If I had to pick from only those three, I'd go with the willow oak but they really don't have a spreading canopy anything like live oak. In old age, they have a rounded canopy but I guess that's a start.

Why don't you do something neat like plant some elms there. An allee of disease resistant elms. That would be neater IMO than some coastal species struggling in the cold.

Something also occurred to be just now that if you use cultivars of lacebark elm with a spreading habit such as drake and athena I, you can not only have your cake, you can eat it in your lifetime.

thanks so much for the response! what a wonderful idea. I never really have seen many elms, or have taken notice but looked up the variety you mentioned and like you said it seems to have the best of both worlds. Maybe not as far reaching as the live oak but shorter like it and equal length of branching. Thanks so much.

If anyone else has experience, however, with live oaks in 7a please voice opinion. Otherwise, elm might be my choice!

i think now i am leaning away from the chinese elm. guess i don't like it's "asian" weeping look. i'd like to stick to native plants to the us. i'm right on the border for live oaks...any suggestions out there, anyone else planted the live oak in central NC? I know for a fact theres a 33 year old specimen (min.) in Raleigh.

what would you think about laurel oaks lined on the drive way for the "chareleston effect". apparently, they grow quick too.

I'd do willow oak. I think once established and if the trees aren't limbed up you can get the same effect. Perhaps pin oaks may be a good option too since their limbs arch to the ground?

Please don't do a deciduous oak! Sorry, but I'm biased. If you want a true southern look, stick with something evergreen, or at least tardily deciduous.

I am growing live oaks (Q. virginiana) in my back yard in zone 7a up here in Northern VA. They are still very small, but they have withstood 0 degrees F already and were maybe only 25% defoliated. However, we live in a development, not out in the open. So I would say an open 7a with a lot of wind might be just a bit risky. Also, you might see some bark split.

That said, there are other ever-/semi-evergreen oaks you could try. Darlington/Laurel oak is more upright and will begin to defoliate around 10 degrees. So in that regard it is tardily deciduous, at least up here in No. VA. It has a more upright form than Southern live oak.

Another one you could try would be Chinese Evergreen Oak (Quercus myrsinifolia). These shouldn't defoliate until maybe 0 - 5 degrees in an open, windy situation. They can be a bit more spreading. They are considered hardier than Southern Live Oak.

Also, I saw a beautiful driveway in Williamsburg lined with Southern Magnolia trees. Just gorgeous and very 'Southern'. So I would consider those too! Very hardy AND evergreen.

...also I just wanted to mention that apparently provinance matters with live oaks. My live oaks were started from acorns of more Northern growing trees. I collected these in this area and some from the Williamsburg area. I probably would not plant a live oak tree in my area that had been raised in Florida.

I'd probably go with Willow Oak. I believe they would be more dependable and they have a fast growth rate. Where I lived in north Louisisana, most of them retained some leaves thru-out the winter, both green and yellow, so they're not entirely bare. In summer, it can be difficult telling them apart from Live Oak at a distance.

Here's an idea... plant them all.

would the texas live oak be better, i thought i read that they can survive in Oklahoma and up to 6a climate zone. anyone know where I can order them instead of going to texas to get them? will they grow very fast or is it a waste of time to get these due to growth rate?

Whatever you do, make certain you plant an oak that will do well in your area.

Oaks have a very solid wood and become very heavy trees. If they fall, whatever is in their path is destroyed.

Some idiot planted Pin Oaks throughout my neighborhood years ago. They are now fully mature, enormous trees...and the roots are starting to fail because of the moisture in my area.

One day I returned home to find that the oak belonging to the neighbor across the street had fallen across the street and into my front yard, destroying several of my garden ornaments, bending my garden arch with one small branch,and breaking off branches of the tree in front of my house. Had I not been out in my car, it would have totaled it, and had it reached to my house we would have lost our roof.

Oaks are supposed to have a very deep tap root, and I never expected one to fall like that.

Many Oaks do have tap roots when young. Some have larger tap roots than others, but with age the tap root tends to be replaced by spreading roots only a few feet deep.

Escarpment(Texas) Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis) is indeed fully hardy to zone 6 and is native into Oklahoma. It tends to be a smaller growing tree than Southern Live Oak(Q. virginiana) and its growth rate is about 1' per year or so depending on local conditions and weather, etc. I've got several thriving here in Eastern Kansas. They've been in the ground for about 15 years now and have never had a problem with winter temps or die-back. They did lose about 1/3 of their leaves one winter when the temp went down to about -10ºF. The problem is in finding them. The only place I've seen them for sale of any size is in Oklahoma and Texas. I don't know of any mail-order nursery that sells them either.

As far as which Oak to go with, I kind of prefer the Darlington(Laurel) Oak (Q. hemisphaerica) if you don't think Southern Live Oak will work for you. It's also evergreen and is a bit hardier than Southern Live Oak, although it doesn't have the same growth habit. It is a faster grower also. It's main draw backs might be a little shorter lived and weaker wooded than your other choices, but that's relative to other Oaks. Bamboo Leaved Oak (Q. myrsinifolia) might be a good choice also, but it is a bit smaller growing than your other choices. It is completely evergreen and completely hardy in your climate though.