Select Your Oak Tree Favorites For Residential & Recreational Landscapes

Although oak trees thrive throughout North America, people in Tennessee tend to favor certain varieties for landscaping and timber harvests. Oaktree favorites produce lovely fall foliage, maximize shade for leisure enjoyment, and prove highly profitable when lumber harvesting.

As an experienced nursery, we provide a complete inventory of popular oak trees for landscaping and commercial planting. If you are planning a reforestation project or want to integrate a sturdy oak into your landscape, consider the following.

What You Need to Know About Planting Oak Trees

Every variety of oak trees shares specific characteristics. These include growing for upwards of 30 years before producing acorns and life expectancies that can exceed 1,000 years. The broad, sweeping leaf-covered limbs provide shade for people and remain a vital food resource for insects and wildlife creatures such as squirrels. The leaves also add to the rich foliage colors during autumn.

Timber outfits typically harvest oak trees between 20 and 30 years old for the valuable and dense lumber used in construction, furniture, and wine barrels, among other things. Following a clear-cutting, property owners replant with oak tree seedlings to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Oak trees resist pest infestations and blight well, making them a reliable timber resource. In Tennessee, red and white oaks usually provide the best return on investment for the logging industry.

Favorite Oak Trees for Residential & Recreational Landscapes

If you include hybrid varieties, the oak tree family comprises approximately 600 members. In Tennessee, there are only a handful of native oaks because certain types may not withstand the frigid winters or acclimate to soil conditions. As a result, our nursery stocks only oak trees that will flourish in the region. Property owners often take advantage of the benefits these oak tree favorites deliver.

Black Oak Trees: This variety of the Red Oak family can mature to 50 feet tall at 18-22 inches annually. Many consider Black Oaks landscaping darlings for several reasons. Its leaves emerge in spring and remain late into fall, turning eye-catching shades of red and orange. The tree develops a large canopy-like crown that provides ample shade. Black Oak trees also thrive in direct sunlight, making them popular.

Chestnut Oak Trees: This variety reaches 60-70 feet and produces iconic burgundy foliage during fall. Chestnut Oaks generally spread as wide as their height, making them an excellent shade option in residential and recreational landscapes. This variety tends to succeed in this region because they prefer acidic soil and tolerate long, dry spells.

Pin Oak Trees: This variety forms an oval shape when mature. Pin Oak trees reach between 60 and 70 feet tall while spreading 25-45 feet outwards. This aspect has proven helpful in suburban landscapes that benefit from tall shade trees with space limitations. These trees thrive in direct sunlight and produce long yellow catkins during spring. The leaves turn bronze and red during fall.

Red Oak Trees: This northern variety produces waxy leaves that become iconic red during the fall. They mature to 60-75 feet tall with a spread of about 45 feet. Red Oak trees can grow as much as 2 feet each year, making them an excellent landscaping asset to plant as seedlings. They typically succeed in moist, sandy, and clay soils.

Southern Red Oak: This variety tends to outpace its Northern cousin regarding maturation height and width. The Southern Red Oak can exceed 80 feet and develop a crown that spreads 70 feet wide. Like others in its class, Southern Red Oaks tolerate acidic, sandy, and clay soils while handling the cold winters.

Swamp Chestnut Oak: Reaching 100 feet and 60 feet wide, the Swamp Chestnut oak integrates a light, gray bark into the landscape. It offers red fall foliage and the mighty oak ranks among the popular windbreak assets.

Swamp White Oak: When fully mature, this variety balances height and width at about 60 feet. Its striking orange-gold fall leaves and silver-white bark make it a landscaping gem.

White Oak: The White Oak continues to garner popularity as a shade tree because its maximum spread of 100 feet exceeds its 80-foot height potential. This facet makes White Oak Trees a favorite for recreational green spaces such as parks and campgrounds.

Willow Oak: Also known as the “Handsome Tree,” Willow Oaks possess bright green leaves that turn yellow, orange, and bronze during the fall. Considered modest growers, this variety matures to 60 feet tall and 40 feet wide.

We hope this information helps you make your oak tree decisions. Contact our nursery today if you have additional questions or are ready to purchase your favorite oak trees.