October Tree of the Month: Oak

Have you ever walked up the Nick between Back Crofts and Hillside? There is an amazing Oak tree that has been growing on that steep path for about 130 years or so.

From the garden side.

Behind the wall, in the garden.

We can make a guess at the age of this beauty from an old postcard, showing the house and garden here, but no tree. The postcard is from between 1910 and 1936. Many thanks to Karen Millward for finding these, and sharing photos of the tree.

The blue circle marks where the house is, no trees where our Oak now stands.

OAK.
Even its name is iconic, that one hard syllable, summoning strength and resilience. Our national tree - beloved and symbolic.

Pedunculate Oak*, Common Oak, English Oak. These all mean our native much-loved tree. Emblematic and proud.

*Acorns grow on stalks, or 'peduncles'.

Quercus is the family name of the 500+ varieties of oak living all over the world. In the UK we have the Common and the Sessile Oak.

Ask a child to name a tree, this is the one they are most likely to suggest: an Oak. It has such distinctive leaves. And we love the long yellow catkin flowers in spring, then the green acorns, growing golden and brown as summer segues into autumn.

Besides being iconic, the oak is also very common, and easy to spot all over the country. Valuable to many creatures, supporting over 2,300 different species. This number of species choosing our oaks to shelter in, nest on, live and feed on, makes it more helpful for biodiversity than any other native tree.

Oaks can live for over a thousand years and are huge! They can grow up to 70ft. Often they are smaller, depending on what is around them.