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Quercus phellos
What would you create when you might cross an oak and a willow? The willow oak!
Not really a hybrid of the 2, it’s an oak via and thru, full with acorns. However you may mistake the slender leaves for these of a willow.
Willow oak is a favourite of wildlife, making every kind of birds, in addition to squirrels and different herbivores, extraordinarily glad.
Watching the chipmunks and squirrels acquire the nuts for storage needs to be one among my favourite issues to do within the fall.
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This isn’t your mom’s oak, although. Nicely, until your mom grew one among these.
There are numerous cultivars which have an upright, slender progress behavior that makes them good for parking strips and much, and planting nearer to houses than you may be capable to put a tree in any other case.
They’re simple to develop and extra immune to issues than another species within the Quercus genus, as properly.
Let’s speak all issues willow oak. Right here’s the lineup of what we’ll talk about on this information:
In the event you’d like a rundown of all the professionals and cons of willow oaks, please go to our information (coming quickly!).
Able to get rising? Let’s dive in.
Cultivation and Historical past
The willow oak additionally goes by the names pin, peach, and swamp chestnut oak.
“Quercus” is the Latin phrase for oak and “phellos” is Latin for cork, a reference to the feel of the bark of older specimens.
However don’t confuse it with Q. suber, which has the widespread identify “cork oak.” The latter is native to Europe and is used to supply the cork you realize and love for making boards and sealing wine bottles.
Willow oaks are, as you in all probability guessed, a part of the oak household.
This species is within the pink oak group and grows indigenously throughout the southeastern US and up the japanese seaboard as far north as New Jersey and as far south as northern Florida, and to the west throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
It’s additionally grown throughout the US in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 9 as a decorative.
Willow oaks are an essential supply of meals for wildlife. They develop finest in moist areas like low-lying areas, close to streams or irrigation ditches, or on the sides of swamps or lakes.
When mature, they’ll attain over 100 ft tall and half as large, however most keep about half that measurement. Bigger specimens are uncommon however not unimaginable – one in Tennessee measured 123 ft tall and 100 ft large!
This species does finest beneath about 1,500 ft in altitude.
The leaves are clean, slender, alternate, and inexperienced, with a single bristle on the tip. That little bristle is how one can simply decide that it’s part of the pink oak group.
The leaves usually develop about 4 to 5 inches lengthy and an inch large. Gentle inexperienced within the spring, they modify to medium inexperienced in the summertime.
Through the spring, because the leaves are rising, lengthy greenish-yellow, wind-pollinated catkins kind. These vegetation are monoecious, that means they’ve each feminine and male components on every tree.
Within the fall, the leaves flip golden yellow or brownish-yellow. In contrast to these of pin oaks, they don’t persist on the tree till spring, however quickly drop within the fall, making cleanup simpler.
The acorns, which take two years to mature, are a number of the smallest within the genus and most fail to develop even to half an inch in size.
Regardless of their diminutive measurement, the willow oak is a vigorous producer, which suggests there are mature acorns out there yearly, with some on every tree maturing in alternate years for a perpetual annual harvest.
Younger specimens have grey bark, which turns darkish gray-brown with age and develops deep furrows.
The younger seedlings can develop quickly, as much as 5 ft in two years. From there, this species has a average progress fee, slowing right down to a few foot per 12 months.
Willow Oak Propagation
Whether or not you purchase a younger plant at a nursery otherwise you wish to plant an acorn you discovered, there are a number of methods so as to add this plant to your world.
From Seed
As a result of willow oaks readily hybridize within the wild so propagating seed is unreliable, we don’t advocate this technique. However we’ll offer you the define of what’s required in case it’s one thing you’re fascinated about.
The seeds ought to be chilly stratified at 33 to 40°F for 3 months earlier than you plant. The simplest means of doing that is to place them in moistened sphagnum moss within the fridge. Take away the caps from the acorns first, in the event that they’re nonetheless hooked up.
Within the spring, when the times are constantly above freezing, put together a seedbed with plenty of well-rotted compost and plant every acorn.
Sink every seed about two inches deep and place three or 4 in every space to make sure at the least one germinates.
The seeds might be planted about two ft aside when you plan to transplant a number of the seedlings, or at the least 20 ft aside when you intend to depart them in place.
