Drought Tolerant Oaks

[mattpatt]

I live in NE Texas and it's not uncommon for us to go a couple months during the summer without significant rains. I thought I'd start a thread here listing the oak species that I've had success with growing in this type of environment. Everyone please feel free to add to the list. I'm looking to add more oaks to my land but only want to plant those that will have a "fighting" chance to make it. I'm looking for first hand experience (i.e you have them growing on your land). Don't put it on the the list because someone on the internet says it's drought tolerant.


Extremely Drought Tolerant:

Sawtooth (non-native species)
Gobbler Sawtooth
Concordia (Chinkapin x Dwarf Chinkapin x Swamp White)
Bur Oaks
Post Oak (slow grower)
Water Oak (tiny acorns)

Somewhat Drought Tolerant:

DCO (mine have survived with minimal supplemental water but certainly are thriving)
Shumard
Chinkapin
Scarlet Oak


Non-Oak Species (thought I'd throw these in too)

Dolgo Crabapple
Allegheny Chinkapin


Matt

 

[TexOk]

As a fellow NE Texan, from personal observation I would add bur oaks and post oaks to the extremely drought tolerant list, and from my experience Shumard Oaks have proven to be quite drought tolerant as well.

 

[TreeDaddy]

I live in NE Texas and it's not uncommon for us to go a couple months during the summer without significant rains. I thought I'd start a thread here listing the oak species that I've had success with growing in this type of environment. Everyone please feel free to add to the list. I'm looking to add more oaks to my land but only want to plant those that will have a "fighting" chance to make it. I'm looking for first hand experience (i.e you have them growing on your land). Don't put it on the the list because someone on the internet says it's drought tolerant.


Extremely Drought Tolerant:

Sawtooth (non-native species)
Concordia (Chinkapin x Dwarf Chinkapin x Swamp White)


Somewhat Drought Tolerant:

DCO (mine have survived with minimal supplemental water but certainly are thriving)
Shumard
Chinkapin


Matt

Matt,
I'm a couple hrs south of you and "feel your pain"
I set out 100 bare root saw tooth this feb and have had good survival with most "peeking" out the top of 5 ft tubes
I set out 100 AC bare root Feb 2015 on north facing slope of sandy soil and also good result with many well out of 5 ft tubes

No supplemental water

I have 140 shumards started in March now in root pouch 1 gal( learned about root pouch from your threads) in my back yard. will plant them this fall

my survival rate with all fruit trees in river bottom grey clay loam has been abyssmal

bill

 

[mattpatt]

Matt,
I'm a couple hrs south of you and "feel your pain"
I set out 100 bare root saw tooth this feb and have had good survival with most "peeking" out the top of 5 ft tubes
I set out 100 AC bare root Feb 2015 on north facing slope of sandy soil and also good result with many well out of 5 ft tubes

No supplemental water

I have 140 shumards started in March now in root pouch 1 gal( learned about root pouch from your threads) in my back yard. will plant them this fall

my survival rate with all fruit trees in river bottom grey clay loam has been abyssmal

bill

Hi Bill,

My observations with sawtooth as well as AC have been similar to yours. I have a few AC out right now with more on the way in root pouches. I haven't had much luck with fruit trees except for Dolgo crabs.

Matt

 

[mattpatt]

As a fellow NE Texan, from personal observation I would add bur oaks and post oaks to the extremely drought tolerant list, and from my experience Shumard Oaks have proven to be quite drought tolerant as well.

Yes, I forgot about Bur Oaks. I have a few of those as well and they seem to do good in the heat and lack of rain especially when direct seeded. Nice to see some more Texans in here.

Matt

 

[550Gator]

I like this thread, good information so far. Oaks I've planted here in W. Central Illinois are Sawtooth, Gobbler Sawtooth, Overcup, Bucks Unlimited SWO, Kimberley (Bur x SWO) and DCO. They are still young and I cannot really comment on their tolerance to drought conditions. For the most part I have been able to give them regular watering during drought conditions. I will say that there have been some Sawtooths that I direct seeded years ago that I found recently. They have survived some drought conditions. Had I known they were there they would have been watered regularly. So in my experience, I would say that Sawtooths have extreme to somewhat drought tolerance.

 

[mattpatt]

I like this thread, good information so far. Oaks I've planted here in W. Central Illinois are Sawtooth, Gobbler Sawtooth, Overcup, Bucks Unlimited SWO, Kimberley (Bur x SWO) and DCO. They are still young and I cannot really comment on their tolerance to drought conditions. For the most part I have been able to give them regular watering during drought conditions. I will say that there have been some Sawtooths that I direct seeded years ago that I found recently. They have survived some drought conditions. Had I known they were there they would have been watered regularly. So in my experience, I would say that Sawtooths have extreme to somewhat drought tolerance.

I agree that Sawtooths of any variety are extremely drought tolerant and also take the heat well too. I'm going to be planting more of them next year.

Matt

 

[sagittarius]

Yes, I forgot about Bur Oaks. I have a few of those as well and they seem to do good in the heat and lack of rain especially when direct seeded. Nice to see some more Texans in here. Matt

"direct seeded" That is the key. Any time a oak tree can grow a natural undisturbed tap root going straight down, that tree is going to have a huge drought tolerance advantage.

 

[Drillbit]

I'm in central Texas in the hill country. I'd add Texas Red Oaks aka Spanish oaks to the list. I have some that are literally growing out of rocks. They have survived the terrible '11 and '12 droughts.