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Love the limbs, and the shade, of oaks

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By CRAIG CHANDLER

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 28, 2009

The wide-spreading branches of live oak (Quercus virginiana) and its cousins make these some of the most popular shade trees in the central Florida landscape.

But during our long, wet summers they can produce shoots that droop toward the ground, getting in the way of sidewalks and driveways and brushing up against houses and buildings. It's a good idea to remove the branches that obstruct people and vehicles or pose a threat to buildings, but too often these trees are pruned more than necessary.

Healthy, green leaves use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce food (sugars) for the entire tree, so excessively pruning an evergreen, such as a live oak, hurts its ability to feed itself.

The canopy also provides a home for many birds, insects, and other wildlife - if its complexity is not destroyed. Layers of branches and shoots are needed to support a diversity of life. For example, cardinals and blue jays prefer the lower part of the canopy, while hawks may prefer a penthouse view.

The main reason people remove a lot of interior limbs and branches is to get more sunlight under the tree so they can grow grass there. A better solution is to leave oaks in as natural a state as possible and plant shade-loving shrubs and ground covers underneath, or just maintain a bed of fallen leaves there.

Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa), coontie (Zamia floridana) and firebush (Hamelia patens) are native shrubs that can be grown in the shade of oaks and provide additional food and shelter for wildlife.

The safest way to prune is to hire a professional, preferably a certified arborist, especially if the oak is very large. The International Society of Arboriculture (www.isa-arbor .com ) keeps a list of certified arborists by state.

Be gentle to your oaks and they will beautify your landscape and provide wonderful shade for you and future generations.

BIRDS IN YOUR OAK

Top of trees

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern kingbird

Red-tailed hawk

Great-horned owl

Inner canopy

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

Red-eyed Vireo

Tufted titmouse

Carolina chickadee

Cooper's hawk

Eastern screech owl

Craig Chandler is a professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in southern Hillsborough County.

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