Type of oak to plant for energy savings

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farmboy05

Member
Jan 31, 2014
96
North Central Iowa
We recently got a couple oaks for cheap. One is a white oak and the other is a swamp white oak. We want to plant one on the west side of our house for summer time energy savings.

Just wondering if anyone here would have any input.

Thank you!
 
They will do you right well in about 60 years. if you are looking to shade the home in a more realistic time frame you will need to plant some thing that grows quickly and perhaps can provide a bit of a wind break as well. There are a lot of variables . get a good landscaper to help you sort things out.
 
Our house relies upon tree shade for summer cooling. We have numerous trees to the south and west of our house.
A mix of fast and slow growing trees will work best. Maples or other fast growing trees can be inter-planted with oaks. As oaks get tall enough the other trees can be taken down.
Other considerations:
- Impacts on your gutters from leaves, seeds, etc.
- Don't plant trees too close to the house though you may be tempted to.
- Summer shading will impact your landscape. Grass may be hard to keep alive.
 
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In that vein if you have septic system- be careful what you plant and where . Items like Silver maple, Willow have a nasty habit of seeking out those field lines.
 
In that vein if you have septic system- be careful what you plant and where . Items like Silver maple, Willow have a nasty habit of seeking out those field lines.
Redwood and Elm too.
 
Thanks for the feed back. Ya, I know oaks take a long while to grow. All the more reason to do it now ;-) I'll look into planting something faster growing along side it as well.

No septic take around it. It's actually going where an ash is currently located since I'll have to remove the ash soon due to the EAB.

So am I to assume there wouldn't be much of a difference between the two types of oak?

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Red oak grows faster than white. But plant whatcha got! Provide the sun and right soil and it'll grow faster.
 
If you want a decide size shade tree in 10 years or so, get a nursery grown 8-10' red/silver maple cross (acer x freemanii). They grow ridiculously fast like Silver Maples but have the branch/crotch strength of a red maple (an important consideration if you are planting near a house). They also have some nice fall red color. Our town replanted with a bunch of these after a water main project and I cannot believe how fast they have grown in 5 years.

Whatever tree you do plant, dig a good hole 3' across and 2' deep to loosen the soil. Score the sides of the hole with a pickaxe so there is not a "glaze" from the shovel in the planting hole. Don't amend the hole with compost or manure, but get a 5 pound bag of Azomite (A to Z of trace minerals) and (if you can) 5 pounds of granite dust (your local granite counter store should be able to oblige - just make sure they only use water and not oil to lubricate their cutting saws) and mix this in the hole. Plant the tree. Then, get half a yard of wood chips (not the dyed brown or red junk from the garden center) from branches that are small (3" or less, your local tree surgeon or trimmer should be able to get these for you) and spread them 6" deep around the tree. The wood chips will get a good fungal growth in the soil that will benefit the tree, and help it absorb all the trace nutrients from the Azomite and granite dust. Water it really well the first year (10 gallons a week). Give the tree about 2-3 years to get a good root system going, and then stand back because it will really take off.
 
If you want a decide size shade tree in 10 years or so, get a nursery grown 8-10' red/silver maple cross (acer x freemanii). They grow ridiculously fast like Silver Maples but have the branch/crotch strength of a red maple (an important consideration if you are planting near a house). They also have some nice fall red color. Our town replanted with a bunch of these after a water main project and I cannot believe how fast they have grown in 5 years.
Never heard of a red/silver hybrid sounds very interesting. Are the leaves poisonous to horses like red maple leaves are?
 
The bark of an oak tree has a lot of medicinal property. It is used for curing chronic diarrhea.The bark decoction can also be used to treat skin sores.
 
No sh!t? :cool: