Lacey Oak Tree, 3–6 ft

A small blue-grey oak out of the limestone hills west of Austin, and one of the toughest trees in the state. Lacey oak stays under thirty-five feet, takes full reflected sun off a rock wall, and asks for essentially no water once it is in. New growth comes out peach. It is slow, it is scarce, and it is worth the money. Almost nobody grows these. We do.

What actually ships

• 3-Gallon: 3 to 4 ft tall, 1/2 to 3/4 in caliper, container-grown
• 7-Gallon: 4 to 6 ft tall, 3/4 to 1-1/4 in caliper, container-grown
• Root form: Container-grown, root ball intact
• Shipped as: Upright in a corrugated carton, soil bagged at the collar
• Honest note: Lacey oak is genuinely slow. A 3-gallon tree is a 10-year commitment, not a 3-year one. If you want fast, buy Monterrey oak instead

Mature size

• Height: 25 to 35 ft
• Spread: 25 to 30 ft
• Growth rate: Slow, 8 to 14 in per year
• Foliage: Blue-grey summer leaf, peach new growth, soft yellow-apricot in fall

Where it grows

• USDA zones: 6 to 9
• Texas planting window: October 15 to February 28
• Native status: True Texas native. Quercus laceyi is endemic to the Edwards Plateau and adjacent northern Mexico
• Soil: Shallow limestone, caliche, high pH. Must drain. It will drown in black clay
• Sun: Full sun
• Water: Very low. Overwatering is the main way people kill these

Texas care notes

• Oak wilt: Do not prune between February 1 and June 30. Oak wilt is moved by sap beetles in spring. Paint every wound within 30 minutes, any time of year
• Spacing: 25 to 30 ft
• Do not: Do not amend the backfill and do not plant it in a bowl. Plant high, mulch wide

Ship window and your cancellation right

Field-grown Texas stock ships during the dormant season. Orders ship between October 15 and December 15, 2026, oldest order first. That is deliberate: Texas Arbor Day is the first Friday in November (November 6, 2026) because fall is when a tree should go in the ground here.

If we cannot ship inside that window we will email you before it closes with a revised date and a one-click cancel link. If the new date is 30 days or less past the original, you can wait or cancel, your choice. If we need more than 30 days, your order is cancelled and refunded automatically unless you tell us to hold it. Refunds go back to your original card within 7 business days. This is the FTC Mail Order Rule (16 CFR Part 435) and we would rather you use it than be surprised.

The spec is the promise

Measure your tree against the "What actually ships" numbers above on the day it arrives. If it misses the spec, photograph it and we refund you in full and you keep the tree. We are not going to send you a stick and a photograph of somebody else's oak.

About this image: our product photography is an illustrative rendering of a mature, well-grown specimen of this species. It is not a photograph of the individual plant you will receive. The written "What actually ships" spec above is the binding description of your tree.