Is it a Red Oak?

[Lou]

One year ago, I ordered a Red Oak from a nursery...they planted it...it's doing ok...not exactly as well as I had expected and yes, I am doing all the right things. :D

This year, it has a lot of acorns on it. Is the normal for Red Oaks? If not, what kind of tree did they plant in my back yard? :?

Oh, by the way, the tags hanging on the tree said red oak but now I'm wondering. The leaves on this tree are smaller than red oaks I've seen before and the tree has not thickened like I thought it would. :cry:

Any/all advice, suggestion, etc. are greatly appreciated.

[drchelo]

I am fortunate enought to live in an area where each house has its own "patron" Red Oak - at least one large tree was allowed on each property, and some are lucky enough to have two. Mine produces tons of acorns in years when there was good spring rain. The leaves of mine are about 6 X 7 inches (the larger leaves) but the red oak in my neighbor's yard, which is a little different in its growth habit than mine, has larger acorns, and the leaves are a little larger - about 5 X 6 inches. One way to tell if you have a real red oak is to see the color of the leaves in the fall. The acorns in our neighborhood guarantee that my dogs have a lot of squirrels to guard against!

[Lou]

Oh thanks for the suggestion re color of leaves in fall...they should turn red, right? I'll watch and see.

I've got to say, I'm not pleased with all these acorns and I live in Texas and we did not have a wet springand our summer has been very dry and hotter than the :evil: I've another red oak, planted just this year, A Shumard Red Oak...do these also form acorns?

Truthfully,I'm not sure what type Red Oak the one in back is but it's leaves are smaller and not as green in color as the Shumard. Can't remember if I requested a Shumard when I ordered the one in back or not.

I use to have a Live Oak that dropped acorns...hated those things...rough on feet when going bare footed. :D Guess I'll have to put up with them again tho. :(

[Lou]

I cannot access this board thru AOL and can't find your original message when coming thru Internet Explorer :!: It is very confusing.

But...I did print out your reply to me and want to thank you so much for the detailed description regarding Red Oaks.

I am almost positive my recent (this summer) purchase is a Shumardii or at least a close relative. :) I will go out to count "points" on the leaves on the one purchased last year in my back yard.

I just came from a doctor's appointment and there were two Red Oaks there...one had acorns...the other didn't. Is this female vs male type thing? Both of these had leaves just like me newest purchase.

I do worry about the year old Red Oak because it hasn't grown much in the year that I've had it. Maybe next year it will take off and grow more. I had a lot of small limbs/twigs that had no growth on them this year and I trimmed all of those off which left the tree looking almost naked. I didn't trim anything that had growth/leaves on it.

Again..thanks so much for your help.

[The Ent]

If you'll check my tree tips at the top of the forum, I note that the first year you're not likely to see much growth aboveground. Year two, there will be more but still not a huge amount. Year three will be much better. After thrree years pass, it's firmly established and you'll see a lot more growth in your tree. This is presuming good treatment and health.

As to acorns showing up, that's a tree-to-tree thing. Within the same species, it'll vary individually. Just give it time.