Is Sawtooth Oak deer resistant?
Quercus acutissima
Browsed where deer pressure is high. Protect it.
Not listed by Rutgers NJAES. Rating reflects general horticultural consensus.
About Sawtooth Oak
The oak most often recommended for drawing deer, and the one that needs the biggest caveat. The appeal is real. Sawtooth bears acorns in five to ten years where a white oak takes twenty or more, it produces heavily and annually, and it drops early enough in September to pull deer in before the native oaks let go. On paper it solves the oak problem. The caveat is that it is not native, it naturalises readily, and it is increasingly treated as invasive across the southeast. Several state programmes that once promoted it have stopped. This is the same pattern as autumn olive: a plant pushed hard to landowners for wildlife value, whose ecological cost showed up a generation later. If the goal is early mast on ground you own outright, understand the trade before planting it. If native alternatives will do, white oak and chestnut oak carry the same value without the spread, and a Chinese chestnut bears faster than either.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 6.8
- Drainage
- Well drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Maintenance
- Low
Tolerances and uses
- Attracts birds
Deer-resistant alternatives to Sawtooth Oak
Same plant type, hardy in the same zones, but rated better on the Rutgers scale. If Sawtooth Oak keeps getting eaten, these go in the same spot.
Similar to Sawtooth Oak
Other trees with the same deer rating.
- Alternate-Leaved DogwoodCornus alternifoliaZones 3–7Occasionally damaged
- American PersimmonDiospyros virginianaZones 4–9Occasionally damaged
- AppleMalus sp.Zones 4–9, genus rangeOccasionally damaged
- Atlantic White CedarChamaecyparis thyoidesZones 3–9Occasionally damaged
- Atlas CedarCedrus atlanticaZones 6–9Occasionally damaged
- Bald CypressTaxodium distichumZones 4–9Occasionally damaged
Protecting Sawtooth Oak
Whether this survives comes down to local pressure, so it is worth knowing the options before it gets browsed rather than after.
- Protecting a young treeBrowsing costs a season. A buck rubbing a two-inch stem in October girdles it and kills it outright.
- How tall a deer fence needs to beEight feet, and six is the most common expensive mistake in deer fencing.
- Repellent that actually worksThe egg-based recipe that reproduces the active ingredient in the commercial sprays that win university trials.
- Check it is actually deerDeer tear and leave a ragged stub. A clean 45-degree cut is rabbits, and slug holes get blamed on deer constantly.
Where Sawtooth Oak grows
Hardy across most of these 46 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Browse from here
Every list Sawtooth Oak belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Sawtooth Oak
- Is Sawtooth Oak deer resistant?
- Sawtooth Oak (Quercus acutissima) is rated Occasionally Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Browsed where deer pressure is high. Protect it.
- What hardiness zones does Sawtooth Oak grow in?
- Sawtooth Oak is hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Sawtooth Oak grow in shade?
- No. Sawtooth Oak wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.
- How big does Sawtooth Oak get?
- Mature height is roughly 360–720 in. Growth rate is fast.
- Is Sawtooth Oak toxic to dogs or cats?
- Not to dogs or cats — the ASPCA lists Sawtooth Oak as toxic to horses only. Worth knowing if you keep any; the ASPCA does not list it as a risk to dogs or cats.