‘angel investor,’” he said. “She and my sister loaned me money to get me started. They both provided me the support and resources to purchase the vineyard and build a small winery. Without them, this would never have happened.”

Kirk’s mother passed in 2011, but her legacy lives on through his winery and vineyard. He has also honored her by creating a wine in her name — “DLCV” for Dianna

An aerial view of the Venge vineyard.

Tim Carl LLC

Lynn Candy Venge. Only one or two barrels of this wine are made each year — from the finest selection of the vintage — and each bottle costs $475. This wine is so rare and sought-after that no mention can be found on the winery’s website, and allocations are by invitation only.

“She was and always will be my life’s inspiration,” he said. “This wine is one way I can share with others just how special she was.”

FINDING A MENTOR

Kirk, like his father before him,

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Kirk Venge at his winery off Silverado Trail, south of Calistoga in the Napa Valley

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had obtained a viticulture and enology degree from UC Davis. As a student there, he found an influential mentor, Hugh Davies, who would eventually take the reins at his own family’s Schramsberg Vineyards, a sparkling wine producer in the Napa Valley. Another of the second-generation Napa Valley vintners, Davies, 10 years Kirk’s senior, was attending UC Davis’ influential winemaking school to obtain a master’s in enology.

“I felt exceptionally lucky to have Hugh take me under his wing like that,” Kirk said.

Beyond helping Davies at school, Kirk also worked at Schramsberg during the summers.

“Kirk was an enthusiastic, hard-working 18-year-old when I first met him,” Davies said. “Always positive, always present, he was a great candidate to join my tasting panel for my master’s thesis work.”

Eventually, Kirk would work at other wineries, including Mumm Napa and internships overseas. Today, Kirk is himself a mentor for dozens of aspiring winemakers, not only those working and interning at his winery but also those working at the numerous brands for which he consults, including B Cellars Winery, Bacio Divino Cellars, Eleven Eleven Wines, Hunnicutt Wine Co. Implicit Cellars, JAX Vineyards, Macauley Vineyard, Mirror Wines, Promise Wine, Sky Devil Wines, Trespass Vineyards and Tres Perlas Wines.

“Kirk was cut out to do this kind of work,” Davies said. “He’s carried his infectious energy straight on through these last 25+ years, and it is no surprise to see him succeed as a winemaker and winery owner/ operator.”

THE WINES OF VENGE

Besides being pleasant and happy, Kirk is a winemaker whose talents are in high demand because he consistently makes delicious wines. I am not talking about the type of deliciousness of many high-scoring wines of yesteryear with over-the-top alcohol and sweetness. I am speaking of wines that can be “big” without being unidimensional and cloying.

Producing little more than a few hundred cases of each different wine each vintage, Kirk’s offerings this year include a range of red wines and two white wines.

I detail four: the 2019 Brown Ranch Chardonnay ($47 per bottle, 400 cases made), the 2019 Signal Fire Calistoga Zinfandel ($50 per bottle, 450 cases made), the 2017 Kenefick Ranch Merlot ($75 per bottle, 300 cases made) and the 2018 Bone Ash Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon ($115 per bottle, 600 cases made).

The Brown Ranch Chardonnay comes from grapes grown in the Carneros region of south Napa. This wine is straw-gold in color with aromas of orange blossom, chalk and toasted hazelnuts. Flavors of ripe pear, grilled pineapple, coconut zest and candied lemon merge with vanilla. Try this wine with sautéed sea scallops served with grilled mission figs and a salad of arugula tossed in a light dressing of apple cider vinegar and olive oil.

The grapes for the Signal Fire Zinfandel are sourced from Kirk’s Calistoga dry-farmed, old-vine vineyard just north of the hot-springs geyser. Beyond natural rain, these venerable vines receive no irrigation and produce a tiny crop — only 1 ton of grapes per acre. Able to survive in the parched soils by having strong, deep roots, the grapes produce a surreal wine — inky-black in color with complex aromas of sun-dried red raspberries, cracked black peppercorns, dried sage and molasses. Flavors include blackberry jam, toasted malt and German chocolate cake. Enjoy this with spareribs brushed with puree of sun-dried cherries.

The Kenefick Ranch Merlot fruit comes from the nearby Kenefick Vineyard just north of Kirk’s property and represents a scrumptious example of the versatility of the merlot grape. One of my favorite varieties of Vitis vinifera, this example of wine is a study in concentration. The color is mahogany in the glass with aromatics that linger on dried blueberry, darkroasted coffee, fresh tobacco and Chambord. In the mouth, this wine is a silky wave, with flavors of duck confit and Chinese five-spice that finish with blueberry and cedar incense. Ponder enjoying this wine alongside seared duck breast sauced with cherries and port reduction.

Bone Ash is grown at the Calistoga winery location and produces Cabernet Sauvignon wines comparable to many of the adjacent well-regarded vineyards such as the Fisher Family, Kenefick and Araujo vineyards. This wine is quintessential Napa Valley Cab, opaque in the glass with a ruby rim and aromas of creme de cassis, cedar, leather and black truffle. The flavors are of a classic French demi-glace sauce that has been infused with bacon, umeshu and Mexican chocolate. This wine would go with any hearty game dish. I’m picturing venison grilled over an oak-wood fire that has a few sprigs of thyme smoldering in the ashes, accompanied by grilled radicchio that has been brushed lightly with balsamic vinegar.

KIRK VENGE — ROOTED HERE

“He is rooted here,” Davies said. “Here’s a guy that was born into this industry and community — we are fortunate to have his commitment, his experience and motivation here in the Napa Valley.”

This rootedness seems to be an important source of Kirk’s success, and it furthers his family’s legacy of helping define and refine what it means to be a Napa Valley vintner.

“There are plenty of challenges — drought, fire, the skyrocketing cost of insurance — but I love what we make, I love wine,” he said. “This is usable art — tangible, collectible and changes with time.”

Kirk paused and looked out the window of his tasting room. A few groups of visitors occasionally oohed and aahed as they tasted wine on the outside deck. Beyond, less than 50 yards away, the winery structure stood flanked by green rows of vines. In the distance sun-baked, dry, beige hills loomed, many still strewn with blackened trees from the recent fire.

“Yes, there are challenges,” he repeated, “but for me, the most powerful force out there is remembering just how much there is to be grateful for — family, friends and the opportunity to live, work and share this amazing place.”