Oak Collection

The primary goal of our oak collection is to provide as many wild species of oaks that are winter hardy in zone 5, as well as their hybrids and cultivars, to provide genetic resources for developing new hybrids that are adaptable to a wide range of growing conditions, particularly those found in urban areas and on new home construction sites.


This collection is part of the American Public Gardens Association Plant Collections Network, which coordinates a continent-wide approach to plant germplasm (genetic resources from an organism) preservation, and promotes excellence in plant collections management.

Click here to download a plant list for this garden (pdf file, 12 pages).

Though you will find oaks throughout the F.R. Newman Arboretum, our two key oak collections include:

Schnee Oak Collection

Location: F.R. Newman Arboretum, along upper Plantations Road

Description: This collection contains 50 different oak species, cultivars, and hybrids. These include swamp white, turkey, pin, chestnut, downy, blackjack, and Northern red oaks.

The goal of this collection is to acquire all the oak species hardy in Zone 5 for use in a hybridization program, using pollen parents from Zone 6-8. This will provide desirable characteristics, such as blue foliage, evergreen leaves, shrubby stature, high pH tolerance, and rapid growth.

Peterson Oak Grove

Location: F.R. Newman Arboretum, southeast of the ponds

Description: This collection of hybrid oak trees shows how natural plant hybrids occur, and how desirable and adaptable horticultural specimens can be created artificially through breeding.

Click below to hear a two-minute audio narrative about the oak collection.