Throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, the tan oak is common. In
urban landscapes, however, it is not, and it’s usually planted
either by someone who likes native trees or by a squirrel who knows
someone who likes tan oak.
Throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, the tan oak is common. In urban landscapes, however, it is not, and it’s usually planted either by someone who likes native trees or by a squirrel who knows someone who likes tan oak.
The only nurseries that market tan oak are those that specialize in native species. Most new landscapes that include tan oak are for reforestation.
Tan oak – botanical name Lithocarpus densiflorus – has deep roots and can develop circling roots if left in a nursery can or pot too long. Small young nursery tan oak trees recover from transplant and are established in the garden faster than larger trees. If available, 5-gallon trees can grow larger than 15-gallon trees in only a few years.
Tan oak can get very tall in forests, where must it compete with other tall trees for sunlight. but in urban landscapes, tan oak is relatively shorter and fuller because it has more exposure to the sun.
Generally, mature urban trees are less than 50 feet tall and not much more than 25 feet wide. Their form typically is somewhat conical with a rounded top, though some older trees eventually develop high canopies with broadly rounded tops.
Tan oak does not seem to care that it is no longer considered a true oak as it once had been – it still produces smooth, greenish acorns in coarse cups. Large clusters of small, greenish flowers that bloom in summer can be messy and have a foul odor. Slightly fuzzy new foliage matures into stiff, 5-inch long leaves with bluntly serrate margins and gray undersides, and the smooth, gray bark becomes furrowed with age. Tan oak is very susceptible to sudden oak death syndrome. Landscape trees that are located far from native groves are less likely to become infected.
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.
