Illustration
Live Oak
Quercus virginiana
Also called southern live oak and american live oak
Live Oak blooms from March through April.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Live Oak
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 8–10. Expect it to reach about 60 ft tall and 73 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 12 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Live Oak. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Live Oak
Plant Live Oak in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 9, the middle of its hardy zones 8 to 10, spring means January to March and fall means October or November. Once settled, it blooms from March to April.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 9, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 9 in January. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Live Oak get?
60 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult73 ftwideSee Live Oak in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Live Oak
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Live Oak about 73 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Live Oak to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Live Oak's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 7 published sources on October 19, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- Missouri Botanical Gardenheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- NC State ExtensionGardener Plant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- University of Florida IFASExtensionheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- pubs.ext.vt.eduVirginia Cooperative Extensionheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and water
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight, sun, water and bloom months and color
- ncagr.govNorth Carolina Forest Serviceheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- tlncurbside.comTwin Lakes Nurseryheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Where it grows wild
Native to 9 states
United States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia
Recorded growing wild in 218 counties.
Also grows wild, but is not native, in Arkansas.
Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.
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Design a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.