Red oak is the oak that thinks it’s a maple. Like the red maple,
red oak in spring initially produces red new leaves that fade to
green. It grows about as fast and large as a silver maple, and
produces a similar not-too-dark shade. However, it has better
structural integrity and more complaisant roots.
Red oak is the oak that thinks it’s a maple. Like the red maple, red oak in spring initially produces red new leaves that fade to green. It grows about as fast and large as a silver maple, and produces a similar not-too-dark shade. However, it has better structural integrity and more complaisant roots.
Red oak – botanical name Quercus rubra – has 5-inch-wide-by-7-inch-long leaves that are pointed lobes like those of sugar maple leaves. They even turn similar, although subdued shades of reddish brown or orange appear before falling in autumn.
Upon closer examination, oak leaves are not arranged in pairs the way maple leaves are. Additionally, they have pinnate instead of palmate venation. Pinnate oak leaves have single prominent midribs, while palmate maple leaves have multiple prominent midribs that radiate from the leaf stalks. Sporadic acorns confirm the red oak’s true identity.
Unlike most local oaks, red oak tolerates – and actually prefers – occasional irrigation. It can be a good, deeply rooted street tree situated only a few feet from the curb with not much more than adequate irrigation. Red oak does not need fertilizer, but it is quite happy when a surrounding lawn happens to gets some.
Red oak is too large for very small gardens of modern two-story homes that are near to the street and to other homes, but it’s fine for larger lawns. It is a particularly good fit for the mid-sized lawns of single-story ranch-style homes, where it can be planted at a safe distance from pavement since it may get shallow roots in the lawn and extend a few branches harmlessly over the low-profile roof.
Tony Tomeo is a consulting horticulturist and arborist for New Image Landscape of Fremont. His weekly radio broadcast, “New Image Garden Report,” can be heard at 8:10am on Friday mornings on KSCO, 1080 AM of Santa Cruz. Tony can be reached at (888) 226-9191 or tt****@***************pe.com.
