How Fast Do Oak Trees Grow? | Tennessee Wholesale Nursery

How fast do oak trees grow? Most add about 1 to 3 feet a year once their roots settle. Red-group oaks such as pin, willow and northern red oak are fastest. White and bur oaks are slower, often 12 to 18 inches a year. In year one, a seedling grows mostly roots, not height.

Tennessee Wholesale Nursery is a family-owned wholesale nursery in Altamont, Tennessee, near McMinnville, growing trees, shrubs, perennials, wetland and native plants. Our red oak seedlings come 6 to 24 inches tall, so this guide starts where your tree starts. In year one, a young oak may add only 6 to 13 inches on top while it builds a deep taproot, the thick main root that anchors it. Once the roots settle, height comes faster, and healthy fast-growing oaks often reach 15 to 20 feet in 10 to 15 years. You can browse every oak in our seedlings collection.

How fast do oak trees grow from seedling, and how to help

1. Start with a small bare-root seedling

Smaller, younger oaks usually settle in faster than big transplants. An oak puts down a long taproot early, and digging up a large tree cuts much of it away. A seedling 6 to 24 inches tall keeps more of its root system whole. Our Red Oak Seedlings come in that range, bare-root and ready for planting.

Tip: White oak is hard to move once it is big, so plant it young.

2. Match a fast species to your site

Pin oak and willow oak are both rated rapid growers, but they want different ground. Pin oak needs moist, rich, acid soil that drains well, and it struggles in high-pH soil. Willow oak thrives in wet-to-moist acid soil, handles some drought and needs full sun. Choose Pin Oak Seedlings or Willow Oak Seedlings to suit your soil. An oak in the wrong soil slows down.

Tip: Plant willow oak while it is dormant, in late winter.

3. Give it full sun and bare ground

Oaks grow best in full sun, which means at least six hours of direct light a day. Grass and weeds compete hard for water near a young tree. Keep a wide circle around the trunk clear, and cover it with mulch. Pull the mulch back so it does not touch the stem, which helps keep the bark dry.

Tip: Woodchips, bark or compost all work as mulch.

4. Water deeply through the first summers

A new oak's roots are still short, so dry spells hit it hardest in its first few years. Water deeply rather than often, so the soil stays moist but never waterlogged. Deep soaking pushes roots down to follow the water. Check the soil with a finger before you water. Once the taproot is established, height growth usually speeds up.

Fast oaks versus slow oaks, species by species

Oaks fall into two broad groups, and the split explains most of the speed gap. The red oak group includes pin, willow, northern red, southern red and cherrybark oak, and it tends to grow faster. The Clemson Home & Garden Information Center rates pin oak at about 18 inches a year and puts willow oak at about 25 feet in 12 years. The white oak group is slower: Clemson gives white oak 10 to 15 feet in 10 to 12 years, and bur oak often adds 12 to 18 inches a year. Slow does not mean worse, since a white oak can reach 50 to 100 feet tall. For shade sooner, plant Southern Red Oak Seedlings or Cherrybark Oak Seedlings. If you can wait, White Oak Seedlings and the Burr Oak Seedling grow into broad, long-lived trees.

Care and keeping: Bare-root oaks need moist roots from the moment they arrive. Keep the roots damp and out of the sun until they are in the ground. Set the root crown level with the soil surface, in a hole about twice as wide as the roots. Then follow our planting instructions for the full steps.

Frequently asked questions

How quickly do live oak trees grow?

Live oaks usually grow about 1 to 2 feet a year. Much of their energy goes into wide, sweeping branches rather than height. That puts them between the fast red oaks and the slower white oaks. If you want height fast, pin and willow oak are rated rapid growers.

How to care for an oak sapling?

Plant it in full sun, in soil that drains well. Water deeply during dry spells for the first few years, so the soil stays moist but not soggy. Keep grass and weeds away from the trunk and mulch the area, leaving a gap at the stem. Add a stake only if wind rocks the young tree.

Are oak trees difficult to grow?

Most are not, if you start small. Clemson rates pin oak as easy to transplant and grow, and willow oak transplants easily while dormant. White oak is harder to move, so plant it young. A bare-root Red Oak Tree at 1 to 4 feet is another easy start.

The figures below are for young trees in good conditions: full sun, moist soil that drains well and little competition. They are rounded so you can compare them. Poor soil, shade or drought slows any of them down.