Nutritious salad with spicy chicken and grapes. English oak - Quercus robur

Oak- a mighty strong tree, a symbol of courage, fire, lightning and princely power. Oak is one of the most beloved and revered among European peoples tree. Everything happened under the sacred Oaks among the Slavs. major events- meetings, wedding ceremonies, courts. In sacred oak groves the oldest and most respected trees were surrounded by a fence, behind which only priests could enter.

IN prehistoric times Almost half of Europe's forests were oak forests. The man famously dealt with this wonderful tree. First he cut down and burned oak, freeing up the land for arable land, and then chopped it for firewood and building materials. Oak, unfortunately, was excellent for both. The result is sad - there are tens of times fewer oak trees (about 3% of all European forests).

Oak names

There are many types of Oak in the world, but in Russia the most common is English Oak (Common Oak). The oak is called pedunculate for its long stalks.

Where does Oak grow?

Oak widespread in Western Europe and the European part of Russia. It reaches northwestern Russia as far as Finland. IN east direction the northern limit of Oak's distribution gradually descends to the south, and, approaching the Ural ridge, drops to 57° and somewhat to the south. Ural is eastern border range of English oak.

What does Oak look like?

It is not difficult to distinguish an oak from other trees by its powerful stature.

Oak is a large tree, usually with a powerful crown and a powerful trunk. Reaches a height of 20-40 m. It can live up to 2000 years, but usually lives 300-400 years. The growth in height of Oak stops at the age of 100-200 years, the increase in thickness, although insignificant, continues throughout life.

Oak crown dense, spreading, with thick branches.

Oak Bark thick, durable, wrinkled in an adult tree, dark in color.

Oak Leaves oblong with large rounded teeth.

The Oak tree slowly blooms its leaves - sometimes only by the beginning of June. And sometimes - on the second try, when the first leaves are eaten by the caterpillars.

Oak Flowers collected in long hanging earrings 2-3 cm long.

Oak Acorns usually oblong, growing from 1.5 to 5 cm. Acorns in summer green, turn yellow and fall off in the fall. The acorns are smooth and neat to the touch, which makes them want to be collected, especially by children. The acorn caps are also beautiful. Inside the oak acorn are 2 yellowish or reddish segments, bitter in taste.

Acorns, the fruits of Oak, sit in special “glasses” - pluses. Wild boars and domestic pigs love to feast on acorns, so already in the Middle Ages people grazed herds of thousands of pigs in oak forests. In Ivan Krylov's fable " Pig under the Oak“The ungrateful pig, having eaten acorns, begins to undermine the roots of the tree, harming it. From a biological point of view, the fabulist is mistaken: by digging up the soil and destroying pests, pigs brought only benefits to the oak forests.

When does Oak bloom?

Oak trees are blooming usually in mature age from 40 to 60 years, together with the blossoming of leaves, usually in May.

Acorns ripen in September - October.

Important medical significance has oak bark, since it contains a significant amount (up to 20%) of tannins, as well as flavonoids, pectin, tannin, starch, mucus and other natural antiseptics. A decoction of the bark, due to its tanning properties, has a strong astringent and anti-inflammatory effect.

Most of all, in medicine, it is valued and used oak bark, especially young ones. It is used mainly as an external remedy, sometimes internally, in the form of infusions, decoctions, and tea.

Oak bark and leaves have astringent, anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, sedative, hemostatic actions.

Oak bark infusion taken for stomach diseases, diarrhea, gastritis, colic, intestinal inflammation, colitis, ulcerative colitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, liver disease, spleen. Warm infusion improves digestion.

Application of Oak

Oak bark decoction and leaves (1:10) are taken for kidney diseases, kidney bleeding, bloody urine, frequent urination (in small doses), and inflammation of the urinary tract.

Oak leaf infusion used for bedwetting (enuresis). Decoctions are also used for rinsing for inflammation of the oral mucosa, bad breath, inflammation of the tongue, for lotions for bedsores, frostbite of the hands and feet (baths), burns, wounds, skin inflammation, eczema, scrofula.

For sweaty feet, make baths from a decoction of the bark (2 tablespoons per 1 glass of water, boil for 1-2 minutes, leave until cool), and also pour crushed bark into socks for the day.

