Live Oak Tree Facts

Live Oak Tree Growth

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Highrise live oak tree

Knowing what stage of growth a tree is in is imperative when working with the tree. The stage of growth in terms of time depends heavily on the tree species, for example a maple tree can be grown to twenty years while an oak of twenty years is still a minor. Therefore, the stage of growth should be evaluated by the actions of the tree and not chronological age.

Formative Stage

  • Rapid root growth and stem
  • Low volume of dead wood and dysfunctional tissue
  • The vitality of high growth and lots of good general health
  • Nearly 100% live tissue

Mature Stage

  • Tree reaches full size
  • The food produced by the leaves is stable
  • Growth slows and higher growth extends outward more than upward
  • Tips to grow more lateral than vertical
  • Top of the natural loss of limbs
  • Tissue Augmentation dysfunctional
  • Present decaying wood caused by fungal growth or sunken places
  • Fifty percent or less dynamic mass

Veteran Status

  • Crown dieback
  • Loss of limbs
  • Damage and deterioration of the stems and roots
  • Little or no growth
  • Low-energy due to the decrease in leaf area and health
  • Decrease in the main terminal to the eventual death

For trees with firm defense systems the veteran’s age may be the longest stage, while most fast-growing trees can range from veteran to dead in a matter of few years. The best way to ensure longer life for any tree is to keep it well watered, fertilized and pest-free and of course, originally planted in an environment that was meant to exist.

The shorter lifespan of a tree comes to the opposite of all these things. Life expectancy also shortens often exacerbated by poor care as a result of tree services providers who do not understand how to evaluate a tree for the care and make healthy tree pruning or crown.

Live Oak Tree Scientific Name

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Live Oak Trees

Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)

A large, sprawling, picturesque tree that is highly desirable as a landscape tree. The live oak tree is one of the broadest spreading of the oaks, providing large areas of deep, inviting shade. Reaching 40 to 60 feet in height with a 60 to 100 foot spread and usually possessing many sinuously curved trunks and branches.

The live oak tree is an impressive sight for any large-scaled landscape. Give it plenty of room since the trunk can grow to more than six feet in diameter. An amazingly durable American native tree, it can measure its life in centuries if properly located and cared for in the landscape.

In Texas, live oak trees learned ten thousand years ago that Texas soils and environmental conditions are not conducive for propagation from the acorns. They depend on animals and birds to transplant acorns away from the parent tree for the sake of forest diversity. Live oaks are very bad parents and do not want competition from their siblings, so they predispose a fungus to kill the germination of the acorns that remain under the tree.

Live oaks propagate in a very unusual manner, they put out ramets (sending-up root sprouts) from the mature roots, or otherwise a bud that grows off the root. This method ensures 100% survival as the new shoots have a fully mature root system for support. They actually clone themselves, a Mott or grove of a few or up to hundreds of trees are really all the same tree and can cover large acreage areas.

Fun Live Oak Tree Facts

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Fun Live Oak Tree Facts

The south comes to mind when one thinks about live oak trees. These classically beautiful trees with Spanish moss draped along streets with historic antebellum homes are unforgettable. Live oaks grow across the Southeastern United States.

They are found on the east coast from southeastern Virginia to Florida and west to southern and central Texas. The live oak tree grows predominantly in sandy soils of low coastal areas but it also grows in dry sandy or moist rich woods. It has a resistance to salty soil and salt spray from the ocean and does well on barrier islands.

Live oak is monoecious. This means that they have separate male and female reproductive units on the same plant. They produce flowers every spring from March through May and the acorns mature in September and fall off by December. Live oak acorns are long, dark brown to black and tapered. They are sweet and very popular with birds, squirrels and other animals. If the acorns fall on moist, warm ground, they will germinate soon after falling.

Live oaks do not get very tall, rarely above 50 feet but the crown or canopy of the tree can have a span of 150 feet. It is a very popular shade tree because of this. The wood of the live oak is very hard and strong and was used years ago for shipbuilding among other various wood making ventures. The wood is not used as widely today as it used to be because it is predominantly a shade and ornamental tree.

Live oaks have a tendency to grow in large, dense groups with interconnected roots systems, this is why you see them sprawling so closely to each other down many small town main streets across the south.

If you are ever in the south near historic Charleston South Carolina, you will be surrounded by history. Once you have soaked up the architectural beauty and rich history of the city, head to nearby John’s Island to see the oldest living thing east of the Rockies. Known as the Angel Oak, the live oak tree that has its own park is estimated to be 1,500 years old, pre-dating Columbus by 1,000 years!

