Every tiny acorn has the potential to grow into a massive, long-lived oak.
Oaks (Quercus) are an impressive, deciduous tree species that are common in much of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.
Oaks are an excellent addition to both urban and rural landscapes, providing pleasant shade, shelter and habitat for various animals and insects.
The oaks are easy to identify from their distinctive lobate edges of their leaves, and their numerous acorns (or oaknuts).
If you plan to landscape or plant an oak tree in your own yard, it is important to know how fast oaks grow.
This article is an oak tree growth rate guide, including chart, covering everything to know about measuring the growth of this phenomenal tree species.
All About Oaks
Most people think that there is only one oak species, but actually the oak or Quercus family has over 500 species, divided into Old World (Europe, Asia and North Africa) and New World (The Americas) that include trees and shrubs and range in size, and shape considerably.
The distinctive leaves are spirally arranged on the branch and have a lobate or serrated edge.
Oaks are generally deciduous, however, they may retain dead leaves during the winter and into the spring, this feature is known as marescence.
Oaks can do this because their leaves contain tannic acid, which has antifungal properties and help deter insects and fungi.
Oaks are self-fertilizing, the male catkins (flower) produce acorns and pollinate (in the spring) the small white female flower.
Furthermore, their acorn (the fruit of an oak) is synonymous with autumn. The oaknut, which has tough leathery skin, sits inside a cupule attached by a stalk.
Oaks Are an Ecosystem In a Single Tree
Oaks are a tremendous contributor to their environments and support an extensive amount of woodland plants and occupants.
Every component part of the oak contributes to the biosphere:
- Oaks processes and use CO2 and emits oxygen. Even when oaks release carbon dioxide during respiration, they are still a net carbon sink.
- The oak canopy afford other plants substantial shelter, shade, and reduces the moisture lost from the soil as well.
- Oaks also provides for insects, snails, worms, fungus and a home for birds, squirrels and other rodents.
- Oaks also contribute to the local water cycle through drawing 50 gallons of water per day into the plant.
- The roots of oak help to hold soil together and stop erosion. Oak roots help optimise soil conditions for plants and organisms.
Classic English Oak Trees Have Been Grown for Thousands of Years in the British Isles
They are certainly the traditional English tree, with the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and the sessile oak (Qurcus petrea) being two of the most prevalent, and obvious, trees in the UK.
In terms of trees, oaks can surely be found in just about every area of British woodland, regarded as robust and long-lasting.
Historically, oaks were also found in deer parks, esp. royal forests and important manors.
The Oldest Oak Tree in Britain, Bowthorpe Oak, has been alive for a mere 1000 years with no signs of stopping!
Oak Tree Growth Rate Guide
Oak trees have a life cycle and growth similar to oak tree species.
A true oak tree growth rate, as an oak grows from a solitary acorn to an old growth forest in hundreds of years.
There are several distinct phases in which oak tree growth rate varies significantly.
Here is the life cycle and growth rate for the oak tree:
1. Planting and Germination of a Planted Acorn
The nut of the oak tree is called a acorn with a leathery tough shell. When you cut it open, it has one and sometimes two seeds, that becomes an oak tree.
Suprisingly, oaks trees generally don’t produce viable seeds until they have been growing for decades!
Animals eat the ripe acorns and discard them creating a natural dispersion of the seeds. Provided all the conditions are favorable, the seed germinates by rooting through the exterior of the acorn, then a shoot emerges.
Phototropism allows the root to root into the soil looking for water and nutrients and the shoot to seek light and develop new leaves.
2. The Appearance of Oak Shoots Takes 8 to 10 Weeks
Seedlings are oak shoots that have emerged above ground.
In forests, few young oaks get beyond this point because of disease, trampling or grazing by animals like deer.
3. An Oak Seedling Takes a Further 6 Months to Become a Sapling
Once the oak seedling has grown greater than a third of a meter in height it’s referred to as a sapling.
The sapling stage may differ slightly among species of oaks, though they will usually mature in this stage for 20 to 40 years as is normal in long-life trees.
They differ from a mature tree in the sapling stage by being:
- Smoother bark than a mature oak
- A pliant trunk
- Inability to produce flowers, fruit and fertile seeds
4. An Oak Tree Takes at Least Four Decades to Mature
You can identify when an oak tree has matured when the tree begins producing flowers, catkins and acorns.
The initiation of acorn production in an English oak takes place in 40 years. At this point it is a small oak tree.
From this point acorn production will increase over the next four to eight decades to a peak acorn production stage of 80 to 120 years.
5. The next Stage of Growth Progresses an Oak to Becoming a Large Oak Tree
After the first forty years of acorn production, an oak tree will see production and growth abundantly accelerate by 300 years even if it remains a small species oak tree.
At this stage of its life it will be fertile enough to provide many young trees.
6. After 300 Years the Growth Rate of Oaks Drops Off
A grown oak may enter a period of rest and growth and productivity reduction.
Few Will Know: This can lasts as long as 300 years. It may re-enter productivity for an unknown length of time following this inactive period.
7. At about 700 Years, an Oak Tree Is Considered a Great Oak
At this stage, a tree has outgrown the maturity of other trees and is now ancient.
These very old oaks often exhibit a small canopy and a large hollowed trunk or reduced in many parts to dead standing trunks.
Estimation of age for ancient oak trees may make use of several avenues by observation of its physical characteristics, measurements, historical documents and any other corroborating evidence of longevity
8. An Oak Tree’s Lifespan Is 600 to 1000 Years
A dead oak is a born feature of an ancient woodland and productive forestry..
If an area of woodland is managed, any dead oaks may be felled and chipped with shavings returned to the soil.
The tree trunks of dead oak trees provide habitat for diverse insect species which lay their eggs in the dead wood.
The insects are local food sources for birds and many animals that eat the insects or the animals make their homes by nesting in hollows and crevices of the wood.
Other notable life stages for an oak
- An oak tree can be referred to as a notable oak after 150-200 years old.
- 150-300 year oak trees are recognized as veteran oaks.
Rounding Up
Having planted a humble oak tree creates a pathway of legacy which last many lifetimes and it is amazing to think about the life expectancy of these every day trees.
If you are even contemplating on planting an oak tree and prizing the experience of seeing it grow, now is the time to do it.
In a lifetime, you may be able to witness your tree become ripe for its first crops of acorn and become mature.