Coffee from Oak acorns: the acorns must be peeled, boiled, drained immediately, then coarsely chopped into pieces and fried until browned. Let cool and grind in a coffee grinder into powder. Brew like coffee, or can be used as food supplement. This drink is given to children with cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Oak - contraindications

Can't be allowed overdose when consuming infusions or decoctions of Oak, as this may cause vomiting. Ingestion of oak preparations strictly prohibited for children.

Diseases and pests of Oak

One of the most dangerous Oak diseases is powdery mildew. A characteristic appearance appears on the leaves. white coating as if they had been doused with soapy water. The disease, noticed in an early stage, is easily stopped by spraying with one percent copper sulfate solution.

Oak has long been considered a special tree. Our ancestors also worshiped this majestic giant, attributing to him imaginable and unimaginable miracles and magical power. What is the reason for such a reverent attitude, what are the features and is it possible to grow an oak tree in your dacha? Let’s try to figure it out in this article.

Botanical description

English oak, also known as common oak or summer oak, is a prominent representative of the beech family. He is rightfully considered a long-liver among the trees, middle age is 400 years, but can reach 1500.

Root system, bark, crown

Oak is a sustainable, durable deciduous plants, therefore, it has a powerful and developed root system, which provides it with high resistance to external natural factors:

The root system of the tree lies very deep. The young specimen usually has one tap-like long root, from which lateral roots spread as it grows during the first seven years;
the height of the trunk can reach 40-50 meters, the thickness of the trunk continues to slowly increase throughout the life of the tree;
the bark changes its appearance depending on the age of the plant: in young individuals it is usually light gray, without obvious furrows, smooth, but as it grows it thickens, becomes bumpy, the color begins to change towards dark gray with an admixture of brown shades;
The crown of the tree is spreading, lush and dense. The crown volume can reach 25 meters in diameter.

Shoots, buds, leaves

Young shoots of the tree are usually not bare or covered with slight fluff; as a rule, they are brown or red in color with numerous buds. The buds are round, have a slightly lighter shade than the shoot and have a scaly surface. Oak foliage dark green. The leaves have an oblong ovoid shape with rounded lobes, a short petiole and many veins. The size of the leaves can vary from 7 to 35-40 cm. Young foliage has a pubescent edge.

Flowers, fruits

The pedunculate oak is a unisexual plant, and accordingly, its flowers are unisexual. Males bloom with lush earrings hanging down, consisting of small yellowish flowers. Pistillate flowers are reddish, small, located in the axils of the leaves, collected in small inflorescences of up to 5 pieces.
The tree bears fruit with nuts. We are familiar with oak fruits as acorns - oblong bare nuts brown, 2-7 cm in size with dark brown stripes, each located in its own cup-shaped “nest”. The first acorns usually appear on trees that have crossed the 40-year mark.

Did you know? Despite bountiful harvests According to statistics, out of 10,000 nuts, only one acorn can become an oak.

Where do oak trees grow: distribution

It is not for nothing that the common oak can be seen on many coats of arms and emblems of Old Europe. It is in Western Europe that this type of tree is the most common. It also grows in the European part of Russia and the countries of Western Asia. In the South it can be found in mountainous areas Black Sea coast and the Caucasus.

Is it possible to grow in the country

The green, spreading long-liver looks very impressive, and many gardeners dream of relaxing in the shade of its crown. Is it possible to grow an oak tree on your own? summer cottage, let's try to figure it out. Growing pedunculate oak on a personal plot is a common practice for landscape design; it looks great next to standard shrubs and coniferous trees for the garden.
However, it is worth remembering that oak requires a lot of space and soil resources to grow and is quite capable of “robbing” its neighbors for nutrients. In order for the oak tree not to cause you trouble and to please the eye, you need to choose the right place to plant it and monitor the formation of the plant, preventing it from growing excessively.

Choosing a place

Growing oak on a plot is not as easy as it seems at first glance. In order for the idea to be crowned with success, you need to follow the basic rules for planting a plant. One of the most important tasks is choosing the right place for the future giant.

Important! Do not forget that even a small oak tree has very developed roots and loves space, so you should avoid planting the tree too close to other plants.

Is lighting needed?

