One of the trees we had removed was sick with Sudden Oak Death. It was buried in a far corner of the lot and we didn't know it was ill, but when the tree guy spotted it, we knew it had to go. We'd never seen a tree with sudden oak death before, so we had no idea what to expect. As the photo below shows, though, one hint is if the tree appears to be bleeding.
That's thick, ugly, bright red sap that looks like blood. If you see this, the tree is probably a goner and should be removed to help reduce the spread of the disease.We're also told that the local bay trees are a host of both sudden oak death and the blight that kills the madrone trees. If so, they're doubly nasty.
