# Northern Pin Oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis)

> The red oak of the Great Lakes sand plains, the most drought tolerant of its group, with deeply cut leaves that turn red in fall.

Also called hill's oak. Category: Rare & Uncommon Oaks. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-pin-oak/

![Northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis) tree on an open sand plain, dead lower branches showing](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/northern-pin-oak-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Jay Sturner, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANear_Mack_Lake%2C_Mio%2C_Michigan_-_Northern_Pin_Oak%2C_Hill's_Oak_%28Quercus_ellipsoidalis%29_-_Flickr_-_Jay_Sturner.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Medium tree
- Mature height: 50 to 70 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 7
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens and dry uplands
- Native range: 9 states, north and west to North Dakota, south to Missouri and east to Ohio (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin)
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Fall color, Drought tolerant, Wildlife value, Rare, Street tree
- Sold as: Saplings, Acorns

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Northern pin oak is a red oak largely confined to the middle and western Great Lakes region. It forms pure stands only on dry, acid sand plains and sandstone hills. Its dead lower branches hang on for years as stubs, the pins behind its name. It is one of the few North American oaks hardy in zone 3. It may be hard to find in nurseries. It also suits planting along a city street. Plant it on dry, sandy ground in the North, as a lawn shade tree or in a sand savanna planting.

## Size, growth and what to expect

It grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. Expect 50 to 70 feet with a crown 40 to 60 feet wide. At the edge of its range it is reduced to shrubby growth.

It flowers in April and May. The acorns take two seasons to ripen and drop from late August to early December. Trees begin to bear at about 20 years, but good crops do not come every year. The acorns are half to three quarters of an inch long, with the cap covering about a third. Gray squirrels, deer and blue jays eat them. Wood ducks and eastern kingbirds nest in its trunk cavities.

It grows wild around Lake Michigan, almost always on glaciated ground, from dry sandstone bluffs and sand savannas to moderately dry woods on clay.

## How to grow Northern Pin Oak

Northern pin oak wants full sun and a well-drained, acid soil. It prefers even moisture but takes dry, sandy ground and drought once rooted. It takes a higher soil pH than pin oak without yellowing, but strongly alkaline soil can still yellow and badly damage it. Set trees 40 feet apart, and keep each one 30 feet from a wall and more than 50 feet from overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. It transplants well, but it grows a deep taproot, so plant it young. Plant dormant saplings from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the trunk. Red oak acorns need a winter before they sprout. Sow them in fall an inch deep under hardware cloth. For spring, hold them damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 days first.

Water every week or two through the first summer, then only in a long drought. Deer and rabbits browse young oaks, so guard each sapling with a tube or cage for its first three years. It is very intolerant of shade, so keep taller trees from crowding it.

The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby. As a red oak it can catch oak wilt, which killed the former US champion in Wisconsin in 2007. Prune only in the dormant season, to avoid the beetles that spread it. In off years, weevils destroy many of the acorns, and scale and the two-lined chestnut borer also attack it.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Quercus ellipsoidalis, Coladonato 1993](https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/queell)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Quercus ellipsoidalis](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501027)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Quercus ellipsoidalis](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d479)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Hill's oak](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/hills-oak/)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online, International Dendrology Society: Quercus ellipsoidalis](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-ellipsoidalis/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Quercus ellipsoidalis](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=QUEL)
- [USDA Forest Service, Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America, FHTET-03-01, Stein, Binion and Acciavatti 2003](https://rngr.net/publications/field-guide-to-native-oak-species-of-eastern-north-america)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Quercus chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Quercus.pdf)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Quercus ellipsoidalis](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.147790/Quercus_ellipsoidalis)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Organic or synthetic fertilizer: how they differ and what a tree needs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/organic-or-synthetic-fertilizer/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for dry, sandy soil: the plants of barrens and dunes, and how to grow them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-and-shrubs-for-dry-sandy-soil/index.html.md)
- [Red oaks and white oaks, and where each belongs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/red-oaks-and-white-oaks/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Northern Pin Oak, add ?species=northern-pin-oak with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=northern-pin-oak&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Northern Pin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=northern-pin-oak): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=northern-pin-oak
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Northern Pin Oak is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=northern-pin-oak
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Northern Pin Oak needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=northern-pin-oak:2
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Northern Pin Oak flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.