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Water oak – Wikipedia
Water Oak Fact Sheet - US Forest Service
| Duration: Perennial, deciduous | Native to: North America | Edibility: Acorns not described as edible | Status in Yard: Removed |
The water oak was already mature and shading much of the west side of the back yard when I moved to this house on May 15, 2013. I had mixed feelings about it because of the shade–it blocked some of the sun from my food plants–and because I thought it was a relatively short-lived and fragile tree. Every now and then it would drop pretty large branches. It would also dump its small acorns all over the yard and patio in the fall, and many seedlings would pop up in the spring. Before I stopped mowing the back yard, that was one way to take care of that problem.
I had the water oak removed in early 2016, and I have had a lot of regrets about that since. The tree was very solid and healthy. I was thinking that it was shading my garden too much, but once it was gone I saw that the main problem was that the new soil in my raised beds lacked nutrients. The back yard doesn't have any more fresh acorns, so the blue jays don't come around as often. The squirrels still come to the yard, but they no longer live there. The water oak had about five squirrel nests. I never see possums in the yard anymore.
Here's how the water oak looked when I move in.
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| Click the photo to enlarge it |
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| Click the photo to enlarge it |
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