Oak Tree Sapling

Ms2011

I have a three year old oak sapling growing in a pot and I was looking to transplant it into the ground.
What time of year would be the best time to do it and roughly how would I carry out the transplant.

looksee

Any time from now till early spring would be good, now would be as good a time as any.

Oak trees are reasonably slow growing - they take years to mature and will be 18 or 20 years old before they produce acorns. They also, eventually get pretty big, bigger than an average suburban garden can deal with. Can you put it say 30 feet at least from your or anyone else's house?

If you have space for it just dig a hole, loosen up the soil, dig in some soil based compost then refill the bottom of the hole till it is as deep as the plantpot. Give the plant a good soak - stand it in water for an hour. Put your hand over the top of the pot with the tree between your fingers and your fingers supporting the compost then turn it over and give it a bit of a tap to remove the pot. If there are a lot of roots going round the rootball where they have met the pot, unravel them a bit with your fingers then turn the whole lot over and place in the hole.

Return the soil and compost mix around the tree, give it a good drink of water and fill the hole up to level with the top of the rootball. If it is more than about 50cm tall it may need staking with a couple of garden canes. If it is a meter or so it will probably need a proper stake - push a stake in at an angle so not to damage the roots and tie the stem where it crosses the stake with a rubber tree fastener. All you need do is stop the rootball from rocking, you don't have to stop the stem from waving about. Good luck!

Ms2011

Thanks for that detailed reply, my garden is a detached acre site and I was planning to plant it 3 quarters the way down the garden which I think should be far enough away from the house to prevent any future damage from branches or root.
It has sentimental value as it came from our old home and I wanted to plant it in our new home so I'd be a bit gutted if I fecked it up

Delphinium

Well done for growing a native tree. Your grandchildren will thank you.
You've been given a very comprehensive answer. Just to add that you should keep the area around the tree free of grass and weeds to allow it to grow and save it from being bashed by the lawnmower. Also remember to soak it regularly from the spring as it will need watering for the first year.

magicbastarder

i will just take one issue with looksee's post - i have photos of acorns on an oak tree (planted when probably two years old) i think seven (absolute maximum 8) years after it was planted. so they can produce acorns at a younger age.

macraignil

magicbastarder wrote: »

i will just take one issue with looksee's post - i have photos of acorns on an oak tree (planted when probably two years old) i think seven (absolute maximum 8) years after it was planted. so they can produce acorns at a younger age.

I have the same experience of seeing acorns on younger oak trees. Planted about ten to twenty oak trees within view of the house where I live (at a distance that they will not be able to fall on the house in the event of falling over when they are older). Three years later there are acorns on many of them to my surprise. There is one smaller one that I had to move to a better position that has acorns when it is still only three to four foot high. In fact it probably has more acorns than some of the better grown ones that are twice the height.

Better not to overdo the nutrients too close to the newly planted tree from what I have heard as well as some say it is better to encourage the roots to travel further into the soil and if the roots can get all they need in the hole you dig they are less likely to anchor themselves in the ground properly. It might be overkill but the biggest danger is that the wind might blow over the tree so if it's important to you put in sturdy stakes sunk deep into the ground at the same time as planting the tree. A long crow bar hammered into the ground to make holes for the stakes is best and usually two stakes with a lathe of light timber across between the stakes to hold the tree tie is the way to go. Had an evergreen oak blown over by storm Ophelia recently and the support stakes stopped it going all the way over or breaking so have it straightened up again and hoping it will be OK. Incidentally the normal oak saplings went in with no support and were completely unaffected by the recent storms. I read when trees are small support is not required but then I didn't have any sentimental attachment to them.

Also hares can completely strip the bark and kill a young tree so some sort of protection might be needed if there are any about where you live. Adapted some old drainage pipe to discourage them myself after loosing one of the oak trees I planted. With the area talked about you might be able to allow your tree some others to grow with it which will also make it less likely to be blown over down the line. Bare root saplings that size should be available for just a few euros each.

