Organic Answers Column – May 4, 2022

Good Oaks in Better Sizes

Red oaks and live oaks are wonderful native trees. My only problem with them is that there are so many already planted and they get too big for many residential properties. Three other oaks that are better suited for most residential landscapes are Lacey oak, the Loquat leaf oak, and Mexican white oak.

Mexican white oak is a good sized tree for residential landscaping

Live oaks are beautiful, large-growing shade trees that have many positive features. They are evergreen, grow into majestic specimens, are very tough and can tolerate a remarkable amount of abuse – but they also have some negative points. They are messy. Live oaks throw down leaves, twigs, flowers and acorns all year long. They also get too large for most residential property. Their foliage is dense and creates the problem that leads to my most common question: “how do I grow grass in the shade?”

Red oaks are large and fast-growing, they have beautiful, although inconsistent, fall color, and have a soft beautiful texture. Their negatives include a great sensitivity to “wet feet” caused by heavy soils, being planted too deep, over-watering and poor drainage, and way too many being planted. They also get far too large for most residential property to the extent that I’ve had to remove some of mine because of crowding.

Loquat leaf oak

Lacey Oak

Another negative for our “big two oaks” is that they are both susceptible to oak wilt. (Remember that if your trees suffer from this disease, there is a solution. It’s called the Sick Tree Treatment.)

Lacey oak – close view of leaves	Loquat leaf oak – a distinctive leaf shape
Mexican white oak leaves	Lacey oak leaves just sprouting

If you are in the planning stages of new or updated landscaping, then consider using better adapted trees such as Mexican white oak or Lacy oak, two natives that seem to be much more appropriate for residential and some commercial projects. Mexican white oak (Quercus polymorpha), confusingly sold often as Monterrey oak, is evergreen most years, with leathery dark green distinctive foliage, is much cleaner that live oak, and doesn’t get overpoweringly large. Loquat leaf oak (Quercus rysophylla) has similar characteristics and may be even better. My loquat leaf oaks didn’t even turn brown or defoliate in zero-degree weather a couple of years ago. The only problem is availability, and we’re working on it.

Lacey oak (Quercus laceyi) is a beautiful small to medium-sized tree with blue-green mature foliage, peach colored or reddish new growth and interesting flaky bark. Mature leaves are leathery, dusky blue to blue-gray or grayish green. Fall color ranges from pink or peach to gold. It seems to be a real winner and is more easily available.