which oak trees lose leaves when?

[whitenack]

I am trying to decide what type of oak i want to plant.

I do not like the pin oak's low growing branches, so that is out.

I like the white oak's size, but their leaves fall in the spring. I am afraid that may be an aggravation.

Anyone out there have a white oak? Is the late leaf drop that big of a deal?

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[treeclimber165]

Just about every oak that I am familiar with will replace 95%-100% of it's leaves every year. Some will go bare between leaf drop and new growth, others push off the old leaves with new ones.
So leaf drop will be equal to how many leaves are on the tree.

 

[whitenack]

maybe i didn't clarify.

my question dealt with a white oak dropping its leaves in the spring, while the other trees drop theirs in the fall.

 

[Reed]

I think you're talking about the white oak family which includes the live oaks.

They flower every Spring, produce acorns each year as opposed to the red and black oak families. Called "evergreen" because of the winter leaf retention, they are messy in terms of people living below them and produce high acid from rainfall run-off, part of their evolutionary vegetative competition habits. Their cambium and xylem tissues are more dispersed and are considered "hardier" trees but fall victim to vascular-inhibiting fungal parasites like oak wilt, phalosporum, lots of viral and bacterial problems too now with air quality exacerbating the diseases.

Oh yes, they grow slower, are more valuable for property assessments, and are more sweeping and beautiful in my opinion and the wood's a lot harder on chain saws.

Personal opinions here, but consider future problems when selecting.

 

[Reed]

Opps, forgot to mention that they DO drop leaves during budbreak and sometimes before - little waxy leathery leaves that refuse the rake and decompose over much longer time periods.

Amen.

 

[Toddppm]

Being in KY I think you're talking about a regular old white oak that is deciduous. I have one left right now and it does hold a lot of leaves until spring but not that bad, by the time they fall you just mulch them up when cutting the grass. One of mine that I was planning on saving did develop some root rot that worried me so much I finally decided to take it down, kinda sad but I couldn't take the stress of knowing 1/3 of it's roots were not supporting it anymore!
Willow oaks are nice but those little leaves will drive you crazy when it's cleanup time!

 

[Stumper]

Personally I'm a fan of Burr Oaks-please note that they DO hold their leaves till spring.-It scares the unfamiliar since they see dead leaves all over the tree and think "OH,NO!" Re: your dislike of Pin Oaks. I never noticed a problem with low branching on Pin Oaks.-Granted I don't live in an area with many of them but still....seems like something you can control readily by pruning when the tree is young. The "worst" of the oaks are still fine trees if you have a suitable environment.

 

[Jay Banks]

If you are selecting oaks to plant you will be dealing with trees that retain their leaves in winter, period. To what extent each tree will hold on to what portion seems to be site/tree dependent.

I had a hugh white oak the held its leaves but during the winter storms most were knock off and come spring the remaining leaves were insignificant.

So plant your oak and enjoy it.