Frost hardiness and evergreen oaks

The powerlessness of the cold

Oak trees are not exposed to the cold without protection. It is not without reason that tree specimens can also be found in this country that have survived 1000 winters.

Regardless of whether it is a native species of oak or an immigrant from Asia, America and Co., an oak always comes safely into spring. Only the root area of ​​young, freshly planted oaks should be covered with a protective layer of leaves in autumn.

Naked encounter with the frost

Just as we experience the oak in summery green splendor, it will not welcome winter. She already colors hers in autumn leaves turns golden brown and repels it when dry. Green leaves would make the tree die of thirst in winter as moisture evaporates through them. The frozen ground gives that root the tree has no chance of fully compensating for this loss.

Sessile oak keeps its leaves

There is a Oak typewhich in our latitudes also wears its foliage in winter. The sessile oak, which comes from warmer areas of Asia, is delaying separation.

• it too has to change the color of its leaves in autumn
• however, it does not shed its dried-up leaves for the time being
• they stay on the branches all winter
• the sessile oak is therefore called winter oak

The pedunculate oak, which loses its leaves in autumn, is appropriately named summer oak.

Evergreen oaks are more sensitive

Nurseries also offer evergreen oak species, most of which originate in warm Mediterranean regions. These oaks can also tolerate frost, but their tolerance limit is approx. -15 ° C. They can only thrive in a sheltered location in a mild location.

Acorns tolerate freezing temperatures

Also the Oak seedslocated in the Acorns survive frosts well. If you're not of the squirrel and other animals are collected as fodder and eaten, they often germinate below the tree in spring.