White Oak

About it

Kind

Trees · Perennial

Family

Fagaceae

Mature size

to 92.5 ft × 65 ft

Hardiness zones

Zones 3–9

Sun

Full sun

Spacing

720 in apart

Soil depth in a pot

At least 24 in

Water

About every 4 days

ⓘ We don't know this plant's soil pH and feeding needs yet.

When to plant

We don't have planting times for White Oak yet.

Planting partners

No cited companion planting notes for White Oak yet.

Safety for pets and children

• Cats No information in our sources
• Dogs No information in our sources
• Horses Listed as a problem for horses (NC State Extension) — Low severity; in the leaves and seeds; toxic principle: Gallotannins, quercitrin, and quercitin
• Children No information in our sources

If a pet or child eats part of this plant, call your vet or poison control.

Read from NC State Extension ↗.

"No information" means our sources do not say, not that the plant is harmless. A non-toxic listing is not a reason to let anyone eat a plant.

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease notes for White Oak yet.

Check the label and your local extension service before using any product.

Where this comes from

• annual growth in NC State Extension ↗ The Toolbox publishes the class, not a figure. 10 in/yr is inside the slow band (<12) and implies about 111 years to the height below, which is how a white oak is described
• category NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Plant Type: Tree
• climate requirement NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 3a-9b. Hardy to 3a is the citation for frost_tolerant
• edible NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Edibility: "Acorns (nuts) are edible after tannins are leached or boiled out", and Plant Type lists Poisonous. Recorded false because this column asks whether the plant is GROWN FOR A CROP -- it gates harvest logging and the maturity requirement -- and nobody grows a white oak for acorns. Flip it if a seed-bearing age is ever citable: the Forest Service's Silvics of North America publishes one and its URLs did not resolve on 2026-09-12
• family npgsweb.ars-grin.gov ↗ GRIN page: Quercus alba L.
• growth rate NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Growth Rate: Slow
• life cycle NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Life Cycle reads "Woody"; its Plant Type lists Perennial. Recorded as perennial, as all 17 trees from 0028 are
• mature height in NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Height: 50 ft - 135 ft; midpoint 92.5 ft. The wide range is real -- 135 ft is a forest specimen, not a lawn tree
• mature spread in NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Width: 50 ft - 80 ft; midpoint 65 ft
• min soil depth in NC State Extension ↗ Derived, not published for this species: migration 0039's method, banded by mature height against the catalogue's existing trees (Red Maple and River Birch are 24 in)
• space requirement NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox "Available Space To Plant: more than 60 feet" -- a floor rather than a range, so 60 ft is taken as it stands. Rows equal plants
• species NC State Extension ↗
• sunlight NC State Extension ↗ Toolbox Light: Full sun (6 or more hours) and Partial Shade; recorded as the brighter of the two
• toxicity NC State Extension ↗ toxic for horse from the page's "Problem for" listing. Severity, parts and principle are the page's poison characteristics for the whole plant.
• water frequency days NC State Extension ↗ Handbook ch. 11: "Trees and shrubs, 1-gallon to 3-gallon size, require 3 gallons to 5 gallons of water twice a week during the establishment period, if it does not rain" -- twice a week rendered as every 4 days. Generic to newly planted trees, and an ESTABLISHMENT figure: the catalogue has no establishment concept, which is a known simplification