Red Oak Sapling Trees

Quercus Rubra

Delivered by Mail Order Direct from our Nursery with a Year Guarantee

Red Oak, Quercus rubra, is a vigorous tree that can reach a great size in the right conditions, with a huge round canopy the size of a house. Its rich red autumn colour is excellent. Unlike most other oaks, it isn't very shade tolerant and although it will grow in the city, we recommend it for wide open spaces with rich soil, where this marvelous tree can really shine. Red Oak is not suitable for a clipped hedge. It can be grown as a screening tree up to about 28 metres high. It is a good, tall windbreak tree.
The plants on this page are young saplings. You can also buy larger Red Oak trees here.
Browse all of our other varieties of Oak here.

Red Oak plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Browse our variety of large trees for your garden or view our full range of trees for sale.

Choosing a size: When you are ordering a large quantity of Red Oak for a big planting project, we suggest that you buy the smaller plants, graded at 60/80cm. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and more likely to cope well with poor conditions. Buy the larger 90/120cm plants if you are planting a few of them as specimens in a park or garden.

General description of Quercus rubra plants:

Old botanical Names (No longer used): Quercus borealis, Quercus digitata.
Common Names: Red Oak, Champion Oak, Northern Red Oak

This tree is planted for its autumn colour, which is quite spectacular. The leaves begin to turn blood red at the edges, while the centre slowly fades from deep green to pale yellow-green before the whole leaf turns an even deeper red. It is a big tree with a spreading, rounded canopy of main branches that emerge at right angles to the trunk. This spreading habit, combined with its relative dislike of shade, makes it unsuitable for city planting in most places, although it is tolerant of air pollution.

History & uses of Quercus rubra

Red Oak is the state tree of New Jersey. It was brought to Europe in the 1720's, mainly as an ornamental tree, but it is also a valuable timber producer. The acorns are popular with deer and pigs.