I have a few acres in South Kitsap where I am creating
pasture by cutting down many of our firs and pines. We will have herds of goats and sheep and swine. I like the idea of acorns for swine and the increased btu of oak for firewood. From my research, it seems that Garry oak and White oak grow too slowly, while Red oak and Pin oak are fast and produce a lot of acorns.
So, I’m leaning towards Red and Pin Oaks, particularly Pin Oaks, but is the fact that these aren’t native a problem? Would these trees grow well in the Pacific Northwest, in sandy loam with low nitrogen a pH of 5.3. The soil has pretty good organic matter, Potassium and Magnesium. The trees will
be planted in a full sun to mostly sunny area, but depending on the angle
of the sun, the surrounding firs throw a pretty big shadow.
Are there other oaks with good acorns I should consider?
Also, is Sudden Oak Death a problem in the Puget Sound?
I’ll start with your last question first. Washington State University has a Sudden Oak Death information page. A summary of the work researchers are doing may be found in a 2013 edition of WSU’s online newsletter, On Solid Ground.
I have certainly heard that it is present in our region. If you are concerned, you may want to purchase from nurseries with certifications from the USDA Plant Health Inspection Service saying that they are free of the disease. Here is a list of nurseries that have such a certificate. Interestingly, the plants on which Phytophthora ramorum has been detected (in nurseries) in our state are not oaks, but Rhododendron, Viburnum, Camellia, Kalmia, and Pieris. Outside of nurseries, the pathogen has only been found on salal.
The USDA Plant Health Inspection Service has a list of other plants which are hosts of SOD.
Returning to your questions about species of oak, Oregon State University’s Landscape Plants Database has information about Quercus rubra (Red oak)and Quercus palustris which confirm that they prefer sunny sites. Red oak will produce acorns in two years. Pin oak is one of the fastest growing oaks, and its acorns (also produced after 2 years) are small.
Local tree expert Arthur Lee Jacobson has this to say about Quercus rubra in his Trees of Seattle (2006):
“New Jersey’s State Tree proves to be Seattle’s fastest-growing oak, on average. […] the safest bet if you want an oak in a hurry is to plant a Red oak–and then stand back!” Here is what he says about pin oak, Quercus palustris: “Seattle’s most abundant oak. […] Pin oak is slender in all respects: trunk, limb, branch, twig, leaf–only the tiny squat acorns belie the name. Rapidly growing, it can attain up to 135′ x 23 1/4″. Inexperienced tree-watchers must be careful not to confuse it with Scarlet oak, which is less common, less slender, makes bigger acorns […].”
The only aspect of your site description that concerns me, as far as these two oak choices, is the sun exposure–you might want to see how far the shadow of the firs extend, as these oaks will do best in sun. Unless your goal is to plant native species only, I do not see a problem with adding these non-natives to your landscape. You can certainly add lots of native shrubs and perennials if you feel that would be advantageous. There are some excellent resources for selecting native plants:
Washington Native Plant Society’s landscaping guides
King County’s interactive Native Plant Guide
As far as other good acorn-producing oaks which are also large trees, I can see that Arthur Lee Jacobson mentions English oak (Quercus robur) for its large acorns–and this is also potentially a very large tree (150′ x 40+’). Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) has notably large acorns too. Burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa) has the largest acorns, but does not do very well in our area. The native Garry oak (too slow a grower for your needs) Quercus garryana does produce acorns.
If you want to diversify the source of nuts (in case of Sudden Oak Death), you might want to consider adding some hazels and filberts (Corylus species) which should do well here. (I don’t know if pigs and goats will eat these, though.)