Our Blog

We’re sharing our best tips, tricks, projects, resources and inspiration to help you achieve landscape & gardening success.

Crimson Spire Oak

Crimson Spire Oak is the stuff dreams are made of. That’s a bold statement, we know, so let us present the evidence:

Crimson Spire (a hybrid between English oak and native white oak) has fantastic foliage. Rich green leaves densely cover the tree in summer and turn a rusty to bright red in mid fall. The color is so good that even maples might feel a little inadequate in Crimson Spire’s presence. Have a look at Exhibit A:

Crimson Spire oak
Exhibit A: Crimson Spire Oak in the fall is a thing of beauty. Photo Courtesy of J. Frank Schmidt

In addition to the awesome fall color, this tree is an adaptable grower suited to streetscapes, urban environments, and less than ideal sites. Quality soil will make it even happier. It has a good growth rate for an oak and won’t take long to make an impact in the landscape. 

“That’s all well and good,” you might be thinking, “but I don’t have room for an oak tree.” 

Oh, but you do! You have room for a Crimson Spire.  They have a narrow habit, reaching about 45 feet tall and 15 feet wide, so it’s easy to fit them into landscapes big or small. They make a stately screen in a row or a marvelous vertical accent in a planting bed. To see a young Crimson Spire already displaying a nice columnar habit, take a look at Exhibit B:

Crimson Spire columnar oak
Exhibit B: Crimson Spire’s handsome narrow habit puts a smile on Bernie’s face.
Why are oaks so great?

Oaks like Crimson Spire are powerhouse trees. They are top notch in terms of carbon sequestration and few other trees support such a diverse array of creature activity. For those interested in gardening to support wildlife, oaks should be high on the list of desirables. We have a wide variety of oaks to choose from including white, red, bur, swamp white, Northern pin, and a plethora of hybrids.

Want to know more about why oaks are so great? Have a look at this New York Times article featuring etymologist Doug Tallamy for an introduction to the wonderful world of oaks. Here’s a teaser from the article:

“Oaks support more life-forms than any other North American tree genus…” 

Case closed.