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.

This is the 2nd smallest tree in that area Beng. The other is the Scarlet oak, but it is close to the neighbors corn and eggplant or squash plants, so blended in, I guess. Dax, try Tuesday afternoon, Moddy blues. I was born in 1970, that is close to when the song was put out, but I love that song. Nice relaxing song..... I am happy I protected the lower trunk of this Burr oak. I would imagine deer had been around when the tree was really small. There are lots of little apples near this tree, on an apple tree of course. They are small and insect ridden, but when did deer become particular? Now that I think about it there are 3 smaller oaks in the vacinity, 2 Willow oaks and a Swamp Chestnut oak.

In any case, to answer one of the original questions - yes, you can limb it up. I would remove no more than a third - a quarter might be better - of the total leaf canopy at any one time - you don't have to, and probably shouldn't, do it all at any one time in any one year. So you might have to resign yourself to struggling with the riding mower for another few years. Widening the soon-to-be mulch circle might make it easier to mow - any more grass can be killed with Round-up or smothered with flattened cardboard or 4-6 sheets of black-ink newspaper under the mulch. Don't apply the mulch any deeper than 4", and put no mulch in the inch or so next to the trunk. Removing branches now might invite bugs/borers to move in, so I might wait until the fall/winter to decide what to cut off. Follow the usual good pruning practices - sharp tools; clean cuts, flush with the branch collar; and leave no stubs.

Suzzque, if you catch the seedlings before they get more than 10 or 12 inches tall, you can easily dig them up and replant them. They will not have extended their roots yet and more than likely you will find the young root still encapsulated in the acorn. Replant acorn and all. I have had good luck doing this many times. You wont hurt the big tree roots at all at this point....................................................... KOSSETX, send me an e-mail. I have 9 acorns on hand that are a couple of years old. I believe that they are still viable. The tree is located 80 miles from where I live now and I do not know when I will next get out that way. If you e-mail me your address, I will snail mail them to you. If they do not root for you, I may be able to get my brother to mail you some as he lives about 5 miles from the tree. Either way we can work something out. Billy