{"product_id":"portuguese-oak-quercus-lusitanica","title":"Portuguese Oak - Quercus lusitanica","description":"\u003cp\u003ePortuguese oak sits between the two kinds of oak most people know. It is not a broad tree that stands bare all winter like English oak, and it is not a dark, solid evergreen like holly oak. The leaves are mid sized for an oak, leathery and toothed along the edge, grey green above and felted pale grey beneath. Through a mild winter many of them hang on; after a cold one the crown thins and browns, and the old leaves fall as new growth opens in spring. The result is a tree that softens in winter rather than disappearing, useful where you want some cover through the cold months without the year round shade of an evergreen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStrictly, Quercus lusitanica is a low, shrubby gall oak of western Iberia and northern Morocco. The tree sold under that name is usually the one botanists now call Quercus faginea, which older references folded into lusitanica, and that tree is the one described here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDry, limy ground and slow years\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIts home is the hot, dry interior of Spain and Portugal and the hills of North Africa, often on limestone, and the drier inland districts here suit it: the goldfields around Bendigo, the Wimmera and the Canberra district, for instance. Lime is no problem either. The alkaline soil that yellows a pin oak leaves it green, and frost and hot wind barely mark it. Ground that lies wet is the exception, and humid summer-rain districts remain unproven for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt puts on height slowly, often only a little each year until the roots are deep, and that pace is the reason to choose a 100L tree from the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/mature-trees-100l\"\u003eMature Trees 100L and Over\u003c\/a\u003e where a site needs real shade within a few years. In garden terms it becomes a medium tree with a rounded crown on a short trunk, well short of English or Algerian oak in scale, yet still long lived, so give it a clear radius from buildings and a deep, uncompacted root run.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEstablishing it is mostly a matter of water and restraint. Soak it deeply but only occasionally across its first few summers, so the roots chase moisture downward, spread mulch in a wide circle with none against the trunk, and leave out heavy fertiliser, which only pushes soft growth. Pruning is formative and light: settle on one leader early and raise the canopy gradually as the tree gains height.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eLeaves that fall in spring, and acorns\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaf fall is spread out. Instead of one autumn rake, brown leaves come down through late winter and spring, and a tree carrying dried foliage in August can look tired to anyone expecting either green or bare branches. Acorns drop in autumn. They and the young leaves are toxic to cattle and horses when eaten in quantity, so think about where a tree on a rural block overhangs a paddock, and keep fallen acorns away from dogs that like to chew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAlgerian oak, holly oak or this one\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhere the wild ranges overlap, Portuguese oak crosses with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/quercus-canariensis\"\u003eAlgerian Oak\u003c\/a\u003e, which makes the larger, broader tree with bigger, shallowly lobed leaves and belongs in a park or along a long drive. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/quercus-ilex-holly-oak\"\u003eHolly Oak\u003c\/a\u003e gives permanent, dense evergreen cover, at the cost of shade that never lifts in winter. The \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/oaks\"\u003eOak Trees\u003c\/a\u003e collection covers the fully deciduous species too, from willow oak to pin oak. Choose Portuguese oak for a large garden rather than a park: a medium tree that lets some winter sun through its thinned crown and stays green on dry, alkaline ground where many oaks struggle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 400mm up to 100L, priced from $329.00 to $819.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/best-trees-for-small-backyards-australia\"\u003echoosing a tree for a small backyard\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"400mm","offer_id":67671736942961,"sku":null,"price":329.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100L","offer_id":67671736975729,"sku":null,"price":819.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/portuguese-oak-quercus-lusitanica.jpg?v=1791521129","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/portuguese-oak-quercus-lusitanica","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}