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By Will from Provo

Question:

In considering an oak or beech, are there any varieties that conform to the following requirements: * Resistant to verticillium wilt * Don't have shallow roots systems that may heave sidewalks (10 ft away) or grow into the foundation of a home (20 ft away) * Don't make a huge mess * Are strong * Thrive in full sun * Attractive fall colors I had almost decided on the Bur Oak which seemed to be rugged, but I then learned that it had an extensive shallow root system in addition to a tap root and wasn't sure if that would cause problems. I also learned that it doesn't have an attractive fall color. I read that Pin Oaks have shallow root systems that could cause problems. I've also read that most varieties of oak, other than Bur, are more disease prone and less tolerant of the climate here. With all of the information on the web I'm kind of lost and hope you can help me. Thank you!

Answer:

If you stay with a columnar form of either the beech or the oak they will not hurt the sidewalk or the foundation of your home. The Crimson Sentry Oak has red fall color, the Columnar English Oak has good yellow color. Both the beech and the oak do well in full sun in our area as long as you give them a good deep water (shallow watering is not good in our area for most kinds of trees).
The full size oaks and beeches will be too large in that area, but will take a long time to get there as they are slow growing trees.
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