Shumard Oak

Size, growth and what to expect

Shumard oak grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator, and faster on rich, moist ground. Expect 50 to 80 feet with a crown 30 to 50 feet wide. On good bottomland it passes 100 feet, and one tree in a blue ash savanna had lived 480 years.

It flowers in March and April, and the acorns ripen and fall in September and October of their second year. They are about an inch long and egg-shaped, set in a thick, shallow cup, and many hold more than one seed. Songbirds, wild turkeys, waterfowl, deer and squirrels eat them. The leaves are often the first of the oaks to turn red in fall.

It grows wild from North Carolina to northern Florida and west to central Texas, and up the Mississippi Valley to Kansas, Missouri, southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Farther north it is local, and New York and Pennsylvania list it as endangered and Maryland as threatened.

How to grow Shumard Oak

Shumard oak wants full sun and a deep, moist, well-drained soil, and it grows fastest on rich ground near streams. It also takes clay, alkaline soil and drought. It tolerates brief flooding but not long standing water. It handles city conditions well, including polluted air and compacted soil. Set trees 30 feet apart, and keep each one 25 feet from a wall and more than 50 feet from overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. The taproot grows deep within two seasons, so plant saplings young. Plant them dormant, 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, and they die if they dry out. Sow them in fall an inch deep under hardware cloth. For spring, hold them damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 120 days first.

Water every week or two through the first summer, then only in a long drought. Deer browse young Shumard oaks, so guard each sapling with a tube or cage for its first three years. Young trees often fork, so train one central leader early and keep the side branches under half the width of the trunk.

The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby. As a red oak it is highly susceptible to oak wilt, which can kill a tree within months. Prune only in the dormant season, never in late spring or early summer. Trees begin to bear at about 25 years, with good crops every 2 or 3 years. Acorn weevils spoil some acorns, and oak leaf blister spots the leaves in some years.