Plant Type

Tree

 

Height Range

40-60', 60-100'

 

Flower Color

n/a

 

Flower Season

n/a

 

Leaf Color

Green

 

Bark Color

Brown

 

Fruit Color

Brown

 

Fruit Season

Summer, Fall

Sun

Full

 

Water

Medium

 

Growth Rate

Moderate

 

Soil Type

Clay, Loam

 

Soil Condition

Average, Rich, Poor, Well-drained, Dry

 

Soil pH

Acid, Neutral

 

Adverse Factors

n/a

Design Styles

English Cottage, Formal, Ranch, Woodland

 

Accenting Features

Fall Color, Specimen

 

Seasonal Interest

Winter, Summer, Fall

 

Location Uses

Background, Lawn, Patio, Park

 

Special Uses

Screen, Shade Tree

 

Attracts Wildlife

Butterflies

The Northern Red oak is a relatively fast growing oak, with a rounded to broad crown, growing to 50 to 70 feet tall and wide. Leaves are classically "oak-like" and a rich green, turning reddish-brown in the autumn. Its acorns are about an inch long with a saucer-like cap. Bark is deep brown to nearly black, with young bark being very smooth and older bark having interesting fissures and ridges. An attractive, long-lived shade tree.

Grow in full sun and well-drained soil, preferably in a sandy-loam to loamy-clay soil. Prefers acidic to neutral soils, though is tolerant of lower pH soils; also tolerant of drought and pollution. Trees are slow to establish, and so plant the smallest size you can endure (it will establish more quickly than a larger tree), and plant in spring through early autumn to give the tree time to establish.