Cowl the world with an inch or so of leaf litter. Hold the soil moist however not moist. If a number of seeds germinate in a single spot, pull the smaller seedlings.
From Cuttings
True willow (Salix spp.) cuttings are exceptionally simple to root. Oak willow isn’t fairly really easy. Take into account it a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Earlier than you begin chopping, work in some well-rotted compost within the space the place you wish to plant your new willow oak.
Create a gap within the soil a couple of inches deep utilizing a pencil or chopstick. Create one other gap or two a couple of inches away.
Search for versatile, pencil-sized branches within the spring. Reduce a six- to nine-inch-long piece at a 45-degree angle, proper beneath a leaf node, and take away all however one or two leaves at tip.
Take a number of cuttings for every tree you wish to develop.
Bontone II Rooting Powder
Dip the lower ends in a rooting hormone like Bontone II Rooting Powder, which you’ll be able to choose up at Arbico Organics in a one-and-a-quarter-ounce container.
Place a chopping within the gap you made and agency the soil up round it. Proceed with a number of extra close by. You wish to place about three cuttings in every spot, assuming that one will succeed.
Water the soil properly and agency it up once more if it loosens and causes the chopping to sink or tip.
Hold the soil moist because the chopping develops. There’s no have to do something however maintain the soil moist till you begin to see new progress develop.
If a number of cuttings in the identical space begin rising new leaves, gently pull all however the strongest one, taking care to not disturb the roots of the remaining chopping.
Heap plenty of straw or leaf mulch across the chopping to guard it throughout the winter and take away the protecting layer within the spring when new progress begins.
Starting the subsequent 12 months, you’ll be able to deal with the plant as you’ll another sapling.
Transplanting
The perfect time to transplant is within the late fall, winter, or early spring, when the willow oaks are dormant. Willow oaks have a fibrous root system that lends itself properly to transplanting.
First, put together the world by working in plenty of well-rotted compost and digging a gap twice as large and the identical depth because the container your plant got here in.
Gently take away the teenager from the container and loosen up the roots. Decrease it down into the opening and fill in round it with a compost and soil combination.
Water properly and fill in with extra soil if it settles.
You need the plant to be sitting on the similar stage that it was within the rising medium, with simply the foundation flare the place the foundation ball begins above the soil.
Hold the soil moist to assist the tree because it turns into established.
Develop Willow Oaks
This can be a pretty fast-growing tree, however not so quick that the wooden is weak and readily falls aside within the slightest breeze.
In the event you plant yours in fertile, moist soil, it’s going to develop a lot bigger and sooner than it might in any other case, however it could actually nonetheless be a strong, giant specimen in less-than-ideal situations.
Moisture lovers, saplings will survive as much as three months of saturated soil, so when you stay someplace with soggy winters, they’ll survive the place different vegetation might fail.
Mature willow oaks may even tolerate as much as three years of soggy, moist roots.
On the opposite finish of the spectrum, willow oaks will thrive in areas with occasional drought-like situations as soon as established.
Word that satisfactory moisture is especially essential for younger vegetation, however overwatering can sluggish progress.
Intention to maintain the soil moist round younger vegetation after which solely irrigate established vegetation in periods of drought.
Q. phellos requires acidic soil with a pH of 4.5 to five.5 and full solar. It could actually tolerate clay soil, making it an excellent possibility when you have heavy earth. It’s additionally tolerant of air pollution.
At about 15 to twenty years after planting, the tree might be mature sufficient to supply acorns, which is far youthful than most oaks.
It’s doable for a late freeze to defoliate the willow oak and kill any flowers.
The tree will get well and develop a second set of leaves, but it surely gained’t develop a second spherical of catkins. Meaning no batch of acorns.
There’s no have to feed your willow oak until a soil check reveals a deficiency. You do an annual soil check, proper?
Rising Suggestions
- Plant in full solar.
- Hold the soil moist for bushes underneath 5 years previous.
- Water throughout occasions of drought for older specimens.
- Fertilize provided that your soil has a deficiency.
Pruning and Upkeep
It’s essential to prune younger willow oaks to encourage a wholesome, sturdy central chief.
Meaning you need a single, predominant trunk that goes all the best way up the middle of the tree, quite than a number of trunks as the cover expands.
Whenever you first plant your willow oak, trim off any competing trunks so you’ve one robust, predominant trunk. Reduce the competing trunks off on the base utilizing a pair of pruners or a noticed.
