Arborist Gene Basler examines live oak 1 year after planting Proper Tree Care

[@paull2937]

I planted 3 oak trees last October. All of them had already sprouted roots but 1 of them failed. The other 2 oak trees shot up 4 inches in 5 weeks. I kept them inside all winter, and since they no longer had room, they no longer grew. On April 25th, I planted the oak trees outside, not a single inch taller than they were 5 months earlier. Since the weather was still chilly, about 30-70°F (-1 to 21°C), they turned partially orange since they thought it was fall. Then another one died shortly after, now there’s only 1 left. As the weather got warmer it turned slightly more green but not completely for some reason. It was not growing at all but it was alive. Since it was not growing I thought I failed. But on July 13, nearly 3 months in its new habitat, its stem finally grew and more leaves sprouted out of it! Never give up on your tree! (Unless it’s clearly dead.)

[@billyfolse1316]

How long from an acorn do they take to get 6' tall? A few years???

[@vivianamartir2758]

Could you please share what is the best fertilizer combination for oak trees in south Florida?

[@dietrevich]

I had never seen a live oak with lobed leaves. They are supposed to be smooth edges.

[@raphlvlogs271]

leave shapes differed too.

[@lilio7546]

Hey there! Here in sc in the low country all the leaves of our southern live oaks are evergreen through the saeasons and have small perfectly oval yet glossy leaves. And per Wikipedia, (haha sorry) they usually stay evergreen until the spring; when then they force off the older leaves by growing new small oval leaves. Sometimes they may yellow before hand. How does it look now?

[@dubcuda874]

How long until I can start trimming lower branches? It been a year since I planted it.

[@GeneBasler]

Great question. OK, if you give the trunk a good shake and the root ball wobbles, then wait to prune. If the ground is firm, then perhaps youbcan go ahead and do a little pruning. i wouldn't remove any branches back tonthe trunk yet, though. You can, however, fonahead and subordinate low (think "temporary") branches by pruning a couple feet back off the ends. For example if a temporary branch is 5 feet long, cut it back to 3 feet long, taking care to prune back to a lateral and to avoid leaving a stub. What do you mean by "temporary branches, Gene?" Well what's your vision for this tree? Let's suppose you envision it having a straight trunk for 12 feet and the lowest lateral branch grows out from the trunk at that 12 foot mark. Now let's suppose the tree is right now only 10 feet tall. Well then every branch is temporary. So now you have to make sure it has a relatively straight central leader with no codominant leaders for at least the first 12 feet. Much more important at this stage than removing low branches. Keep intact as much square footage of photosynthetic leaf surface as possible until you have a) 12 feet of a single dominant central leader, and 2) the root ball is firm in the ground and doesn't wobble. Hope that helps and thanks for watching.

[@Eastbaypisces]

so does it need mulch or no?

[@GeneBasler]

Brad S yes it should have mulch just not piled up on the trunk and root flare.

[@carlaephotography7096]

Looks like a Live Oak, and the new leaves look like a Burr Oak. Interesting 🧐

[@MichaelaH2059]

What kind of oak is this? We have Pin Oaks here in PA and the leaves look very different. Thanks for the video.

[@GeneBasler]

Patricia H pin oak if you're up north is Quercus palustris but if you're from east Texas/west Louisiana pin oak refers to the willow oak Quercus phellos. The oak in this video is a live oak Q. virginiana thanks for watching.

[@Eastbaypisces]

how big was it when u bought it?

[@GeneBasler]

Brad S oh jeez I want to say it was 14 feet tall.

[@Mark19766]

Great video although it looks like a Compton oak

[@GeneBasler]

Thanks for watching. Love Compton oaks. The tag said Cathedral and TreeSource Nursery is usually pretty good but as with all trees one must take the grower at his or her word.

[@austin3626]

seems like an odd spot to plant a live oak seeing how they spread out so much and become gigantic. Looked like a good job planting it though.

[@DebbieTomkoSUNSHINE]

Austin I read trees grow smaller when planted near other trees...:-)