English Oak

English oak is the oak of history, the species whose timber built the British navy, framed medieval cathedrals, and provided the structural wood for half the great buildings of Europe. In the landscape, it grows as a massive, broad-crowned shade tree with a short, stout trunk and heavy, wide-spreading branches. The leaves are smaller and less deeply lobed than American oaks, with a classic rounded-lobe silhouette. It grows forty to seventy feet, though specimens in England exceed a hundred feet. Native across Europe.

In Western Washington, English oak is one of the most commonly planted oaks in the region, the mild, maritime climate resembles its native British Isles habitat. 'Fastigiata' is the columnar form, useful for streetscapes and formal plantings where a vertical accent is needed. The species form develops a wide, spreading crown that needs significant space. Powdery mildew is the most common disease, a gray-white coating on leaves and new growth during wet weather. It is largely cosmetic on established trees. For a long-lived, monumental shade tree that connects the Western Washington landscape to a European heritage, English oak thrives here as well as it does anywhere in the world.