Oak loves good bright lighting, which is especially useful for the upper part of the crown. At the same time, the tree is not afraid of side shading. In this regard, open areas with nearby trees and low shrubs are suitable for growing a green giant.

Requirements for soil

The second important point is determining suitable soil - this is one of the key secrets to the success of growing oak. The tree loves fertile neutral soil, but does not tolerate it well increased acidity, so you shouldn’t grow oak next to conifers.

It feels best on fertile loams, although it is also quite viable on poor, rocky soils. Oak is drought-resistant, does not like stagnant water and excessive soil moisture.

Temperature and weather conditions

Common oak is a relatively heat-loving plant, generally resistant to frost, but severe cold can damage the tree bark, forming frost holes. It is highly resistant to drought and wind due to its deep roots.

Landing Features

In order for a young oak tree to take root on your site, you need to pay maximum attention to planting and subsequent care of the tree.

When to plant English oak

It is recommended to plant young specimens early spring before the leaves bloom. If propagation is carried out through acorns, then they are sown either in the fall or in late spring, closer to May; in this case, from autumn to spring, the acorns are stored in a cool, dark place with high humidity.

Growing methods

English oak can be propagated by cuttings or sprouting from acorns. Let's consider what features these methods have.

Cuttings

Propagating trees by cuttings is a rather labor-intensive process, but it allows you to grow a tree without much expense. English oak propagates by rooting cuttings from the mother tree:

Important! The older the mother plant, the less likely it is that cuttings taken from it will survive and take root successfully.

As soon as your pet takes root, it will immediately let you know: the buds of the plant will begin to actively increase in size and soon the first young shoots will appear on it. After this, the plant can begin to be accustomed to environment, first slightly opening the shelter, and then leaving it open for several hours. Usually by the beginning of September the greenhouse can be removed and the plant can be prepared for transfer to open ground. Well-rooted cuttings can overwinter under the snow.

How to grow an oak tree from an acorn

Growing a common oak from an acorn will bring much less hassle. The most important thing is to seriously approach the choice of acorns that will become planting material, because among them there may not be viable ones:

A little more and the strengthened seedlings will be ready for transplanting into open ground.

Oak care

So, you have successfully completed the task of growing a seedling and transplanted the plant to permanent place habitat on a summer cottage. Now your main task is to provide the young tree with proper care. We emphasize that oak requires careful care only at first, while the plant is young, that is, until about 5 years of age.

Does the plant need to be watered?

Despite the fact that oak is considered a drought-resistant plant, in this case we are talking about mature trees, and young individuals require regular watering. As soon as you planted a seedling in open ground, you need to water it immediately and continue to water it for up to 5 days daily.

Then, during the hot season from late spring to early autumn, young oak trees need systematic watering as the soil dries out. It is important to remember that oak does not like stagnant moisture, so periodically you need to loosen the soil around the trunk and promptly remove leaves and other debris.

Responsiveness to feeding

Young growth is very sensitive to the environment, therefore, in order for the oak to take root, in the first years it is especially important to pay attention to feeding. Typically, oak is fertilized twice a season: in early spring and autumn - for this purpose special mineral fertilizers are used in the form of granules. It has been noted that regular fertilization increases the resistance of oak trees to diseases and fungi, and also promotes more intensive growth of young trees.

Proper pruning of young oak

As you know, oak has an impressive crown, which can bring garden plot not only desirable coolness, but also unwanted shade for other plants. In addition, timely removal of dried branches gives the tree a more neat appearance.

Treatment against diseases and pests

Oak is a very stable crop, but like others deciduous trees, is susceptible to some diseases and attracts pests:

