Quercus palustris

Oaks are common trees of our natural woodlands. They border our ponds, occur naturally in our mixed forests, and make magnificent specimen trees in our parks and arboretums where less common species or rare varieties can be seen.

Pin oak is a beautiful large tree you can see growing in moist or boggy places. It has beautiful leaves, deeply lobed. They are deciduous, glossy green in summer and orange, red and burgundy purple in autumn. Pin oak is one of the most attractively coloured trees in autumn in the wild.

It grows quite fast for an oak and makes a unique crown shape. Lower branches are pendulous, middle branches horizontal, and upper branches upright and spreading. This will create a dense effect as the tree ages. The crown is pyramidal when young and oval when mature. It can pruned at the end of winter but is usually left to its own devices.

Pin oak likes moist or even boggy locations if it grows there from a seed. Plants with a root ball need to be planted the way that they do not sit directly in water. Later the root system can take long term flooding but it has to be well established first. Grow it in full sun, preferably in acid soil for best foliage colour. Newly planted trees need to be staked for 2-3 years to establish. Fully hardy to min. -34°C (USDA zone 4), perhaps a little more.

Last update 21-04-2010