Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 5-9
- Mature Height: 40-60' tall
- Mature Width: 40-60' wide
- Exposure: Full Sun
- Spacing: 40-60' apart
Why the Shumard Oak?
Plant your legacy now. The Shumard Oak is a regal tree that will stand proudly in your landscape for generations to come. The oldest specimen ever found was 480 years old! Countless picnickers, tire-swingers, and shade-seekers of the future will be grateful for your wise and thoughtful choice today. But don’t think that you won’t get to enjoy your tree, too. Shumard Oak is a moderately fast-growing shade tree that puts on a dazzling show of red to russet-red fall color each year. The bark is also quite pretty—smooth and gray when young, with a reflective quality. The bark becomes more rough and rugged with age.
The Shumard Oak grows wild in the Southeast and in the Lower Midwest. It is closely related to Pin Oak and Scarlet Oak and can interbreed with them, making identification difficult. Shumard Oak grows in a variety of habitats, from bottomland soils that may be underwater for several weeks in spring to dry upland conditions. Growth is best in deep, rich soils with regular rainfall. The national champion resides in Clay City, Kentucky, and measures 136 feet tall and over 100 feet wide. Its trunk is more than 7 1/2 feet thick. The Shumard Oak was named after Benjamin Franklin Shumard, a 19th century physician and geologist who worked in Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas.
How to use in the landscape?
Any wildlife-friendly garden situated on a large property ought to include native Oaks, and the Shumard Oak is a fine choice. Its large, striped acorns feed turkeys, quail, and other birds, along with deer, squirrels, and many other wild creatures. It takes a long time for a tree to begin bearing acorns, however—most don’t start until they’re around 25 years old. In the meantime, the foliage is excellent forage for tiny insects, which in turn feed many native songbirds.
Why Bower & Branch?
At Bower & Branch, it’s our job to know and grow trees… especially big trees.
- Trusted, Experienced Growers
- Trusted, Knowledgeable Expertise
- Trusted Brand of Quality Trees Across the United States
We do the hard part. Our trees and plants are grown and cared for by only the best, local growers for years before they find their forever home in your landscape. Bower & Branch is known for having hard-to-find, substantial sizes and selection. The quality of our trees and plants are consistent in health and vigor—always ready for immediate impact in your garden and instant curb appeal. We never rush our trees to reach a 'grade size.’ Our trees are grown for quality height, vigor, health and age.
We believe in empowering homeowners with the truth about strong, healthy and structurally sound plants that are grown to perform in the ground after they leave the nursery for home delivery, always fresh inventory from the grower.
How To Plant
Shumard Oak is an easygoing and adaptable shade tree that will tolerate many growing conditions—wet or dry soils, high or low pH, sandy or clay soils. The one thing it will not stand for is shade, so plant it where it will get sun all day long.
How To Water
Water weekly, or better yet, use the Bower & Branch® Water Element to deliver just the right amount of moisture to your tree throughout the growing season.
How To Fertilize
Incorporate Elements Starter Plant Food granular form into the soil when planting. If planting in spring or summer, start fertilizing late fall using Elements Starter Plant Food granular form on an annual basis each fall. Continue this for the first three years to get your plant well established.
How To Prune
Due to the risk of your tree contracting Oak wilt, a serious fungal disease, never prune Shumard Oak while it is actively growing. Prune only from December to February.
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 5-9
How Does Shipping Work?
Bower & Branch Trees, the real BIG trees, don’t fit in a box! Our large trees require expert delivery and care, that means our large trees are shipped on Bower & Branch trucks. We are the only ones who know how to ship our big and bigger trees and plants with tender loving care.
We deliver your trees and plants directly to your driveway or curbside! Ask Bower & Branch about planting services and rates – we'd be happy to assist in installation.
*Big trees and shrubs, Size XL (A) and bigger, will take approximately 2 to 4 weeks to be delivered. - Sizes Large (AA) and smaller (Treelings, Shrubs, Bushes, and Perennials) will be shipped directly to your home by a local common carrier in a plant-safe box.
How Does Sizing Work?
The size of our trees have nothing to do with the container size like you may find elsewhere–big doesn't mean just height - it’s also vigor, age, and overall health.. Other online retailers are going to tell you that a plant is a seven gallon, that means nothing to your tree or plant (or you.)
Our trees for sale online are graded on large, x-large, and even bigger sizes. This is because our trees are sized by their age—the higher the letter, the more mature the tree. The age determines the trees’ overall height, size of the trunk and the overall branch density.
All of these characteristics are what you should be looking for when choosing a tree for immediate impact and instant curb appeal. Our extra-large tree and plant sizes are sure to wow you and your neighbors!
See the size guides below.
