Here at Terra, we like to keep our people up to date on the latest and greatest – and that includes newly available trees that are adapted to our long dry season. We recently sent a team to Devil Mountain Nursery for a workshop focused on unusual drought-tolerant trees for Bay Area Gardens. 

Several new species are being tried, but our favorite so far is the ISLAND OAK (Quercus tomentella). It’s a small evergreen tree – only about 25 tall and wide – with a symmetrical shape and attractive leaves. Native to the Channel Islands, this species is popular with our local birds and bees. 

We’ve planted these rare oaks in many locations in San Francisco over the past couple of years, and they’re growing beautifully. Monthly watering during the dry season is all they need  after a year or two of establishment. 

Through continuing education and networking with other landscaping professionals, we bring our best game to the field of planting the right trees for our future conditions of hot and freakin dry.