Bear Oak
Quercus ilicifolia
A shrub-sized oak for dry sandy problem spots: four to ten feet, dense wildlife cover, and heavy acorn crops on soil that defeats bigger trees.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The only oak that fits in a residential yard, produces acorns reliably, and actually prefers the dry sandy corner you've been struggling to plant.
Bear oak is the scrub oak of dry sandy barrens, a shrubby, thicket-forming oak that grows where nothing more refined will survive. At four to ten feet, it's one of the few oaks that fits in a residential landscape without eventually shading out everything else, and it produces acorns reliably on lean, dry soil that would stress a canopy-sized oak into decline. The deeply lobed leaves turn dark red in fall. Dense branching creates dense wildlife cover. Acorns are small but produced heavily and taken by birds and small mammals. If you have a dry, sandy, problematic corner that needs something native, structural, and wildlife-productive, bear oak fits that brief precisely.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown bear oak propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 4–10 ft · 4–10 ft wide
- USDA zones
- 4–7
- Family
- Fagaceae
- Native range
- Northeastern United States
Care notes for bear oak.
Full sun, dry sandy or rocky soil, extremely drought tolerant. Does not transplant well once established. site it thoughtfully. No pruning needed. Never fertilize or overwater. Spreads slowly by root suckering to form a colony on sandy sites.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside bear oak.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.