higgledy wrote:
David,
Thanks for the advice. I will try it because I have several other
seedlings to replace one. What time of year is best to top my seedling?
Higgledy


First, let the oak grow almost like a shrub, with multiple stems. This
is the way many seedling oaks grow. Allow it to grow this way for 3-5
years, until the stems are at least as thick as broom sticks.

Then, when the stems are stiff, select one to keep (generally, the most
upright of them). In the late winter or early spring (depending on your
climate), head the stem you are keeping and remove the others. The best
time is while the tree is dormant, about 4 weeks before new buds break.
Live oaks and other evergreen oaks do go dormant in that they seem to
stop growing; cut these about 4 weeks before new growth resumes.

Although oaks are considered slow to grow, a young oak can grow 3-4 feet
a year. Even at that pace, getting a full grown tree from an acorn
takes much patience. It is almost 30 years since I picked up the acorn
that is now the oak near my driveway. The trunk is now over 18 inches
in diameter at chest height. The tree is about 30 feet tall with a much
wider branch spread. A sapling from an acorn from this tree is in a
nearby park. (The ash tree in my back yard is about 5 years older. Its
trunk is almost 3 feet diameter -- twice the oak's diameter -- and is
about 50 feet high. But long after the ash tree is firewood, the oak
will still be considered young.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/