Northern Red Oak

Admittedly, making a choice about a shade tree can be a little challenging. There are so many directions you can go, and Nature Hills offers a vast selection of beautiful, deciduous trees.

People look for fast results, and they demand more than one season of interest.

How about we add in wildlife value? Let's add a dash of sophisticated good looks, and talk about Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra). This native tree has so much going for it.

This popular, long-lived, deciduous tree is grown throughout a wide region. It is native to the United States and makes a perfect shade tree for many yards.

Northern Red Oak is one of the fastest-growing, high value Oaks. It should reach an established shade height of 20 feet after 10 years.

The Northern Red Oak becomes a wonderful presence to the landscape. The distinctive, deeply lobed foliage changes colors throughout the growing season. New leaves emerge light red in spring, then deepen into lustrous, glossy green for summer.

It’s really in fall that the Northern Red Oak shines the brightest. The leaves turn harvest red, russet and bright red tones on the same tree. All of the leaves have a real depth of color that you can study for a long time.

If you can place it to the west of a window, it will grow to filter the hot rays of the setting sun for you. Place a comfy chair in front of the window, as you will want to enjoy your tree over a cup of coffee. Enjoy the play of squirrels as they run and cavort along the well-spaced, upright branches.

Like its cousins, Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) and Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea), Red Oaks are some of the most versatile trees grown in America. You’ll have seen them used as street trees or in parks and golf courses.

This is a wonderful tree for large landscapes. It’s long-lived and has a stately presence that only gets better with age.

Use Northern Red Oak on a commercial lot to lend some of its trustworthy charms to your corporate brand experience. This is a tree that gets noticed.

You’ll never regret your decision to stick with this native tree. Order today!

How to Use Northern Red Oak in the Landscape

You’ll be thrilled with the handsome good looks of this native tree. A national treasure, this deciduous tree is widely adaptable.

It's tolerant of urban conditions and is relatively salt-tolerant, so works well on the coast. The roots can tolerate compacted soil, so this is the right tree for new construction.

Allow a single specimen tree to become a magnificent focal point in your yard. Buying the largest container size we have in stock will shave years off your wait.

If you have the room, try using multiple trees to create a wonderful design element in larger yards.

Plant Northern Red Oaks 10 to 15 feet apart on center. Measure from the trunk of one to the trunk of the next. The branches may eventually touch, but each tree will have enough room to develop.

Plant a row on either side of a long driveway for a transformative experience entering and exiting your land. Imagine this “allée” in the brightest fall color. What a visual treat!

Create a grove of trees planted along a curved semi-circle. Then, add a patio with comfy seating in the center. You’ll feel like you are living in an outdoor sanctuary.

In rural settings, get ready to start seeing Wild Turkeys, Blue Jays and even White-Tailed Deer who rely on the ¾ to 1-inch acorns. Be sure to include this variety in a well-managed food forest.

The acorns produced are considered prime forage for wildlife. Pair with other Oak trees to ensure a consistent acorn mast production across the season.

Use a row along the sunny edge of a wilderness. You can plant this row straight as a stick. Or, why not stagger it a bit, varying the spacing between trees and even pushing some further back? We bet you’ll like the natural look of a looser formation.

Add it to mixed plantings to create a natural ecosystem in your yard. Include evergreens of all shapes and sizes and use smaller flowering trees. Add plants for butterflies and plants that berry for birds. Be sure to site your Oak at the north of the planting bed, so the other plants have enough sun to flower.

Use Northern Red Oak in a formal setting as a street tree, but please know that design trends have changed. Now, instead of straight rows of a single variety, designers and tree planners are using a diversified planting method.

Try it in your yard. First, plant 3 Red Oaks, then change to another species. You could include Bald Cypress, other Oaks, Catalpa, Maples or Tulip Trees in the planting design. Overall, it will still read as a formal application, but it will protect the entire planting against disease.

#ProPlantTips for Care

The Northern Red Oak requires well-drained soils and is intolerant of wet soils.

It needs full sun to thrive. Even in the dense forests of the East Coast, this variety is most often found growing where other tall trees have fallen down and allow open light for the young sapling to grow.

Northern Red Oak does poorly in part shade, so give it a spot in the yard that it can spread out unhindered by adjoining tall trees.

Though drought tolerant, the Northern Red Oak can become stressed in extreme drought. Apply a 3-4-inch layer of mulch to 3 to 4 feet outside of the canopy to keep roots cool in the hot summer. In extended periods of dry, apply additional summer water.

The nice, symmetrical crown won’t give you many pruning decisions. If you do want to correct the form or remove crossing branches, prune in fall or winter.

This Oak is easy to grow and transplants easily. It is relatively disease and pest-free.

This variety is the most important timber variety of all the northern oaks, prized by makers of fine furniture, cabinetry and flooring. The tree's excellent strength and light pink heartwood, with its very open grain patterns, make it a very desirable high-end wood. Northern Red Oak also produces wonderful firewood that burns slow and hot.

You'll never regret going with this beloved native tree. Northern Red Oak is a great choice.