oak most often affects powdery mildew, forming a whitish coating on the leaves of the tree. This fungal disease not only spoils the appearance, but also weakens the plant, in addition, it can spread to the shrubs and trees adjacent to the oak. The easiest way to combat powdery mildew is with preventative methods: it is necessary to periodically treat the plant with fungicidal agents, and if the first signs of the disease are detected, then destroy the affected branches and spray the tree itself with a fungicide;
dropsy. This disease occurs in oak trees due to pathogenic bacteria getting under the bark. As a result of the development of the disease, swellings filled with liquid form under the bark, then the dropsy opens and leaves cracks and spots on the bark. The disease occurs after unfavorable weather conditions: extreme heat or cold snap. In order to avoid dropsy, you need to carefully monitor the branches and crown, remove dry branches, leaves, cut off wild shoots;
rot is caused by fungi, which develop directly in wood and even roots. Typically, such fungi live on dead trees, but there are species that also attack living plants and lead to their drying out and destruction, such fungi include root sponge and oak tinder fungus. To prevent rot, you need to follow the agricultural practices of growing a tree, timely pruning and cleaning of dried branches, protect the tree from rodents in order to preserve the integrity of the bark and prevent spores from penetrating inside;
gall midges- the most common pests. Many have seen small balls around oak leaves. They have nothing to do with fruits - these are eggs laid by these insects; the larvae stimulate the growth of tissue around them, thus forming a shelter in the form of balls (galls). Timely treatment of oak with industrial pesticides will help prevent attacks by harmful gallworms.

Video: English oak, description of sores

Did you know? The inner surface of the balls contains a huge amount of tannins, which were used in the production of ink, which is why the galls are called “ink balls”.

green oak leaf roller- a harmful caterpillar that devours foliage, weakening the tree and reducing its yield. Appears in hot, humid weather. It is recommended to fight it, as with other insects, by spraying with insecticides when the first symptoms appear.

Despite the natural frost resistance of the common oak, it is sensitive to sudden changes in temperature, so it is better to cover young trees for at least the first 1-2 years of life for the winter. For these purposes, you can use special insulation or ordinary burlap, which is wrapped around the trunk and branches. With age, oak adapts to cold weather, and 2-3 year old trees will already be able to withstand them without shelter.

Mistakes gardeners make when caring for oak trees

The success of growing any tree, including oak, lies in compliance with agricultural technology, however, novice gardeners often make standard mistakes that lead to the death of a seedling or disrupt the growth of an adult and other plants.

Some of them:

wrong choice of location. Oak, as you know, has a spreading crown and an extensive root system. Planting it too close to other plants or objects can cause damage. Overgrown roots can harm neighboring crops and also cause damage to buildings;
violation of disembarkation rules. Many gardeners are in such a hurry to plant a tree in the ground that they do not pay attention to preparing the hole. The planting hole must be dug in advance so that the metabolic processes necessary for the adaptation of the seedling begin in the soil. You cannot plant a tree in a newly dug hole;
improper watering. Many even experienced gardeners do not water their plants enough; this often leads to the fact that only top layer Soil, accordingly, moisture simply does not reach the deep-lying roots. It is important to consider that to moisten 25 centimeters of soil layer by 1 square meter 25-26 liters of water are needed;
non-compliance with the rules for pruning branches. Many prune the crown strictly according to the calendar, which often leads to negative consequences for wood. To avoid this, in addition to the calendar, you need to focus on weather conditions, if it is too cold and frosts still occur at night, it is better to postpone pruning a little until a stable above-zero air temperature is established.

Video: English oak So, we looked at one of the varieties of oak called “pedunculate” and learned how to properly grow it in a personal plot. It is noteworthy that despite its power, oak is a very capricious tree and its cultivation must be approached very responsibly, following all the rules.

Oak is the most important of the deciduous trees. Oak is a powerful and durable tree that can grow up to 2 meters thick in good soils. Of course, now such oaks are very rare. If an oak grows in a forest among other trees, it forms a tall, straight trunk with branches only in the upper half and a narrow crown, rounded at the top. Timber traders call this oak “grove oak” and value it because of the straightness of the trunk. If the oak tree grows freely or in very rare forest, the result is a “field oak”, with a short, thick and knotty trunk, with low-lying thick branches and a wide, almost spherical crown. But, no matter where the oak grows, everywhere it forms a very strong root, going deep into the ground. Therefore, the oak is stable and not afraid of windfall; in extreme cases, in a strong storm, it breaks, but does not twist out of the ground like spruce.

The oak crown is covered with rather large, dense, dark green leaves. The shape of oak leaves is, of course, known to everyone. Scientists call such leaves pinnate.
For all the beauty of its crown and foliage, the oak tree has very small, inconspicuous flowers that appear in the spring immediately after the buds open. Oak flowers have two genera: male - with stamens that produce pollen, and female - with pistils that produce fruit. Male flowers, with a simple perianth, are collected in 5-7 pieces on rather long hanging earrings. Females have 2-3 flowers on shorter earrings sticking up. After pollination from female flower The well-known fruit, the acorn, sitting in a cup-plus, develops quite slowly. The oak tree begins to bear fruit very late, no earlier than 40-50 years old, and does not bear fruit every year: in good soil every 2-3 years, and in poor conditions much less often.

