European Oak #1

Colorado

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I quite enjoyed the story you authored of this tree.

The tree is - of course - great in its own right. But for me the story made it all the more special. I’d like to try this storytelling with my own trees at some point.

Thank you for the inspiration.
 

Woocash

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I quite enjoyed the story you authored of this tree.
Agreed and a truly beautiful tree.

@Walter Pall, without wanting to clog your thread up, I notice on several species you refer to them as European such and such instead of by country name and I wondered are there any of those which are thought of as German (or other country) this or that in Germany or elsewhere? When I was younger I often thought it was odd that English oak or English elm were named as such and thought it must be that they were different species to the European ones, especially as we have European Beech etc and not English Beech. Obviously they are the same.
 

rockm

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Agreed and a truly beautiful tree.

@Walter Pall, without wanting to clog your thread up, I notice on several species you refer to them as European such and such instead of by country name and I wondered are there any of those which are thought of as German (or other country) this or that in Germany or elsewhere? When I was younger I often thought it was odd that English oak or English elm were named as such and thought it must be that they were different species to the European ones, especially as we have European Beech etc and not English Beech. Obviously they are the same.
If I may, the "English Oak" is quercus robur. It's also called the "European Oak" as its native range is well beyond the U.K. into Europe to the Caucasus.
 

Walter Pall

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Agreed and a truly beautiful tree.

@Walter Pall, without wanting to clog your thread up, I notice on several species you refer to them as European such and such instead of by country name and I wondered are there any of those which are thought of as German (or other country) this or that in Germany or elsewhere? When I was younger I often thought it was odd that English oak or English elm were named as such and thought it must be that they were different species to the European ones, especially as we have European Beech etc and not English Beech. Obviously they are the same.

That's exactly the reason why I refer to many trees as "European". It would be odd for an Englishman to call it German Oak as we do. It is odd to us to call a tree "Norway Spruce" as this is the most common tree in Germany . "Austrian" black pine hardly exists in Austria of today. We find it very strange to call a pine "Swiss pine" which is all over Europe and also Siberia. There also is not really an "English" elm, it is just a variety of the common European one. About 10000 years ago Britain was part of the European land mass and plants and animals could go freely wherever they wanted. I know that it's very diffult to accept, but Britain is part of Europe geographically. ;)
 

Woocash

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If I may, the "English Oak" is quercus robur. It's also called the "European Oak" as its native range is well beyond the U.K. into Europe to the Caucasus.
Cheers, I know that nowadays, I was just wondering if there were other trees which we or anyone else have claimed which also have large ranges.
 

Woocash

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That's exactly the reason why I refer to many trees as "European". It would be odd for an Englishman to call it German Oak as we do. It is odd to us to call a tree "Norway Spruce" as this is the most common tree in Germany . "Austrian" black pine hardly exists in Austria of today. We find it very strange to call a pine "Swiss pine" which is all over Europe and also Siberia. There also is not really an "English" elm, it is just a variety of the common European one. About 10000 years ago Britain was part of the European land mass and plants and animals could go freely wherever they wanted. I know that it's very diffult to accept, but Britain is part of Europe geographically. ;)
Very true. Thank you sir. I suppose as we have relatively few native species compared to the rest of Europe it’s easy to attribute them to one country or another or to claim them for ourselves. European suits me.
 

SilenceDogwood

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Walter, why don't we see more Oaks for bonsai? They are very powerful and dominating trees in the landscape, you would think they would be dominating the bonsai scene as well.

Your humble servant,
S. Dogwood
 

Walter Pall

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Walter, why don't we see more Oaks for bonsai? They are very powerful and dominating trees in the landscape, you would think they would be dominating the bonsai scene as well.

Your humble servant,
S. Dogwood

Because oaks are painful as bonsai. They are very difficult to collect. More than 50 % of the better ones die when collected form the wild. There are no good oaks from nurseries. Oaks in a bonsai pot are not hardy at all. They will die if not protected very well. Most oaks have foliage that always looks untidy, whatever you do. They have the bad habit of dropping branches without warning. One oak is enough for me, while I have hundreds of hornbeams for example.
 

SilenceDogwood

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Because oaks are painful as bonsai. They are very difficult to collect. More than 50 % of the better ones die when collected form the wild. There are no good oaks from nurseries. Oaks in a bonsai pot are not hardy at all. They will die if not protected very well. Most oaks have foliage that always looks untidy, whatever you do. They have the bad habit of dropping branches without warning. One oak is enough for me, while I have hundreds of hornbeams for example.

Sir, thank you for the response. I suppose growing from acorn/seed or air-layering might solve the collection/nursery issue, but I didn't realize they were not stable in a containerized environment. Have you seen this across other oak species as well, or just with the European Oak?

Your humble servant,
S. Dogwood
 

rockm

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Sir, thank you for the response. I suppose growing from acorn/seed or air-layering might solve the collection/nursery issue, but I didn't realize they were not stable in a containerized environment. Have you seen this across other oak species as well, or just with the European Oak?

Your humble servant,
S. Dogwood
Oaks CAN be all of that--but Europe is very limited in native oak species. It has 22 species, but quercus robur is the most common.

It's a VERY different story here in the U.S. North America (particularly Mexico and the Southern/Southwestern U.S.) are the global jackpot for oak species. There are 58 species of oak in North America. Depends on where you are what species is around. Some of the oaks being dug out of the southwest are particularly promising and just beginning to be tried. Walter's remark about painful collection is still pretty accurate. Bonsai Oaks of a variety of species are becoming common in the U.S. I have two species--quercus fusiformis (escarpment live oak) and quercus grisea (grey oak) that I've been working on for some time now. Leaves reduce reliably, both very hardy and tough in containers. Both over 200 years old...
 
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Igor. T. Ljubek

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I notice on several species you refer to them as European such and such instead of by country name
From Wikipedia: "Quercus robur, commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak"
 

John P.

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Beautiful tree. Interesting choice to keep the canopy so compact; seems like a broader canopy might be more oak-like. Either way, very nice.
 
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