When You Choose a Small Oak Tree for its Name
Think of all the reasons you might buy a plant for your garden. For some of us, flower color ranks high, for others it’s foliage. Then there’s pollinator friendliness, low maintenance, humidity tolerant, xeric, sun/shade loving, heat tolerant, moisture loving. Sometimes it’s an impulse purchase that goes beyond reasoning. I have a lot of those. Whatever the case, you get the picture. But have you ever chosen a plant for it’s name? No? I hadn’t either until last spring when I tucked a small oak tree into my little Subaru.
For the record, this wasn’t one of my knee-jerk impulse purchases. Not that there’s anything wrong with those! This small oak tree entered my radar a few years ago after I saw it in a magazine, I think. At first I was taken by the name, Kindred Spirit. I’m sentimental and the name brought me back to WTTW-Channel 11 and its airing of Anne of Green Gables in the mid 1980s. I was about 10 years old and completely rapt with this orphan, Anne, with the big vocabulary and flair for the dramatic. Anne had a best friend, Diana, whom she called her “bosom friend” and “kindred spirit”. (Mom, if you’re reading this, you are my Diana. xo)
I had to have this tree, but not before I did a little digging to determine if it was right for my garden. I’m currently working on my side yard garden, adding plants here and there as I go. And I wanted a small tree, preferably an oak, that fit the space but wouldn’t swallow it up. Since reading Nature’s Best Hope by Dr. Doug Tallamy a few years ago, I’ve had oak trees on my mind. Dr. Tallamy is a well-known advocate of native plants and encourages homeowners to consider them when planting their spaces.
According to Tallamy, native oaks host over 900 species of Lepidoperta, most of which are moths. The trickle-down affect that happens when an oak is on your property is incredible. It means that the caterpillars of these moths and butterflies are also supporting the birds that rely on them to feed their young. More oaks, more butterflies and moths, more birds, better ecosystem. Funny how that works!
And because I credit my garden with attracting creatures that wouldn’t visit without it, I want an oak tree in the best way. Of all the trees in my little garden however, not a single one is an oak and I needed to change that.
After calling around, because that’s what gardeners do when we obsess about a single plant, I located this small oak tree at one of my favorite haunts – Sunrise Greenhouse in Grant Park, IL. They only had six in stock when I called last spring so I immediately went into rescue mode, or so it felt. I’m guessing you know the feeling. Within moments of that phone call, I was in my car driving to claim this tree that had both sentimental and ecological value.
Or so I thought.
Only after I had decided this was a must-have for my garden did I look into the affect it would have on pollinators. An email to Dr. Tallamy’s team at Homegrown National Parks helped clarify just how beneficial this small oak would be in my garden. As it turns out, it’s not quite the pollinator powerhouse I hoped it would be, but I’m ok with that.
Kindred Spirit oak is a cross between our native swamp oak and an English oak. Because of this, it attracts only half of the approximately 900 species that would frequent it if it was a pure native, according to Dr. Tallamy. He suggested our native Dwarf Chinkapin Oak (Quercus prinoides) or dwarf chestnut oak as an alternative. At approximately 12′ tall and 8′ wide, it didn’t fit my garden. I wanted something really tall and really narrow. Kindred Spirit tops out around 30′ tall and 6′ wide and is hardy to zone 4. And I wanted THIS tree with the name that made me feel something.
Because after all, it’s my garden and half of the pollinators are better than none. And now that the idea of a Chinkapin oak in my garden has marinated some, I think I may have a spot for that too.
I’m standing on the edge of another rabbit hole. Excuse me while a make a phone call…or two.
Have you ever bought a plant because of its name? I’d love to know! Tell me in the comments.
Heather I love the name of the oak tree in your garden and the idea of shopping for a variety by an enchanting name! I, too, had heard of all the benefits to planting an oak tree, after 2 attempts with maturing 3” diameter oaks from a nursery failing me I finally, successfully got a 1 year sapling to grow and thrive in my garden ( a lot of tears were shed over the other 2 burr oaks). They say oaks are slow growing but it has been fun to see in 4 years my sapling go from 1 ft to 7ft tall.
Whoa! That is fast growing especially when they’re notoriously slow. So glad you found success. Third times the charm, as they say.
We just purchased land in a farming area outside where we have lived for 36 years. I wanted to get back to my roots of living in the woods ,around wildlife and nature. My husband (the city boy) is doing quite well handling the snakes ,bobcats, armadillo….We live in a virginl Oak forest,the trees haven’t been cut for 100s of years. It’s like living in a zoo. I have started recording types of birds, butterflies, woodpecker, hummingbird, wildflower. I have in the county my entire childhood and I have never seen anything like this. Most of this land his never been lived on except for the native Americans. I really think the wildlife that live is there because of the Oaks.
This sounds absolutely glorious! What an experience and yes, I bet it has everything to do with those oaks.
My family and I live on a small tree farm in Western PA with an 8 acre wetland I call the “Wetland of Eden”. The latest plantings include 32 Kindred Spirit Oak trees I planted in a meadow opening during the full solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon than to align the Oak plantings to this amazing celestial event. This makes 12 different Oak species growing on the farm. Enjoy the tree plantings! Ed
Brilliant idea! That had to look absolutely stunning. Not to mention the number of pollinators that appreciate you for planting so many oak varieties.
I love the color of Envy Zinnia and always buy it. Also I must explore the idea of a miniature chestnut oak which I never had the real estate for in my garden. Do you love using river rock in your garden? Just curious.
Hi Mary! I love Envy zinnia too! The green goes with everything. I don’t have any river rock in the garden. I use it as an underlayment beneath more decorative rocks in the dry stream bed running away from the rain chain off the front of the house. Are you planning to use them for a project?