Planting which oak, and where?

Hello Gardeners!

I’ve been so happy to see all the attention lately to planting oak trees! Take, for instance, Margaret Renkl’s recent column in the New York Times, in which she describes how she collects acorns, protects them while they sprout, and then hands out the seedlings to her neighbors “like Easter Eggs.”

Oaks are widely considered one of, if not the single most important of our beneficial keystone species. They support caterpillars and other insects, house multitudes of types of birds, enrich the soil, cool the air, sequester carbon, and help to manage stormwater. All this power packed into each acorn...it is amazing.

OK, so you’ve decided to plant an oak…now how do you decide where to put it? And which oak to choose?

The first consideration is how much space do you have? If you have a large space, you can opt for a White Oak (Quercus alba), a Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), or the mighty Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), all of which regularly grow to around 50-80 feet tall and wide. You might want to site your oak a good 30-50 feet away from the house if you are worried about shading solar panels or limbs falling on the house, although skilled pruning can help keep a closer tree from either of those two outcomes. (Here is a complete list of Oaks native to Maryland, from Maryland Native Plant Society.)

If you have a more medium-sized space, you still have a lot of options in the oak department!

Swamp White oak at 50-60 feet tall and wide, Post Oak at 40-50 feet, or Willow Oak at 30-50’ are all excellent options. Swamp white oak is remarkably drought and compacted-soil tolerant. Post Oak has a remarkably wonky leaf shape that I really enjoy. And willow oak has smaller, narrower leaves that can more easily biodegrade, making this a good choice for a no-rake or low-rake situation.

Speaking of raking, you can do a whole lot more for the ecosystem by planting a leaf-resilient, native groundcover under your oak, rather than a fragile, resource-guzzling lawn that would die without raking, later on when the tree is in its mature size and producing masses of leaves. Most of you reading this are probably already aware that raking and removing leaves is detrimental to the many insects that need to overwinter or pupate in those leaves.

Choose your groundcover to match the soil and water conditions. If you are planting a young oak, there may be full sun for the first 5 or more years. Plan to update or diversify the groundcover later, when shady conditions prevail. The bed in this photo is shaded by the Post Oak in the middle.

If you don’t have a large or medium space, don’t despair! There are other smaller understory trees, and even a few very small oaks, such as Dwarf Chinkapin Oak /Quercus prinoides (3-15 feet tall). This one might be a little harder to find available, but I see them occasionally for sale.

If you would like some help siting oaks or other trees on your property, a fresh perspective from a professional can be helpful. One of my favorite kinds of projects is to help a homeowner convert a patch of lawn into a nice large bed planted with native trees, shrubs, and groundcover.

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather! My husband and I are packing up the EV and getting ready to drive our way back from California to Maryland. Hooray!

Happy Gardening!
--Chris

P.S. Here is the special coupon code for newsletter subscribers to get $10 off the Make It Easier!"video class: EASIERFORTENOFF. There is also a useful list of low-maintenance, weed-suppressing groundcover included in this class. If you want to share the class with someone else who might be interested, please invite them to sign up for the newsletter here, so they can get all the news and coupons, too!