From there, it’s a matter of upkeep. When the tree is younger, you’ll be able to take away any crossing or rubbing branches to create form and open the cover.
Because it will get older, it’s going to in all probability be too giant so that you can do that, however be happy to interrupt out a tree noticed when you see an issue or seek the advice of knowledgeable arborist.
In any other case, take away any damaged, diseased, broken, or useless branches as you see them.
Willow Oak Cultivars and Hybrids to Choose
Relying on the place you reside, you may solely be capable to discover the species. However there’s nothing incorrect with that – the species is unbelievable!
Willow Oak
In order for you one of many customary willow oaks, go to Quick Rising Bushes for a four- to five-, five- to six-, or six- to seven-foot stay specimen.
In the event you’re fascinated about a number of the cultivars which have been developed in recent times, listed here are some glorious choices:
Excessive Tower
Q. phellos ‘Qpsta’ can stretch as much as 65 ft tall and 45 large. The foliage is darker inexperienced than the species.
It has gained a repute as the perfect landscaping tree close to roadways and buildings as a result of it develops a robust central chief naturally, and the branches develop up quite than out, leaving roads and walkways clear for site visitors.
The leaves flip vivid yellow within the fall. The one draw back is that it’s barely much less hardy than the species, appropriate for Zones 6 to 9.
Kingpin
‘Greenenvy,’ also referred to as Kingpin®, was bred by grower Sam Rogers at Daring Spring Nursery in Hawkinsville, Georgia.
Its foliage is dramatically darker than the species and the expansion is extra upright, with a outstanding central chief.
Pillow
‘Pillow’ or pink-willow oak (Q. x schociana) is a hybrid cross between Q. palustris and Q. phellos.
It was present in a German nursery the place it was cultivated by Hofgartner Schoch and named by botanist George Dieck in 1887, in honor of its breeder.
It grows to about 50 ft tall with a spherical crown and far showier, vivid pink fall foliage than the willow species. New leaves in spring emerge with a touch of pink.
Upperton
Quick-growing, with a robust central chief and an upright progress behavior, Upperton® (Q. phellos ‘RT3’) is ideal for parking tons, areas subsequent to buildings, and areas alongside roadways.
It was cultivated by Georgia grower Ray Tate after he took a chopping of a promising specimen with prolific, uniform branching that was situated in a car parking zone island.
When mature it grows 60 ft tall and 40 ft large and is hardy in Zones 6 to 9.
Wynstar
‘Wynstar’ or ‘QPMTF’ has rusty orange leaves within the fall, making the mature 80-foot tree a dramatic point of interest.
It has a extra uniform and upright progress behavior than the species.
Managing Pests and Illness
Deer will feed on younger vegetation, however as soon as the willow oaks develop giant sufficient, these critters will ignore them.
To discover ways to shield your vegetation till they’re sufficiently old to be protected, take a look at our information to managing deer.
Willow oaks are extraordinarily vulnerable to acid rain with a pH beneath 3.2. In case you have younger bushes, shield them throughout storms and soak the soil afterwards to flush it.
Hogs are extraordinarily keen on the fallen acorns, however they gained’t typically trouble a mature specimen.
Bugs
On the whole, pests gained’t dramatically injure a mature tree. They’re extra of a nuisance that may trigger unsightliness. However younger bushes can generally be killed.
Fortuitously, pests are uncommon on willow oaks. Simply in case you occur to come across a difficulty, listed here are those to observe for:
Borers
Borers are often solely troublesome on burdened, younger, or sickly bushes.
Crimson oak borers (Enaphalodes rufulus), dwelling beech borers (Goes pulverulentus), and carpenterworm borers (Prionoxystus robiniae) may infest Q. phellos, in addition to another species, relying on the place you reside. They’re widespread in japanese North America.
Most species lay eggs within the bark of bushes within the fall the place they overwinter, rising as larvae within the spring.
As soon as they mature the grownup beetles chew their means out of the trunk, forsaking noticeable holes, and the life cycle continues.
The holes are smaller than these left behind by woodpeckers. Talking of, woodpeckers are one of the best management of borers, so thank them when you see any round!
More often than not an infestation is not any large deal, and you’ll simply let nature take its course. However on younger or already sick bushes, there in all probability isn’t a lot you are able to do however take away the specimen.