Oak is a light-loving species, although not to the same extent as pine or birch. Therefore, even if oak forms forests, these forests are not dense and at the same time contain an admixture of other species. In a dense forest, where there is little light, oak cannot grow. Therefore, in spruce forests there is usually either no oak, or it is rare, and oak undergrowth in shady spruce forest and it doesn’t happen at all.
If a spruce settles in an oak forest, we can assume that it will sooner or later displace the oak. That's why in northern forests he's not there. It was once abundant here too, but the spruce gradually replaced it, and man cut down the last remnants. True, it must be said that spruce cannot displace oak as easily as birch - displacement of oak occurs slowly, over centuries. The point, however, is not that oak is light-loving. Oak requires soil quite rich in salts, especially limestone. Spruce, as is already known, causes podzolization of the soil and leaching of salts from it.

Leached soil is not suitable for oak. This is why oak has mainly disappeared in the northern part: almost everywhere the soils there are podzolized, at least in high watershed areas.

Water washing the soil at watersheds carries salts from it into the deeper layers of the soil. Descending into the depths, groundwater will sooner or later encounter a layer that does not allow water to pass through - most often clay. Then groundwater begins, albeit very slowly, to flow underground along the impermeable layer in the direction in which it is inclined. If the waterproof layer reaches river valley, we will see him on the slope of the valley. Veins or threads groundwater, reaching the slope of the valley, they will come to light in the form of springs and flow into the floodplain. The spring water spreads across the floodplain, and all those salts that are brought by the springs from high places will remain in the floodplain: there is nowhere for it to flow. Thus, floodplains are often rich in salts, sometimes whole layers can be found here, for example, calcareous salts,

It is no wonder that oak can grow in floodplains, even if there were no oak trees around the watersheds. In the old days, the floodplains were under a dense forest of oak, black alder and other species.
When plowing floodplains, during any excavations, they often come across whole trunks, often huge, of “black” oak. Oak contains a lot of tannins, and the soil of the floodplain contains a lot of iron salts. Tannins together with iron produce ink. This is why oak trunks are painted black, often all the way through. Such trunks are very heavy and durable. They are not afraid of rotting and are beautiful in decoration, so they are highly valued as carpentry material and are even exported abroad.

Black oak is a remnant of the times when our floodplains were under oak forest. It turns out that even in the north, black oak is often found, and in the middle and southern parts it can be found in any floodplain
The oak floodplain forests disappeared, apparently quite recently. There are still old people who remember such forests. As for the southern part of the country, there, of course, oak in the floodplains will not be a novelty; there are many of them on watersheds.

Thus, in the northern part there are almost no oak trees anymore. Rarely in remote places in a spruce forest do we come across a single tree, and we never see young oak trees at all. And it is very rare to find an oak forest - either in the form of a narrow strip in the floodplains, or in the form of small groves on watersheds, where people have preserved them.
Oak - very valuable tree. It is valued for the hardness, durability and beauty of its wood. In the old days, houses and various household items were built from oak. Nowadays houses are not made from oak because of its high cost, but it is used for furniture, finishing lumber, stave for barrels etc.

Oak - since ancient times was considered a sacred tree among many peoples, surrounded by special honor and even worship. The ancient Celtic Druids conducted their rituals in sacred oak groves, our ancestors, the ancient Slavs also revered the oak in a special way; in Slavic pagan mythology this tree was associated with supreme god Perun. But if we discard the mythological aspect, then since ancient times people have noticed that the oak has extraordinary power and strength, slow growth, which, however, is compensated by its durability, the old oak has become a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, because if it could speak, how many interesting things it could tell us .

How long does an oak tree live?

Oak is a long-living tree; its lifespan can reach up to 500 years, although there are specimens that live more than 1000 years.

The Stelmuža oak in Lithuania is now the oldest oak in Europe; according to various estimates, its age ranges from 1500 to 2000 years.

