What Kind of Oaks Grow Fast in Texas?

Patience

• Oaks (Quercus spp.) are patient trees, slowly gathering nutrients and spreading roots while investing in a future that withstands drought, hurricanes, wildfires, intense heat and occasional freezing temperatures. Anyone planting an oak in Texas needs similar patience and expectations that the tree requires multiple generations to reach maturity.

Growth-rate Definitions

• Tree growth rates include slow, medium and fast. Trees with fast rates grow more than 25 inches per year, medium is 13 to 24 inches per year and slow is less than 12 inches per year. Growth involves vertical increase. Rate fluctuates depending on growing conditions, location, climate and length of growing season, tree competition, age and health. Massive oaks are often slow growing, but not all. Every oak provides shade and wildlife appeal.

Live Oaks

• Fast-growing live oaks (Quercus virginiana) reach heights of 40 to 50 feet with 80- to 100-foot canopies. Young oaks are reputed to grow 24 to 30 inches per year on the coastal plain in ideal habitats; their rates are slightly slower inland and as they age. This wide-branching, Southern icon is evergreen and suitable for the Gulf Coast area of Texas and U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10.

  Escarpment live oak (Quercus fusiformis) grows in Central Texas and the Hill Country. This semi-evergreen tree is 20 to 50 feet tall, grows 15 to 20 feet per year (fast for its location), and tolerates heat, arid environments and drought. It’s rated for USDA zones 6 through 9.

East Texas

• Willow oak’s (Quercus phellos) habitat is East Texas bottomland hardwood forests, but this widely adaptable tree is drought, heat, air pollution and standing-water tolerant. These grow an average of 24 to 26 inches per year to reach mature heights of 60 to 100 feet.

  Swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii) is large (120 feet tall with a 100-foot canopy), has a similar growth rate to willow oaks, and is native to East Texas Pineywoods. This deciduous tree glows red to orange in the fall. Both grow in USDA zones 5 through 9.

  Water oak (Quercus nigra) is semi-evergreen and grows 50 to 80 feet tall and 40 to 60 feet wide with a fast growth rate average of 25 to 30 inches per year, and is adaptable to a variety of soils. It’s naturally found in East Texas hardwood forests and along stream banks. It’s rated for USDA zones 6 through 9.

Central Texas

• Nuttall oak (Quercus texana) grows along forested wetlands of Central Texas, in USDA zones 6 through 9, and commonly grows 30 to 50 feet tall at an average rate of 25 inches per year. This has numerous hybrids, some of which can be multi-trunked. Fall foliage is dark red.

  Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) grows naturally throughout Central Texas and is rated for USDA zones 3 through 8. This 60-foot, fast-growing tree is reported to have rates of 30 inches per year. Fall foliage turns rich yellow-brown.

Adaptable

• Mexican white oak (Quercus polymorpha) is a 30- to 50-foot, semi-evergreen tree. This has a limited natural range, USDA zones are 7 through 10, but it's adaptable and widely used throughout the state as a landscape tree.

  Chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) grows naturally on well-drained bottomland soils and limestone hills. This narrow 50- to 90-foot tree is adaptable to various soils in USDA zones 4 through 8. Red-purple fall foliage adds to its attraction. In ideal locations both oaks average 25 inches of growth per year.

Shumard Oak

• Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii) is massive with a 50- to 60-foot canopy and 120-foot height and an average growth rate of 25 to 27 inches per year. The deciduous tree has bright scarlet fall color. While native to moist woods and stream banks, it’s adapted to dry limestone soils. The USDA zones are 5 through 9.

Selecting Oaks

• Selections of oaks for home landscapes will depend on soil, exposure, proximity to buildings and other plants, as well as what’s available locally through nurseries. Oaks grow in the Panhandle and West Texas, but none are considered fast growing. Consider highly adaptable oaks, if available, for areas outside their natural range, although when planted outside their range, growth tends to be slower.