Chemical therapies aren’t actually efficient because the bugs cover contained in the tree for almost all of their life cycle. The perfect you are able to do is assist your tree with applicable watering, pruning, and feeding, if wanted.
Leafhoppers
Oak leafhoppers (Platycotis vittata) are available in many alternative coloration combos however all have a “horn” protruding out the entrance.
In the event you view them from head on, they’ve a triangular look.
These bugs have sucking mouthparts that they inject into the tree to suck out the sap.
Though they’re funky and possibly a bit scary to take a look at, they gained’t significantly injury your tree, so don’t fear about treating them.
They will unfold illnesses however none that threaten willow oaks.
Oak Skeletonizers
Bucculatrix ainsliella, the oak skeletonizer, will get its identify as a result of the larvae of those moths feed on the underside of the leaves.
They go away behind simply the veins and these clear little “home windows” of the leaf stay, like a skeleton. These leaves ultimately dry up and drop.
On a longtime willow oak, you don’t have to do something. But when greater than half of the tree is defoliated, or if the tree is younger or burdened already, you’ll need to deal with it.
Bacillus thurengiensis v. kurstaki (Btk) is extremely efficient in opposition to the larvae.
Bonide Thuricide
Decide up a twig that accommodates this helpful micro organism, like Bonide’s Thuricide.
It’s out there at Arbico Organics in quart- and gallon-sized ready-to-spray choices, or eight- and 16-ounce focus.
Spray the tree in late spring and once more in late summer time, in case there are two generations.
Illness
Oak bushes might be vulnerable to illnesses, however willow oaks much less so. They aren’t magic, although.
They will nonetheless contract illnesses, however the an infection in all probability gained’t kill your tree.
Anthracnose
Anthracnose is a standard illness in oaks, although it’s a bit much less widespread on this species. It’s attributable to the fungus Apiognomonia errabunda, which thrives in moist situations.
At first, it causes small, water-soaked lesions that seem on the leaf margins or subsequent to the leaf veins. These lesions steadily turn into grey and papery.
As new leaves emerge, they are going to be distorted or might drop off the department earlier than they’ll mature. You’ll often see signs on the decrease branches first.
Remedy is difficult. Since willow oaks are solely mildly affected, you need to keep away from chemical therapies and go for supporting your plant as a substitute so it thrives regardless of the an infection.
The spores can unfold far and large, which suggests even when you do eliminate anthracnose in your willow oak, it could actually come proper again if a neighbor’s tree is contaminated.
The pathogens can even lie dormant inside a tree till favorable situations return.
Hold your tree wholesome with applicable irrigation and take away all fallen materials from across the tree to restrict out there choices for the fungus to overwinter on.
Trim off any closely symptomatic branches. Prune the cover of the tree to open it up, which is able to let in additional gentle with a buildup of much less moisture, and thus create fewer locations for the fungus to thrive on the decrease a part of the tree.
Canker
Brought on by the fungus Polyporus hispidus, quickly forming cankers develop that may develop as much as six inches yearly.
The identical fungus can even produce giant mushrooms hooked up to the trunk, and these are generally used medicinally. However once they trigger cankers, they’ll kill a tree.
The fungus tends to contaminate heartwood, inflicting it to rot and switch black. It could actually additionally trigger rot within the cambium or sapwood. Progress above the canker dies.
Chemical substances are usually not efficient in treating this illness. Reduce off symptomatic branches and monitor the tree for extra signs. Bushes with cankers on a majority of the branches ought to be culled.
Chestnut Blight
I do know, with a reputation like chestnut blight, you’d assume that this is able to solely be an issue for chestnut bushes. Nope. It could actually infect willow oaks, too.
It’s attributable to the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, the identical pathogen that killed nearly all the native chestnut bushes throughout North America in simply 50 years.
That’s 4 billion bushes misplaced in only a few many years.
Oaks are a number of the pathogen, but it surely gained’t kill them. It can, nonetheless, trigger the bark to show orange and sunken cankers to kind.
Unfold by wind and rain, it’s onerous to regulate, clearly, because it decimated so many bushes. However Dr. Wayne Weidlich, a botanist at Michigan State College, observed within the late ‘70s that the roots of some chestnut bushes had been uncovered by the development of a logging highway.
