Question Regarding Oak

[Cobalt_]

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure I'm placing this in the right section of the forum, and for that I apologize. I have a question regarding oak trees and I was hoping someone here might be able to help me.

One of my relatives doesn't have much longer to live. He recently expressed a request to me about his remains. He has requested that a "big, strong oak" be planted on our family's property in memory of him.

When I started looking into this, I found there were many more types of Oak than I'd counted on, and I'm utterly lost on which I should choose. The characteristics I'm looking for are as follows:

- Tall
- Thick
- Able to grow in east coast of US
- Long living

I realize I haven't given you all much to go on, but any help would truly be appreciated. Thank you very much for your time.

 

[bobt]

What a beautiful thing to do in memory of your relative!

The only oak experience that I have is about Red Oak. An uncle of mine grew a few from acorns once. He planted a bunch of acorns in a corner of his garden, and a few of them sprounted and grew. He transplanted one into his yard, and now forty years later, it is a grand large tree just as you described in your post. The tree in question was slow starting at first, but once it had grown to about 10 feet, it really took off. Every time I see that tree in the front yard of his old house, I have to smile. My uncle is long gone, but his tree lives!

Bob

 

[Urban Forester]

I would look at White Oak or Burr Oak. Both should do well in your region. Oaks prefer well-drained soil being upland species, but other than that you should be fine. Red Oak is VERY suseptible to Oak Wilt a devastating vascular disease. Check with your extension service to see if its active in your area, if not then Red Oak would work too.

 

[treeseer]

- Able to grow in east coast of US

need a lil mo site info mr. usa

 

[mitch95100]

Give him a red oak it should do good their:msp_rolleyes:

 

[darkbyrd]

You say east coast... if you're in a warm spot, maybe coastal, you might be able to plant a live oak

 

[ClimbinArbor]

a soil sample would help.

why not plant a great selection? collect and plant as many acorns as you can, compared to transplanting, its very affordable and you get more trees...you could transplant a 4 or 5 footer in the middle to be a landmark.

i know it doesnt sound right but transplanting larger trees can be less successful than transplanting 3 or 4 footers. mainly due to the loss of roots involved in the digging process.