English Oak Tree

The English Oak is certainly the most famous and well-known of all oak trees, featuring in history, poetry, literature and popular stories. Relatively slow-growing, it will in time reach 70 feet tall and wide, so it should be used in a large garden, as a shade tree, specimen or edging woodland. It has a potential life of 500 years or more. The rugged bark is very dark-gray, and broken into plates like the hide of a crocodile. The leaves are thick and very dark green, with rounded lobes down each side, and older trees produce acorns. Leaves turn yellow and then brown in fall, and tend to stay late on the tree through winter. The trunk is very thick, and older trees have wide spreading branches, naturally rising low from the trunk unless trimmed.

• Large, magical specimen tree
• The most famous and iconic of all the oak trees
• Handsome lobed foliage turns yellow to reddish in fall
• More cold-resistant than most other oaks
• Grows well in alkaline and limestone soils

Plant your English Oak in full sun, or where it will soon grow into the sun. It grows in any well-drained soil, and while growing well in acid soils, it also grows well in alkaline soils (rare among oaks) and even on limestone. Established trees have good drought resistance and this is a good choice for areas with low rainfall that are not too hard. Not for zone 9. Generally free of any serious pests or diseases. Natural habit is with low, spreading branches, so prune up early and keep a central leader stem for a more upright tree.