Ms2011

macraignil wrote: »

I have the same experience of seeing acorns on younger oak trees. Planted about ten to twenty oak trees within view of the house where I live (at a distance that they will not be able to fall on the house in the event of falling over when they are older). Three years later there are acorns on many of them to my surprise. There is one smaller one that I had to move to a better position that has acorns when it is still only three to four foot high. In fact it probably has more acorns than some of the better grown ones that are twice the height.

Better not to overdo the nutrients too close to the newly planted tree from what I have heard as well as some say it is better to encourage the roots to travel further into the soil and if the roots can get all they need in the hole you dig they are less likely to anchor themselves in the ground properly. It might be overkill but the biggest danger is that the wind might blow over the tree so if it's important to you put in sturdy stakes sunk deep into the ground at the same time as planting the tree. A long crow bar hammered into the ground to make holes for the stakes is best and usually two stakes with a lathe of light timber across between the stakes to hold the tree tie is the way to go. Had an evergreen oak blown over by storm Ophelia recently and the support stakes stopped it going all the way over or breaking so have it straightened up again and hoping it will be OK. Incidentally the normal oak saplings went in with no support and were completely unaffected by the recent storms. I read when trees are small support is not required but then I didn't have any sentimental attachment to them.

Also hares can completely strip the bark and kill a young tree so some sort of protection might be needed if there any about where you live. Adapted some old drainage pipe to discourage them myself after loosing one of the oak trees I planted. With the area talked about you might be able to allow your tree some others to grow with it which will also make it less likely to be blown over down the line. Bare root saplings that size should be available for just a few euros each.

Thanks I am going to plant more trees as time goes on as the site has no shade in the summer. I'll hopefully get this one up & going & move on from there.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

i will just take one issue with looksee's post - i have photos of acorns on an oak tree (planted when probably two years old) i think seven (absolute maximum 8) years after it was planted. so they can produce acorns at a younger age.

Native Oaks usually produce Acorns after about 20 years but it can vary by species. Optimum production is between 40 and 50 years old.

macraignil

Aaliyah Sour Mush wrote: »

Native Oaks usually produce Acorns after about 20 years but it can vary by species. Optimum production is between 40 and 50 years old.

I have planted native oak saplings three years ago and they do have acorns on them. The trees must be about six years old. Maybe it is because I'm living on a hill that is a bit exposed for them and they think they better get the next generation going before they get blown over but I agree with magicbastarder that oak trees can have acorns on them at a younger age. I agree a 40 to 50 year old tree would produce more nuts. Not sure if the photo I have uploaded will stay showing as I have had problems with them before but if it is still visible below you can see this four foot tall oak has a bunch of eight acorns near the base of the tree:

Ms2011

Well she's in the ground, hopefully I've done it right. I'll be holding my breath till Spring

20171104_172036.jpg

macraignil

Ms2011 wrote: »

Well she's in the ground, hopefully I've done it right. I'll be holding my breath till Spring

20171104_172036.jpg

Looks sturdy enough to me to be OK to grow without stakes for support. Good luck!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

If the picture as I see it shows a multi trucked sapling, you would be better to reduce them to a single upright growth. Split trunks like that snap as they get older.

Ms2011

Aaliyah Sour Mush wrote: »

If the picture as I see it shows a multi trucked sapling, you would be better to reduce them to a single upright growth. Split trunks like that snap as they get older.

Yes it has 2 trunks, do I reduce it now or when it's established?

looksee

I would leave it until at least next year to be sure one of them does not die back. If they both are ok then choose the straightest one. Is it actually a divided trunk or is there by chance two trees growing close together?

Ms2011

looksee wrote: »

I would leave it until at least next year to be sure one of them does not die back. If they both are ok then choose the straightest one. Is it actually a divided trunk or is there by chance two trees growing close together?

It does look like 2 separate trunks as there is no visible join, above the soil anyway but I only planted one acorn.