I planted a swamp white oak 18 months ago. Was just under 5' tall container, mail order from Forest Farm. I had read that swamp whites are slow growers, but mine has been very vigorous. I think buying small is a good strategy because the 10' B&B's at the garden centers will stare at your for a couple years before taking off and require a lot more watering. This guy will catch up with the bigger ones. I just watered mine weekly during the first summer, but did not water at all the second year. Generously mulched w/ leaf compost. Grew like crazy. I had to re-establish the central leader due to heavy deer browsing. After protecting, it easily put on 2-3 feet in height and a ton of density in the second summer. The trunk really bulked up quickly too. Looks like a winner. Fall color is better than expected, kind of a pale orange. In an area like NE Ohio, which is often pretty wet but also goes through some dry spells, swamp whites seem to thrive. Unlike a lot of oaks, they can supposedly handle wet or dry. Northern reds seem to prefer somewhat drier sites. Of course, Northern Reds are still very good trees. If you are dealing with wetness and/or clay soils, an alternative is the Nuttalli. They have the best form of the reds from what I have seen around here and are starting to gain traction. Guy Sternberg developed a nice cultivar (New Madrid) that you can buy mail-order. Just got one of those too.

if i had to do it .... i would get a pot.. and some cactus mix.. and transplant it ASAP ... and get it accustomed to the pot.. before the long drive home. and then i would put the pot in full shade and not plant it in mother earth.. until the leaves fall off ... trees do not like regular high peat media... it can hold too much water .. they like a drink and near total drainage ... even to be dry for a day or two .. before wetting again .... but in a small pot.. dont let the pot get too hot.. nor too dry.. while holding the plant over ... even if you have to stick the pot in the soil.. to temper august heat ... but dont shock it twice.. by digging it up.. then transporting it .. and then immediately replanting it... wait.. thats three shocks... and on the drive home.. no stopping for 12 afternoon drinks.. and leaving your pet tree in a closed car on the parking lot... crikey.. traveling with plants is worse than kids.. you just cant leave them in a closed locked car ... lol ... make sense...?? someone else can ID it for you .. but why not practice regardless... good luck.. let us know how it works out ... ken ps: i was told .. long ago.. its hard to ID oak babes.. as mature leaf form is better for ID ....but it sure does look like a swamper to my untrained eye ....

Ken_Adrian I wanted "white oaks" for deer hunting. No nursery around sold them. So the next best option was what I did and the only white oak they sold. (only 30 bucks for 100 trees). I guess I didnt mention that I did loose some during the first year which I was expecting. The bare root sapling I got from the "state" were planted in pots for a year then tranplanted around the property. I kept around 10 for spare which I have only 2 left after replacing the ones that didnt make it. Its intersting to see that some of the saplings are 3' tall while others are less than 1'. I am probably over anxious and if I loose a few here and there, its what I expected. I just dont want to loose the entire fleet if I could find a reasonable solution to my trees problem. My property soil ranges from sandy upland to bottomland soil (Swampchestnut oaks (SCO) love this environment). I planted around the whole property including full sun sandy soil knowing that its not the most favorible soil, but I had so freakin many of them, why not? The ones in the wetter soil and partly shady areas are really thriving where as the ones planted in the side of a hill with horrible soil and huge limestone rocks just inches from the surface are not looking to good, but at least I am giving them a chance. Keeping them watered is a chore, but well worth it. It takes about 3 hours and 110 gallons to water them all every weekend if there is no rain (gravity feed). I planted 30 of the saplings in three rows of 10 with 15ft spacing. I will eventually have to cull some out, but not for a long time. Its 106 acres. 1/2 pasture for hay. The rest is mostly red oaks: post oaks, water oaks, southern red oak, blackjack oak, willow oak. Also black willow, short leaf pine, loblolly pine, sweatgum, a lot of elm, a lot of hickory, way too many yaupon and other native east Texas trees, shrubs and vines. I try my best to keep out all the tallow trees. I would like to get rid of all the sweatgum too. I hate that tree with a passion. And a 4 acre pond. I am trying to keep it all native, trees that are native to that region, except for the 12 fruit trees I have planted that the coons and possums love more than me. The biggest problem I am going to have to face is fencing all the trees to protect them from the excited male deer during their rut. I lost my biggest swampchestnut last year due to this. I thought it was to small for them to rub on, but I was mistaken. Really surprised that the deer arent browsing on the new leaves from the SCO. I hope this answered your question and also thanks for the feedback.

You may have one or more than once problem here, knharper. At this time of the year, there is an increase of soil moisture problems that start with browning of leaf edges. This type of problem can be confirmed by checking the soil using the finger method. Insert a finger to a depth of 4" and water only if the soil feels almost dry or dry. While you are at it, recheck the mulch and add more if you have less than three inches. A soil moisture problem however, would not cause curling in older leaves but it would cause browning throughout many of the plant's leaves. Curling could be caused by a myriad of things: moisture problems on new tender growth, insects (aphids, hydrangea leaf curler, borers, etc), by a fungus or even by some fungicides/insecticides. So why is your solution not working? Could be that it is a soil moisture problem or it could be a case of the correct diagnosis (insects) but the wrong solution for that type of insect infestation. The problem with insecticides is that you first need to do something that can be darn difficult. And that is identifying the insect correctly so you know that the product will take care of the problem. For example, if worms are causing the problem, you need to apply Bacillus Thuringiensis; if aphids are causing the problem then apply Bonide's Eight; etc etc etc. Once you find a possible causal agent, you can take a sample in a sealed transparent plastic bag to a local nursery or extendion service for identification. So, check a few times during the day and ALSO at night (when many pests come out of hiding) to see if you find any active pests causing damage to the leaves (look at the underside of the leaves too). By the way, it does not sound like sun damage. Too much sun initially causes the leaves to turn all yellowish or even white-ish.