Description of oak. What does oak look like?

Oak is a massive tree, its size is no less impressive than its longevity. Average height The length of an oak tree is 35 meters, but there are also 60-meter giants. The thickness is also quite large, the trunk usually has a diameter of about 1.5 meters.

Palmer Oak is the oldest and at the same time the most big oak in the world, located in the city of Saintes (France), the girth of the trunk of this tree is 9 meters. According to an ancient Gallic legend, the soldiers of Julius Caesar rested under this oak tree.

Oak leaves depend on its shape and can be lobed, jagged, or some other shape. The branches are usually curved. The tortuosity of the oak has scientific explanation– tree shoots reach towards the Sun and for this reason change their direction depending on the weather, season and time of day.

The oak root system is well developed, its roots are no less huge than the oak itself and go deep into the ground.

The oak blooms in late spring, its flowers are small, green and invisible among the leaves. Moreover, the flowers themselves are divided into male and female, male flowers consist of stamens, female flowers only of pistils. Also, male flowers tend to be collected in inflorescences that look like earrings. Female flowers resemble green grains and it is from them that acorns subsequently appear.

Types of oak, photos and names

In nature, botanists count 600 species of oak; of course, we will not list them all; we will describe only the most interesting species in our opinion.

So named due to its long stalks, which distinguish this type of oak from others. Habitat: the entire territory of Europe with the exception of Spain and Scandinavia. It is to this species that the famous oldest in Eastern Europe Stelmuzha oak, so these oaks are real long-livers, can live up to 2000 years, although usually such oaks live for 300-400 years. The structure of the leaf of pedunculate oak is characterized by the elongation of the leaves, their shape is ovoid or heart-shaped. The bark is dark gray or black and quite thick. It is interesting that in young oaks it is usually gray, but over time it can darken.

The very name of this species of oak indicates their love for watery soil and wetland habitats. The homeland and main habitat of the swamp oak is North America, especially many of them grow in the southeastern United States - from Connecticut to Kansas. They are also found further north, in Canada. The appearance of swamp oak is characterized by a pyramidal crown and smooth greenish-brown bark. Its bright green leaves are up to 12 cm long, with five to seven deeply cut serrated lobes.

Also known as Cornish oak or Winter oak as it is called in Germany, sessile oak appearance similar to pedunculate oak, it has the same large tent-shaped crown. The habitat of this oak is almost all of Europe, especially mountainous areas, including our native Ukrainian Carpathians. The leaves of this oak are bright green and irregularly lobed.

Despite its name, this oak tree does not currently grow in Mongolia. And it got its name due to the fact that this oak was first described in Mongolia. This oak lives in Asian countries: China, Korea, Japan, as well as in the eastern regions Russian Federation— Sakhalin and Amur region. It is a fairly tall representative of the oak kingdom; Mongolian oaks easily reach more than 30 m in height. Its leaves are dense, like parchment, and have an elongated, obovate shape. It especially likes to grow in the mountains, on rocky soil.

Where does oak grow

Oak grows mainly in areas with temperate climate, but there are oaks that feel great in the tropics, though in places where the air temperature is not too high. Usually this is in the highlands.

There are oak trees that love humid climate, wet soil, growing in swamps, and there are those that prefer a dry environment.

How to grow an oak tree from an acorn

Oak trees begin to bear fruit after 30 years of life and their fruits are acorns. The best time To plant a new oak tree, it will be autumn, the period before the first snow, but it is important to ensure that the acorns are not eaten by small rodents. To avoid this, they are often planted in the spring, with the onset of the first warm days. Only acorns with a yellow or reddish embryo inside are suitable for planting.

How to plant an oak tree

To plant an oak tree, it is enough to collect sprouting acorns in a park or forest in early spring, immediately after the snow melts. They can be planted in the ground immediately, but do not forget to take care that the fragile leaves do not break off or dry out. You should also not forget to water oak seedlings and protect them from weeds.

The healing properties of oak

It's no secret that oak, and especially its bark, has many medicinal properties. For example, oak bark is good for teeth gums and is actively used in the manufacture of toothpaste. A decoction of it treats stomach diseases, allergies, skin diseases, throat diseases, etc. Oak acorns are also useful, for example, they can help with diarrhea, burns, and skin problems.