Oaks on Dartmoor

 Success of Oak Trees

Oaks are one of the few native trees, which were already up here, prior to my arival.  All be it; in very small numbers.  There are 2 stunted little Oak woods, about 3 miles up the River West Dart from Two Bridges, called Wistmans woods and another at Okery Bridge, Near Princetown.  There is another one called Blacktor copse, which sits close to Meldon reservoir, above Okehampton, but that's a bit out of my immediate territory. 

As well as these, there are a few Oaks, which have been planted over the centuries/decades, by presumably; The Dutchy, a farmer or Dartmoor prison.  All Oaks up here are very gnarled and twisted and usually covered with Moss, Lichen and ferns.  They do not get as big as, nor compete very well with Beech, which exist up here in huge plantations.
 Collecting Oaks
Oaks are one tree, with a big log tap root, which doesn't like to be severed.  So when digging up baby Oaks, it is good to cut a circle around the tree straight down and then just lift and the whole thing should just come out. 

There seems to be a bit of a myth about the length of an Oak tree's tap root; when an Oak is just a tiny little plant, the taproot is often bigger than the actual visible part of the tree, but as the tree grows this proportion reverses, so 6' high specimens have only 2/3' taproots and can still be dug up with a spade.

Lifted Oaks tend to dry out very quickly and it is imperative to immediately cover them in damp plastic, even if you have managed to maintain a decent root-ball.  If the roots dry out; the tree isn't going to survive.

My Oaks

Oaks are slow to start, but growing quickly now.  I have noticed that they naturally appear with or after the Birch and shrub trees (mostly), however a few usually appear very early in the reforestation of an area.  But they are quite happy pushing through other trees and then maintaining and fortifying their bit of canopy.

It seems to take about 3/4 years for Oaks to fully establish and they are best planted with shrub trees, which seems to help them grow and makes the land look less bare as the Oaks gradually establish themselves.  Rowan are a perfect medium for Oaks to grow through, as are Hawthorn.  Both offer the young Oaks a certain degree of protection as well, from Deer or farm creatures.

Have had quite allot of success from acorns too.