DescriptionPlanting InstructionsAfter CareDelivery & GuaranteeReviews(1)
Bareroot British Oak Plants - Delivered by Mail Order from the Nursery with a 1 Year Guarantee
The British Oak, Quercus robur is a large, slow growing native tree with a stout trunk and a round, fairly low canopy when it is grown in the open. It prefers a moist soil and it doesn't tolerate strongly acidic or alkaline sites.
English Oak is not suitable for a clipped hedge. It is a good tree for tall windbreaks and screening, up to about 25 metres high.
The plants on this page are young saplings. You can also buy larger English Oak trees here.
Browse all of our other varieties of Oak here.
English Oak plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).
Choosing a size: When you are ordering a large quantity of English Oak for a big planting project, we suggest that you buy smaller plants. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and more likely to cope well with poor conditions. All our young trees and shrubs are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).
General description of Quercus robur plants:
Botanical names: Quercus robur, Quercus pedunculata Common Names: British Oak, English Oak, Common Oak, Pedunculate Oak
Oak leaves are very distinctive, with irregular, wavy lobes. They turn brown and muddy yellow in autumn, which makes a good backdrop for other trees with more vivid autumn colour. The short strings of flowers are quite inconspicuous, appearing at the same time as the new leaf shoots. The flowers develop into green acorns that take over a year to mature and turn brown, usually leaving behind the little "cup" that attached them to the tree when they fall.
English Oaks are probably the single best tree for supporting wildlife. Their leaves are eaten by more types of caterpillar than any other British tree and the deeply ridged bark of the old trees is an excellent home for many other insects. The acorns are a rich source of energy for larger animals that are trying to fatten up during autumn.
History & uses of Quercus robur
Their familiar looking leaves are used as the National Trust's logo. A durable hardwood tree, Oak was one of the most important timber trees before tropical hardwoods became widely available in Europe. The quality of oak's timber is determined very much by the soil it grows on. Oak trees that grow on poor, acidic soil with high sand or gravel content tend to have the worst timber, developing internal cracks known as shakes. It has been speculated that the oldest Oak trees in Britain (some are about 1,000 years old) are found on poor soil because they weren't worth cutting down for their wood. Quercus was the Roman word for Oak and robur means hard and strong, as in robust.
Notes on planting English Oak:
English Oak will grow on most sites with reasonable drainage and prefers slightly damp, slightly acidic soils. It will not grow well if the site is too acidic, such as on peat, or too alkaline, such as on shallow chalk or limestone. Oak will grow in quite damp places and tolerates seasonal waterlogging. Mature trees are also drought hardy. It is suitable for planting in moderately fertile sites near the sea.
Oak Hedging & Hedgerow Trees:
The deciduous oaks are not used for hedges, but they are often planted in or beside hedges as hedgerow trees and allowed to grow to full size.
The oak we recommend for planting as a normal hedge is the evergreen Holm Oak.
Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you intend to plant several months in advance. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and a glyphosate based weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.
If you have a heavy clay soil, it might be too difficult to dig over for most of the year. Heavy clay is fertile soil, so you don't really need to improve it; killing the weeds is still necessary.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.
Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a protective plastic spiral for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.
After you plant your English Oak trees, the most important thing to do is water them in dry weather. If you didn't use mulch of some kind, you will also need to weed around the plants. Both of these will be necessary for at least a year after planting.
Special notes on caring for English Oak:
Oak is a very tough plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If pruning is necessary, it is best do it in winter. Always hire a tree surgeon to remove large branches.
Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.
Read our full terms and conditions here.
Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £9.49 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
You can choose the delivery week that suits you during checkout and we will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.
Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.
Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.
Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.
Just a quick note to say how impressed we were with the oak trees and the native hedging plants! We planted them a couple of days after delivery and cannot wait to see them start to bud and green up in spring time. The roots looked really healthy and they were delivered and packed excellently!
D & J Ebsary,Jan 2012
Your 12 Month Guarantee
If any of the plants that you buy from our nursery die within a year of delivery, we will replace them.
You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
We do ask for clear photos of the plants in the soil, both taking in the planting area and close up. These will help us to work out what went wrong so we can give you the right advice for looking after your replacements.
The most important thing to do with establishing plants is to water them in dry weather. Water very thoroughly, but not too frequently: allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry out before you water again. In hot summer weather, this should mean that you are watering 1 to 3 times per week, depending on your site's drainage and exposure to wind and sun.
If there is heavy rain, that counts as a watering for your plants. If there is only very light rain during hot weather, this probably won't be of much use to your plants and they will still need watering.
Weeding is also very important; we strongly recommend using a mulch mat (for trees) or mulch fabric (for hedges) if weeding your new plants will be impractical.
Outside your 1 Year Guarantee period?
If your plants die or get sick after their first year, you are still welcome to take some photos and send them in: we will still be happy to give you what advice we can.
We can't make any promises, but if you want to buy replacements from us, give us a call and we'll see if we can arrange a discount for you.
Place an order for £250 excluding VAT and delivery and we deliver it for FREE!
Bare-root Plants are only delivered in the winter season, from November to March. Pot grown plants can be delivered all year round
Advantages of Bare-root plants:
You pay less for the same size plants.
You can carry and plan them easily.
You only plant them in winter, so they need less maintenance after
planting. The rain will water them for their first few months.
You get the biggest selection: Many trees are not sold pot-grown.
They are "asleep" in winter - this is the best time to transplant any tree.
They use fewer fertilisers & fungicides, less water and fuel in their production & delivery.
Advantages of Pot Grown plants:
Pot grown plants can be delivered & planted all year round.
Plants with tender roots & larger specimens must be delivered in pots.
Plants in pots can be kept for months longer if there is a delay in planting.
Our Advice to You:
If you can't wait to get planting, order Pot grown plants now.
If you are not in a hurry, order bare-root plants for delivery this winter. Simply add them to your basket and choose a winter delivery date that suits you during checkout.
This will reserve your plants before they sell out.
We won't charge you until the day before delivery, so cancelling your order is always easy.
If you are only ordering chemicals and other small items, delivery is £3.50
Our delivery charge for most bareroot plants is £9.49 + VAT.
If your order contains any standard sized trees, fruit trees or pot-grown plants, then the delivery charge is £12.55 + VAT in TOTAL.
If you live in the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Wight, there will be an extra charge of £15 + VAT on top of the appropriate basic charge, as listed above.
If your order is over £250 exc. VAT, there will be no delivery charge.
If you are uncertain, just add items to your basket which will calculate the basic shipping charge for you.