Tucked into a wooded area the Angel Oak tree will simply astound you. Its quiet majesty shades the tiny park it dominates; it will be quite a while before you forget the 160-foot span of Angel Oak’s massive branches. Her circumference is a whopping 25 feet, and she covers 17,000 square feet of ground.

For more facts about the history of Live oaks and general informative information stayed tuned in. For now, I will say see you later, I have a picnic lunch date under a grand, old, shady friend; a live oak tree.

Live Oak Trees Commemorate Special Events And Guests

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Live Oak Trees Commemorate Special Events and Guests

According to the Sea Island Company (seaisland.com), planting live oak trees has become a meaningful way for visitors to commemorate special events as well as mark the visit of honored guests to Sea Island ever since the visit of President Calvin Coolidge in 1928. The live oak has been claimed as the state tree of Georgia, and is considered a symbol of majesty and strength. The following documents those famous visits:

President Calvin Coolidge – December 1928

President Calvin Coolidge planted the first commemorative oak during the Christmas holidays shortly after “The Cloister” opened its doors. President and Mrs. Coolidge were visiting Sea Island Company founder Howard Coffin at his home on Sapelo Island.

President Dwight Eisenhower – May 1946

This oak was planted after President Eisenhower was elected, in honor of the visit he and Mrs. Eisenhower made to Sea Island in 1946.

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard – April 1952

Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernhard spent Easter weekend on Sea Island and added an oak to the grounds. During their visit, the royal couple was attending as honored guests at an oyster roast hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Alfred W. Jones, Sr., at Altama Plantation.

President Gerald Ford – December 9, 1979

After his term of office, President Ford planted a commemorative oak while visiting as a guest of honor at a meeting and golf tournament at Sea Island.

President Jimmy Carter – July 28, 1981

President Carter assembled his first cabinet at The Cloister shortly after being elected in 1976. Accompanied by Mrs. Carter, he returned to plant an oak in July 1981.

Eugene O’Neill – May 12, 1988

A live oak was planted by Connecticut College, New London, Conn., to commemorate the playwright’s 100th birthday. O’Neill, who spent his youth in New London, lived on Sea Island from 1931 to 1936 in the cottage he and his wife, Carlotta Monterey, built and named Casa Genotta. O’Neill wrote his only comedy, “Ah, Wilderness!” on Sea Island; with it, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936.

President George H.W. Bush – September 29, 1991

President Bush planted a commemorative oak while he and Mrs. Bush were vacationing in 1991 at “The Cloister”, site of their 1945 honeymoon. They also visited in January 1995, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. During that visit, President Bush played the opening round at Ocean Forest Golf Club. The former president returned in August 2001 to open the 38th Walker Cup Match at Ocean Forest.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher – April 1994

The former British prime minister has been called the most enthusiastic planter at Sea Island. Most honorees sprinkle a ceremonial shovel full of dirt; Mrs. Thatcher went around the tree shoveling the dirt, despite the fact she wore a pink suit. Her security guard was heard to say that Mrs. Thatcher would have packed down the dirt had she been wearing her gardening shoes.

President George W. Bush – June 7, 2004

President Bush hosted the G8 Summit, the most significant annual gathering of the eight leaders of the free world, on Sea Island from June 8-10, 2004. In the tradition of his father, he planted a commemorative oak close to his father’s.

Prime Minister Tony Blair – June 11, 2004

The British Prime Minister and his wife planted a commemorative oak during their visit for the G8 Summit.

The Sea Island Summit First Ladies – November 16, 2004

The Sea Island Gardening Group planted an oak to commemorate the visit to Sea Island by five of the First Ladies whose husbands participated in the G8 Summit. Those Ladies included Laura Bush of the United States, Cherie Blair of the United Kingdom, Bernadette Chirac of France, Sheila Martin of Canada, and Ludmilla Putin of the Russian Federation.

Additional live oaks on the grounds of The Cloister honor Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, the 50th anniversary of The Cloister, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred W. Jones, Sr., and the Sea Island Employees in celebration of the 2000 Millennium. It is exciting to see the many ways live oak trees are used to mark momentous occasions, and this is just one example. These famous live oaks will be alive many generations from the day they were planted since some trees live hundreds of years or more.

Live Oak Trees Florida Georgia and Texas

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Live Oak Trees Florida Georgia and Texas

Savannah Georgia comes to mind when one thinks of live oak trees. The trees classic beauty of Spanish moss along the streets with historic homes before the war are unforgettable.

