farm hunter; with white oaks a 25-30 ft spacing is good for the final planting but you will loose and maybe want to remove some trees along the way. The conservation authority is our area plants on a 10 x 10' grid to account for future removal. The tubes help but the biggest problem that you'll run into with hardwoods is root competition. They have a hard time putting out roots if grass is growing next to the trunk. The best growth and survival that I've been able to obtain is when I applied a 3' diameter x 6" deep mulch of wood chips. As I've later found out the wood chips feed fungus rather than the bacteria that hay or grass would when they break down.. The hardwoods need this interaction with the soil fungus to obtain nutrients. The mulch also helps to maintain soil moisture. If you can't apply a mulch the minimal would be to apply herbicide. If you use Roundup you;ll have to be very careful. Possibly using a stove pipe over the tree when spraying. I've tried Simazine but it seemed to retard the tree growth.

You could grow the trees in 5 gallon containers for a couple of years to let them develop better root systems. This also allows you to plant them in a root ball which reduces transplant shock.

Dan O.