Algerian Oak Quercus canariensis

The Algerian oak comes from North Africa and southern Spain, which shows in how well it copes once its roots are down. The leaves are large for an oak, shallowly lobed, dark above and paler beneath, and the tree holds its foliage rather than standing bare through winter. The crown builds into a broad dome on a straight, clean trunk, reading heavier and more solid than the English oak it often stands beside. It is a park, avenue and rural entry tree, planted for shade at scale.

A hundred year decision on the right ground

Full sun, moderate water, and slow to moderate growth. It has become a familiar park and avenue tree through Melbourne, Adelaide and the cooler tablelands, and it handles hot dry summers once established better than most oaks, which is why councils in dry inland towns keep planting it. Acorn drop is modest for the size of the tree and rarely a nuisance on paths. What it will not tolerate is shallow or compacted ground. Oaks put down a deep root system and they need depth of soil to do it, so a tree squeezed into a narrow verge over builders rubble or a clay pan will sit and sulk for a decade. Dig a wide planting area, break up any hardpan, and water deeply through the first three or four summers while the roots go down. After that it is largely self sufficient. The real point is permanence, because the genuine failure here is putting it somewhere that will need to be dug, paved or built inside the root zone within a working lifetime.

Algerian oak or willow oak

The two oaks here suit different sites. Algerian oak keeps its foliage through winter, casts heavy shade year round and makes the more solid, imposing outline, which is what you want at a rural entry, along a driveway or in a park where winter shelter and screening matter. Willow Oak is deciduous with narrow, willow like leaves, so it filters light in summer, lets winter sun through to the house and drops much smaller acorns onto paths. Choose canariensis for dry summer heat, evergreen bulk and a formal avenue, and phellos where you want winter sun and a lighter canopy. If autumn colour matters more than year round shade, Autumn Blaze is the usual cross shop, though it will not live anything like as long. Compare both oaks in our oaks collection.

Shaping an oak while it is small

Prune in late autumn or winter, and keep it minimal. The aim in the first decade is a single straight leader and well spaced scaffold branches, so remove competing leaders and tight forks while the wood is small, and lift the crown in stages to whatever clearance a mower, a vehicle or a footpath needs. Once established, oaks resent heavy pruning and large wounds are slow to close over. Feed young trees in early spring with a complete slow release fertiliser and water deeply through the establishment years. Lift the crown slowly, since young oaks need their lower foliage to build trunk taper.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 6 sizes, from 330mm up to 1000L, priced from $149.00 to $14969.00 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 choosing a tree for a small backyard.