How should i stake this oak?

[taylor6400]

A few years ago, when i moved into my place i planted a half dozen oak saplings. They are doing very well on their own with no intervention on my part. I did prune a couple back a bit this year that were getting a little "whippy" on top. Maybe that was wrong, i dont know. Anyway, with the heavy snows one of them got bent over in the snow and is still bent. WIll it straighten itself back out, or should i stake it? This is the smalles of the bunch, i think thats why it got caught in the snow. Its about 2.5ft tall. If i need to stake, how do i do it? NEver staked a tree before.

PS, i got these saplings at some banquet and i dont know the variety. They had burr, white, and reds. One of them keeps their leaves until spring. Which one is that?

Thanks!

 

[Bowsaw Outlaw]

If it is in clear few of sunlight and open around the tree the tree should straiton itself to grow towards the sun. I had some of my small sawtooth oaks get bent realy bad a couple of years ago and they straiton back. Took them a few months though.

 

[S Mc]

I agree that the little guy should stand up on his own if there is no other competition around to preclude that and if the stem itself isn't fractured.

A common oak that retains its leaves throughout the winter is a Pin oak, Quercus palustris, which is in the red oak family. You can tell the reds from the whites by looking at the leaves. The red oaks' veins will continue out past the margin of the leaves appearing as little pins around the leaves. The white oak group will have smooth margins. The bur oak is in the white oak family so will not have pins.

Sylvia