Live oak grows throughout the southeastern United States. Located on the east coast of southeastern Virginia to Florida and west to southern Texas and central. It grows mainly in sandy soils of low coastal areas but also grows in rich woods in wet or dry sand. It has a resistance to salt fog, sea salt and does well in the barrier islands.

Live oak is monoecious. This means they have male and female reproductive units in the same plant. They produce flowers each spring from March to May and the acorns ripen in September and fall in December. Live oak acorns are long, dark brown to black and tapered. They are sweet and very popular among birds and other animals.

If when the acorns fall and it is moist with warm soil, the acorn will germinate soon after the fall. Germination is the beginning of seed growth of the acorn. The leaves that develop during germination absorb the moisture that makes food available. The roots came after to find its own water to produce outbreaks. Seeds of live oak leaves remain below the soil surface and shoots sprout abundantly from the roots.

Encinas do not get very tall, rarely over 50 feet but the crown (or the extension) of the tree can have a length of 150 feet. It is a very popular shade tree because to this. Year oak wood is very tough and strong and was used for ship building long ago. The wood is not used today as it is mostly shade and ornamental trees.

Oaks have a tendency to grow in large dense groups with interconnecting roots that make it very susceptible to wilt disease of oaks that is a fungus. This fungus is spread from one oak to another through connected roots and is one of the most severe tree diseases. They kill hundreds of trees in Austin Texas each year in the patches because of its tendency to grow in forests. Certified arborists provide tree services Austin are very experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of wilting.

The wilting symptoms are usually found in the leaves develop yellow veins that turn brown and fall off the tree. The crown of the tree exits diluted until it dies. Wilting can be costly for the treatment and control and an accurate diagnosis is essential. An arborist certification services of trees should be contacted to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.

Live Oak Trees

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The oak is considered one of the most important and impressive trees worldwide. In total, there are over 300 varieties of these majestic giants of the forest.

Some oak species include the Royal Oak and Quercus Robur (Common Oak), which are very popular in Britain. Another species of oak called Charter Oak is very prominent in the states (USA). Among the rarest is the Cork Oak, and is respectively called because it’s used mostly for the finest wine bottle stoppers. The aforementioned British Quercus Robur is the one most often used in landscape architecture around a ranch house.

Most oak trees take hundreds of years to reach maturity. In fact, a tree in Windsor is more than 800 years old. This tree was planted during the reign of King John, and has lived at least 35 queen monarch. This tree has lived more than most men, even men of ancient times.

The oak remains a symbol of spiritual significance and serves as a valuable product for the creation of durable tangible goods. For example, the Bible uses oak, referring at least 23 times. Moreover, Romans, Greeks, Celts, Slavs and Teutonic groups put on a pedestal oak, more than any other tree.

The oak is also mentioned in many ballads, such as the largest oak in Sherwood Forest, which was also associated with Robin Hood. This is a real tree is still standing after a while quite long, and measures 20 meters (64 feet) wide. The Major Oak is a tree that has reached maturity.

Oak has also been used on British coins. The sixpence, which is one of the earliest coins of Great Britain, has an oak tree engraved on it, and the shilling, so does.

The reason why the oak tree is a very revered is because it is one of the major forests of the world. In fact, it was found that the oak has five times the shear strength of pine wild. That is the reason that is used to make coffins for burial of important people, like Edward the Confessor located in a sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.

Those who like to learn about the history of why certain names came to read about the history of the Royal Oak. In summary, the Royal Oak is so named because King Charles II hid in an oak tree after he was defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. He lived in exile for at least ten years before returning to the kingdom. His birthday became a self-proclaimed holiday, called Royal Oak Day and needless to say that the Royal Oak was named after him.

Another brief moment in the history related to the oak includes the history of the ship, Mary Rose. The history of this ship of oak is not as happy as an ending as the history of the name of the Royal Oak. However, it is very important in many respects.

On July 19, 1545 the Mary Rose sank in the water as the army of King Henry VIII tried to cross from Spithead fight invaders of France. The entire boat sits a short form of Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory in Portsmouth Naval Arsenal.

Again, the problem with the Mary Rose was not the wood that was used to create it, but rather the way it was built. Oak has been an option for many glasses of water made in the past, and the Mary Rose just happened to be an unfortunate case where the ship is not to protect passengers. Usually people have made it safe through the waters on board a ship.

In general, oak wood is a very strong and robust, and represents many things, including the concept of longevity and wisdom. This is a tree that is the test of time.