Sawtooth Oak

[BrianL]

Looking to plant an oak to honor my son and I've concentrated on a sawtooth oak, but I have a concern- are the bristle leaves for show and not prickly or are they prickly like a holly bush? My future children will likely be climbing this tree so it is a concern. Thanks!

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Not a problem

 

[BrianL]

Can you elaborate- not sure what you mean by "not a problem."

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Sorry, while the leaf margin does appear to be "Spinny" it is in fact quit flacid and will not normaly penetrate the skin. Your children should be fine; in regard to that.

Gravity on the other hand might prove to be another issue.

 

[BrianL]

Yes, I say my kids will be climbing it and my wife adds "and falling out of."

Funny story about that- when I was 10 I was in a sling for 8 weeks after fracturing my collar-bone. In the final week of the sling, I was climbing a pine, when I fell out of it and refractured the collar-bone

 

[Elmore]

Invasive

Sawtooth Oak, Quercus acutissima, is an Asian species that is showing to be invasive. Plant a Ginkgo. They don't volunteer readily, don't have any major pest or disease issues and can live 1,000 to 2,000 years. Plant a living legacy.
http://www.invasive.org/eastern/midatlantic/quac.html

 

[treeseer]

Elmore, I agree that a ginkgo makes an excellent climbing tree.

I am not sure about the inadvisability of planting sawtooths. I have yet to see strong evidence that its invasiveness is that bad. If it displaces native red oaks, that may be a good thing, since those are declining severely. I'm planting sawtooths on my land, and some are getting old enough to reproduce. If they spread to the woods and displace some white oaks, that'd be a good thing, since q. alba constitutes ~50% of the trees in some spots here.

at some point we should accept some shifting in populations, whether or not it is human-aided.

Hey nycha good to see you here.

 

[BrianL]

Sawtooth Oak v. Ginko

If the concern is not planting a native species, then why plant a Ginko? Its not native to the North America either.

 

[treeseer]

If the concern is not planting a native species, then why plant a Ginko? Its not native to the North America either.

Ginkgoes are native; they were here before a little cold spell called the Ice Age knocked them out.

"Native" can be defined many ways.

 

[BrianL]

Ginkgoes are native; they were here before a little cold spell called the Ice Age knocked them out.

"Native" can be defined many ways.

Only native to Asia now:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/history.htm

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/GINBILA.pdf

A subspecies died out here about 6 million years ago and in Europe about 2.3 millions years ago.

 

[Elmore]

The more important issue here is whether or not a species is invasive. I prefer Ginkgo over most any other species and I'll admit to being bias because I grow hundreds of them but I grow them because I recognize the superior qualities of the species and it's many different cultivars and varieties. If I were to plant an oak instead I would probably choose a Nuttall or an Overcup. Bald Cypress is another tree that I would choose. Or as I suggested on another post Chinese Lacebark Elm.
Something like this Ginkgo would be extremly long lived, practically trouble free and as you can see, extremely attractive...a stand out.
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/Elmore/Ginkgo/PennyLane68.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

 

[vharrison2]

What a pretty tree

 

[BrianL]

The more important issue here is whether or not a species is invasive. I prefer Ginkgo over most any other species and I'll admit to being bias because I grow hundreds of them but I grow them because I recognize the superior qualities of the species and it's many different cultivars and varieties. If I were to plant an oak instead I would probably choose a Nuttall or an Overcup. Bald Cypress is another tree that I would choose. Or as I suggested on another post Chinese Lacebark Elm.
Something like this Ginkgo would be extremly long lived, practically trouble free and as you can see, extremely attractive...a stand out.
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/Elmore/Ginkgo/PennyLane68.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Elmore, about how old is that tree? It reminds me of a katsura.

 

[Elmore]

Elmore, about how old is that tree? It reminds me of a katsura.

I'm guessing 45-50 yrs or there abouts.
Here he is showing off his fall color.
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/Elmore/Ginkgo/PennyLaneNov.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

 

[Pondracer]

I will try and dig through my pictures from China last year. My in-laws took me to some interesting places, in one there was a massive ginkgo covering an entire courtyard and supported by an elaborate wooden structure. By massive I mean greater than 5' diameter.

I would love to plant one, but my understanding is they are very hard to find, usually small, and they take forever to grow.

 

[Elmore]

"I would love to plant one, but my understanding is they are very hard to find, usually small, and they take forever to grow."

Hey if you want one you have to go and find it...if you look for one you can find one. These trees are not going to sprout legs and come looking for you, although I am working on that. I strongly recommend that you insist on a male grafted tree. Ask for a named cultivar such as 'Magyar', 'Autumn Gold, 'Golden Globe' etc. These can be very large trees so if you want something smaller ask for 'Jade Butterflies, 'Chase Manhattan', 'ChiChi' etc. First find out what will fit in your planting plan. Research. A plus in getting a small tree is that you can readily see a graft union, on older, larger Ginkgo trees, the union is very difficult if near impossible to observe. A few are rooted, most are grafted and there are a lot of sexually produced (seedlings) trees on the market. A nursery near me has had Ginkgoes for sale for years and every time I visit (not too often) I ask about these 6'-8' trees. They always tell me that they are rooted male trees. Uh huh. This is the same nursery that years ago sold my wife a Quince that bears green apples. Look for reputable sources. Nurserymen with integrity. It may take 15 to 30 years for a seed grown Ginkgo to show it's sex and the fruit from a female tree is objectionable to most people. Call local nurseries and garden centers to find availability or go on-line too seek out a male grafted Ginkgo cultivar. If you have a large estate an unsexed tree would be fine planted somewhere away from buildings, drives, walks and places where people gather. Growth rate for Ginkgo is slow to moderate. I think that they are slow the first few years then grow more rapidly until they get of size then slow down for the next 1,000 to 1,500 years. heh heh...under the right conditions, you can expect 1'-3' growth per year on a young but established tree.