These roots had cankers, which doesn’t often occur; cankers develop on the above-ground components. This led Weidlich to hypothesize that the soil itself prevents the cankers from creating.
So, together with MSU researchers and Dr. William MacDonald from West Virginia College, he experimented with utilizing the soil to treatment cankers, and it labored.
In the event you see cankers in your tree, seize some native soil that hasn’t been handled with pesticides or herbicides and put it in a bucket. Add some water to make a muddy slop.
Place this mud on a bit of plastic, like a rubbish bag that has been lower open, and press the mud in opposition to the canker.
Tie the plastic in place with rope or tape. Go away it in place for a couple of months and add water if essential to maintain the mud moist. The mud must fully cowl the complete canker.
After a couple of months, you’ll be able to take away the plastic and the canker can have turn into sealed by the tree so it’s now not an open wound.
Shoestring Rot
Shoestring rot, also referred to as Armillaria root rot, is a illness attributable to Armillaria mellea fungi that infects the roots of bushes, but it surely doesn’t keep there.
Because it progresses, it strikes into the cambium of the tree and kills that. Finally, the complete tree fails.
As with many illnesses that have an effect on the roots, you gained’t know something is incorrect till the signs begin to seem above floor. On this case, it’s the leaves that inform the story.
They are going to be pale and smaller than standard, and they’re going to drop prematurely.
There isn’t any efficient therapy. In case your specimen is confirmed to have this illness, you’ll be able to assist it with correct watering and care, but it surely’s often finest to simply take away it.
Greatest Makes use of for Willow Oaks
In the event you’re in search of a shade tree, cease – you’ve discovered the right one!
That is additionally an excellent possibility for parking tons, alongside streets, and buffer strips due to its upright behavior and since it isn’t significantly messy.
Select one of many very upright cultivars that we described above in order for you a tree for one among these areas.
It’s not such an excellent guess when you have horses, nonetheless. The bushes include tannins and gallotannins which might be poisonous if consumed in giant portions.
On the opposite finish of the spectrum, animals like squirrels, mice, and birds comparable to nuthatches, jays, woodpeckers, titmice, and turkeys depend on willow oaks for meals.
The willow oak can be valued for its pulp. And it might be used to revive bottomlands and disturbed areas in its native areas.
Develop it with American persimmons (Diospyros virginiana), different oaks, spruce pines (Pinus glabra), dogwoods (Cornus spp.), and hawthorns (Crataegus spp.).
In the event you decide to make use of the acorns, wait till they fall to the bottom and examine to see if a cap detaches simply. If it doesn’t, this implies the acorn didn’t mature absolutely.
Fast Reference Rising Information
Plant Sort: | Deciduous shade tree | Foliage Colour: | Inexperienced |
Native to: | Japanese North America | Upkeep: | Low |
Hardiness (USDA Zone): | 5-9 | Tolerance: | Freezing temperatures, some drought |
Season: | Spring, summer time, fall | Soil Sort: | Barely sandy to barely clayey soil |
Publicity: | Full solar | Soil pH: | 4.5-5.5 |
Time to Maturity: | 15-20 years | Soil Drainage: | Nicely-draining |
Planting Depth: | 2 inches (seeds), roots just below soil (transplanting) | Attracts: | Birds, butterflies, hogs, moths, squirrels |
Spacing: | 20 ft | Companion Planting: | Dogwoods, hawthorns, oaks, persimmons, spruce pines |
Peak: | As much as 100 ft | Makes use of: | Buffer strips, shade, parking strips, parking tons |
Unfold: | 40 ft | Household: | Fagaceae |
Water Wants: | Average | Genus: | Quercus |
Widespread Pests and Illness: | Borers, leafhoppers, oak skeletonizers; Anthracnose, canker, chestnut blight, shoestring rot | Species: | Phellos |
You Will Love Willow Oaks
Once I image the right afternoon, it includes laying underneath an enormous previous tree throughout the summer time with an excellent e book.
A willow oak positively matches the invoice because the idyllic shade tree. But it surely additionally works in locations as diverse as parking strips and wildlands in want of restoration. And while you plant one, the native wildlife will thanks.
How do you propose to develop yours? Share your large plans within the feedback part beneath.
There’s tons extra enjoyable within the Quercus genus available. If this information helped you’re feeling assured rising this species, you may wish to learn these different oak tree guides subsequent:
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