Yes, they definitely get iron deficiency (well, it's there, but soil chemistry won't let them take it up) chlorosis quite a lot in higher pH soils.

I can only speculate as to "why" -- cheap and easy to produce because its a very fast grower.

there is a tree farm in mansfield OH that will sell you any kind of oak you want.. and hosta too ...

google wade and gatton tree farm.. i did it for you, link below .. their presence on the web is in regard to the hosta biz.. but i am sure they will talk about oaks ...

do understand.. that this is not the best time to be planting trees in OH ... fall or spring is prime ...

back in 2000 april i got a bunch of oaks.. 6 to 8 foot bare root .. and they are going on 30 plus feet tall today ...

i got red, scarlet, shingle, and black ... seems like there was another.. but i am blanking right now ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I feel stupid... but what's the "NR Oak"???

NR = northern red (Quercus rubra).

At least around here, NRO is a favorite of some combination of leaf eating insects. They pick over rubra pretty hard while falcata and palustris are nearly untouched. The few on my property are certainly in decline while the last two years drought was MUCH harder on the red oak side than the white. With the warming trend, I suppose NRO may have its range shifted out of the River Valley some day.

And there is the fast growth and easier to transplant thingies that matter to some (most) people.

John

speed of growth and ease of transplant. also it's hard to say that lowes and hd are picky..they don't want ao many of this tree or that tree as they want so many trees...so when your inventory is long...you get rid of what you got...and while you may complain about the perceived low quality on selection...i notice you also aren't touting the local independent garden center.

+ uniform shape and good fall color. People just buy em up.

I can tell you why Q. rubra isn't as popular...oak wilt.

In my area SW Pa there are greenhouses that are big on perennials and the super common flowering trees. They don't care to stock anything other than super common trees and only a few oaks. I got most of my oaks from mail order. About 5 years ago or more, Lowes got some Willow oak, Shumard oak, Nuttals oak and Sawtooth oak amd I bought a bunch of the Nuttals and a few of the others. They were from the Mossy oaks natives farm in Luoisiana or Mississippi. Ever since just pin and the occasional NRO. I guess they figure everybody wants little trees with showy flowers for their small yards?

Sorry, The pin oak has great fall color and gets big fast, as previously stated. It is a beautiful tree, it has that unique form. But mail order nurseries have helped me obtain all the oaks I have. That may be where you'll have to go.

For me, pin oak has become a tree I will never plant because I could go to just about any park or even the neighbors yard and find them in various stages of growth. Why dedicate some of my yard for one? I admit it has interesting form but I HATE the downward arching branches after it has been pruned...

John

Around here pin oak holds it's leaves all winter - dead brown leaves all winter. I suppose it may give some measure of privacy in a small space, but it just looks depressing.

And sawtooth oak is not native - I don't know why they sell it when we have so many good native oaks.

I've noticed that some Pin's hold their leaves much of the winter, while others just... don't. Weird. Usually the immature ones do, but some grow out of it while others just don't. It does seem like the ones who normally hold their green foliage late are the ones most likely to hold onto the dead leaves later. But that perception may be based on limited examples.

Anyway, Pin's seem to have more reliable fall foliage than Northern Red. Plus, they generally have a more formal form until well into maturity. Despite the low hanging branches, people tend to like that.

Unfortunately, many oaks, Pin included, are getting wiped out by bacterial leaf scorch in NJ. Including a 70 year old in my parents' yard. I'm not happy about that, but in another few years it will have to come down. Its starting to lose significant portions of its crown. :(

The desirability of holding (or shedding) dead brown leaves from deciduous trees in winter seems to vary amongst people. I prefer the dead leaf holding (e.g.: pin & Shumark oaks). To me, while large masses of dead brown leaves don't match the glory of the summer green, they at least look better than that barren, skeletal 'everything looks dead' look I associate with winter.

Richard.

The brown leaves in winter also make a nice rustling sound in the chilly winds. It makes the season a little less barren.

Pin oaks do angle their lower branches to poke your eye out, no matter how many low branches you prune, they will just angle the remaining ones lower, to get you.

Is Oak Wilt a problem here in Ohio? I didn't realize it was. I'm guessing Northern Red Oak is more susceptible?

I wouldn't mind a Pin Oak if I weren't scared of chlorosis....heavily clay soil around here and I don't think they'd do super great in those conditions, but then again, I see many pin oaks that are doing just fine. I just personally prefer the leaves on the NR Oak

I see plenty of Pins growing naturally in heavy clay in bottomlands in NJ... they don't appear to have any chlorosis problems. I thought chlorosis was only a problem for Pin Oaks in alkaline soil.

I've seen a few pin oaks with decent to good fall color, but not many around here. Muddy red going quickly to brown, if not just straight to brown.
I did collect some acorns from a north AL specimen, located not far from our friend rhizo1(hey, cuz'n D!) a few years back, that had excellent red fall color, rivaling that of the scarlet oaks growing on the same property.
They're a nurseryman's dream, to some degree - easy to propagate from acorns, grow rapidly, transplant readily as a sizeable specimen.

Not my favorite oak, though - but I do like 'em better than willow oak. The downswept, eye-poking limbs that impede pedestrian traffic are often whacked off to make a lollipop tree - and then, the lowest branches sweep down, necessitating further pruning-up.
Pin oaks were planted almost as a monoculture as 'street trees' and in residential yards here in my little burg, throughout the 70s-80s-90s(along with the callery pears), so now they're succumbing to a widespread combined attack of gouty/horned limb/branch galls and bacterial leaf scorch. Been watching nice 40-yr old trees all up and down the major thoroughfares here in town decline, one by one, over a 5-7 year period until they're taken down.

I guess if I had to pick 1 tree, Pin oak may not be it. The drooping lower branches look graceful, but are a pain, especially if you gouge your eye out. Every fall I prune off a tier.

Now that you have one eye is that why you are poaky?
Sorry, bad joke!

I'm in the camp that enjoys the leaves on the trees in the winter. Gives it more interest. I have two columnar varieties that hold onto their leaves...can't wait for them to get bigger!