how big was the rootball on a 4 inch tree????

and what does this mean ===>>>> Free till it lives then $165

if it means you pay only if it lives.. i would argue that i would pay.. when it produces leaves to type.. not retards ...

was this planted professionally ..

ken

Planted by me. The quote from the tree farm was you can pay me in a year when you know it will live. Rootball seemed small to me 30 inches across 24 inches deep.

Back to my questions. Is this expected and what should I look for?

So if all is well the tree will hold these small leaves all summer, then put out larger ones next spring? Will I see evidence of buds forming this fall before winter or will I not know till next spring? Should I not expect the leaves to grow anymore this year? Any idea how much water this thing will need. It's hard to tell moisture levels 2 feet down.

What you see in leaves is IMO is all your going to get for this summer. I would expect it to set buds during the summer, the same as it normally would, but that does not mean it will leaf out next spring. It's a positive sign, but I don't think it's out of the woods yet at that point. Sometimes they can still fail from lack of reserves, and even if it does leaf out, a late freeze that kills the new leaves could be a fatal blow. As for moisture, I will reference what Ken says on that one. The finger test is probable best. Stick you finger into the root ball 1-2 inches. If it feels moist and cool, check again tomorrow. If it is dry or hot, then water, and check again tomorrow. As it gets hotter, it will almost certainly need more water, but then decrease again next fall. After a while, you'll figure out how often and how much you need to water so that it becomes easier. FWIW, I'll be doing the same with our Scarlet Oak. Did all the branches leaf out, was there tip death, or did all the buds push out new leaves?

Arktrees

It leafed out everywhere from top to bottom. Not sure if every single bud opened but there are no bare spots. The problem is that the leaves are only 3" long so the tree almost looks bare still. Ive been fighting the wind keeping this rootball still in the hole. It's so big with 40mph winds we get in OK it was tough. I have wires from 10 ft up to the ground 10 feet or more away from the tree so I think it is still enough now to get some roots growing out without getting severed.

I had three trees do that at my previous house (dwarfed leaves due to insufficent root mass). Its year two so I plan to do a driveby once they all leaf out to see if they prospered or not.

They include:
Quercus bicolor
Carpinus caroliniana
Tilia tomentosa

Well that it filled out is probable a good sign. Also 3" leaves under the circumstance is IMHO not too bad. I had envisioned 1" leaves. Sounds like you got staking in hand. About the only thing left is to keep close tabs on the watering. First summer will be the toughest, then it will get easier after that. BTW, you might post a picture so that we can be more confident that I'm not "full of it" so to speak. But it sounds like things aren't so bad.

Arktrees

I'll post some pics in the morning. After closer inspection, the largest leaves are about 3 inches and some are smaller, but I think it is still opening new buds so the leaves may still be growing.

If you can keep it well-watered, you'll likely see a second flush of leaf growth/shoot extension later in the summer - bur oak is famous for that - but as others have indicated, what you've currently got may be all you're gonna get for this year.

Personally, I'm not all that pessimistic about your tree's chances for success. I hand-dig and transplant - bare-root - 2" bur oaks on a regular basis, with pretty good survival rates - and they rarely get any aftercare. They're tough trees.

I grow these things from acorns in 5 gal pots. Use blackland topsoil in pots to slow roots down somewhat. They are usually about 12" high after 1st summer and I'm lucky if the roots actually stayed in the pot. Cannot imagine a 4" diameter bur oak with the small root system you describe. The tree will not grow an inch until the root system is happy that may take 3-5 years. Good luck.

Here are the pics. What do you think?

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Those look like immature leaves to me. They should get larger. Give it some time :) If they still look like that at the end of this month, they may be stunted for this year. That is gonna be a beautiful tree in the next decade or two if it survives the next couple of years.

Oh yeah- WATCH OUT FOR SPIDERS lol

It looks like the leaves are still expanding some, but that sure isn't allot of leaf surface for that size tree. What others had to say about transplanting Burr's is encouraging, but I still don't believe you will know for sure until next spring. Get by the next two years, and it should be fine. Maybe someone here with Burr Oak experience can add more. One thing you might do is measure the caliper at a set point, and keep a record for comparison. It should add caliper once it begins to recover, often before you see much in way of top growth. Nearly all of our trees that had any real size when planted, added a good deal of caliper the year BEFORE they started growing normally again.

Arktrees

Stay on top of the water, especially this summer, but don't overwater. You can kill some trees easily overwatering as well as underwatering. I bought a bur that size 4 years ago, and if I can find the watering instructions that I used, I'll post them for you. Mine was 4" caliper, and came in a 45 gallon bucket. Bur oak is a very hardy native, and that's the only reason yours is not dead already. Give it some TLC and it will reward you and your neighbors' offspring for many years to come. Remove the stakes after one growing season. The stakes will weaken the tree if the trunk is not allowed to naturally sway in the wind. Make sure the root flair is exposed...this is very important for the long term health and overall vigor of the tree. If the root flair is underground, carefully expose it and remove any roots that are girdling the trunk. Finally, apply mulch - 3 inches - all around the base of the tree out to the drip line. Compost, shredded leaves or shredded cedar are all good choices. The idea of the mulch is to promote tree roots to grow out, aid in moisture retention of the soil, and help prevent competition from surrounding grass and weeds. The tree will take awhile (up to 3 years) to fully establish, but you will see the leaves get larger and more numerous every year. After 3 years the tree will not need any more help from you and should make it fine on its own.
Just for comparison, my tree only had 5 or 6 acorns it's first year in the ground. The next year, 25. Last year, over a 100 (but less than 200). So far the acorns have never been a problem because the squirrels eat every single one in November...it only took a couple of days.

5 years later, I am reading this post! About to plant a large bur oak. Thanks for the posts! Would love to hear an update as to how the tree looks now and any other tips!

It did not make it through the summer. Lost leaves mid summer. I replaced it with a pin oak that's doing well.

I have the opportunity to purchase 8 foot burr oaks for $30 or less per tree. Is it too big to transplant and what type of root system is there with this size of tree? What would be the chance of survival for ones this large. They are to be gotten once the frost is out of the ground

probably should have been a new post ... early spring is the best oak planting time ...

where are you.. source??? ... etc ...

will they be bare root???

ken

pic of a cherry i moved in my yard... ken

The trees are from a nursery some lady purchase about 12 miles from our home. She has other plans for the farm... They are all still under the snow as of yet so will have to wait until the ground thaws. We live in the Shuswap part of BC (Salmon Arm) so probably a zone 5. Do the roots need to be pruned according to another neighbor that had a nursery on the coast. She stated to ask these following questions.. Where they from seed or grafted? (if a seed has fallen then started to grow, it
may have a long tap root making it harder to transplant if it was a grafted
tree, root stocks are sometimes special to a specific area. Have they been root
pruned? (A year or two before you plan to dig the tree up, you dig around the
tree forming a ‘root ball’ cutting the old roots so new roots will form,
hopefully less stress on the tree. . I doubt they were just seedlings as she sted there are approx 500 various trees they are wanting to get rid of on the tree farm. She stated they would be professionally groomed before selling and I wouldn’t buy it until it flushes (leaf buds) as it could be hard to tell if
its alive. Thanks Ken, all the help is more then welcome too