Quercus Macro carpa Burr Oak Tree HELP!

I am getting a gift of a Quercus Macro carpa burr oak tree from a fellow poster and I need help with what to do. She said t's a second year seadling and is about 18 inches tall. How far from a fence should I plant it and any tips on planting and caring for this tree will be greatly appreciated as I don't know anything about this.

Loren

Loren, the Bur Oak is a beautiful large oak. The second link says it grows up to 80' tall. Other websites say 100' tall. It can get as wide as it is tall. If you plant it near a fence, be sure you neighbor doesn't mind shade as almost half the tree will be in your neighbor's yard. It will take a while to get that big, but big it will get. This is a tree for a very large yard.

On the positive side, it is very tolerant of different soil and water conditions. It adapts well to urban settings. It grows slowly. The acorns are loved by many kinds of wildlife.

If you have the room, it is definitely a tree to plant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bur_oak
http://www.arborday.org/Trees/TreeGuide/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=17
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/quercus/macrocarpa.htm

Veronica

I planted one of these beauties in my smallish suburban yard in 2002. I picked it because it is drought and heat tolerant and extremely low maintenance. Be aware that its acorns are ENORMOUS. And, when it has a good year, it will drop A LOT of these ENORMOUS acorns. The wildlife do love them, as Betty has said. It is a beautiful tree, and I especially love its gnarled and interesting bark.

Carla

The acorns sound good I have a few resident squirrels, chipmunks, etc. My yard is not very big like yours but I will keep it in check when it starts to get too big.

Loren

I can personally verify that these drop a lot of huge acorns. I love my oaks, but come fall I feel I should wear a hard hat on the patio. Those things smart! Peg

I have never seen an acorn. Only pictures...I'm from Hawaii. But I have been hit by pinecones. I have been picking them up everyday and BONK another pinecone falls on my head. I can imagine a acorn, they are heavier. How fast do their grow?

Bur Oaks are slow growers. I planted a 5' one out in one of our pastures 3 years ago. It has been watered and fertilized on a regular basis to get it established. It has grown maybe 2'. I hope it grows a little faster than that this year.

Some trees take a while to get a good root system established. I once planted a bareroot, grafted pecan. It did almost nothing for almost 4 years. Then it shot up almost overnight.

LeSnow, how do you plan on keeping the tree "in check"? Topping usually produces more problems than you orginally had and is not recommended. It is better to remove entire branches if you have to.

Do you have Oak Wilt in your area? While Bur Oaks are more resistant to the disease, it is best to avoid pruning during certain times of the year if you do have Oak Wilt in the area. We have over a hundred large live oaks on the ranch and I cringe every time I see a brown branch on one. So far, we have lucked out. It hadn't been found in the county, but Travis County, 2 counties over, has it.

I hope that I will be able to keep the height in check as there is an old powerline nearby. As for Oak Wilt, I don't know what that is...

You need to find another place to plant it. The overhead lines around us aren't much higher than maybe 25'. Quercus macrocarpa is a large tree. You don't want it anywhere near the power lines and you probably also don't want it near a fence.

Here's a link on why not to top a tree
http://www.plantamnesty.org/stoptopping/5reasonstostoptopping.htm
and another one from the IL DNR
http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/forestry/Urban/Treetopping.htm

Please read all the links. You'll be causing yourself a much bigger headache if you top the tree instead of siting it somewhere else on your property.

bur oaks have bigger acorns in texas than illinois, correct ? Isn't it a sub-species
that has the huge acorns ? Jim

The Bur oaks in Illinois have smaller acorns. They're only around an inch long but maybe 1 ¼" and they have a fringed cap. When they come down on cars, they don't leave dents like hail does.

I think some of you may be thinking of the oaks that produce the baseball size acorns-
http://www.wuvie.net/burroak2003.JPG

The acorns on my Bur Oak are golf-ball sized. And, because of all the rain we've had here this spring and early summer, it is already awash in green acorns.

LeSnow, as much as I love and recommend Bur Oaks, I must suggest that you try another tree in your area. You are just asking for problems by planting a tree that will easily grow 50-80' in height any where near a power line.

Carla