Pin Oak is a beautiful and popular landscape tree, notably because of its attractive pyramidal form and relatively reliable fall foliage. 
 
     When trying to choose an Oak, I think comparisons are helpful.  Pin Oak and Northern Red Oak, for example, are often confused because they are both, broadly, in the Red Oak family, have similar leaves and are roughly the same size.
 
     Both have attractive fall color with Pin Oaks ranging from red to burgundy while Red Oaks are more of an orange to deep mahogany.  The Red Oak canopy may be a bit wider, up to 60 feet or more branch-tip to branch-tip while Pin Oak is a bit more slender and graceful. 
 
     A big difference is in soil preference.  While Red Oak prefers drier sites, Pin Oak, a native of bottomlands and floodplains, does well in moister areas.  Pin Oak also does not have the species' characteristically deep taproot and therefore is more amenable to being transplanted.
 
     Like all of the oaks, Pin Oak's value to biodiversity cannot be overstated.  Oaks feed more than 400 caterpillar species, which in turn feed birds, reptiles and so on up the food chain.  It is a arval host to the Gray Hairstreak and hundreds of other butterfly and moth species, and birds use it for food and shelter.
 
     Pin Oak is a favorite among homeowners because of its attractive form.  It also has become a popular street tree because it is slender, for an Oak, and because it tolerates soil compaction and air pollution.
 
     For more on Oaks, read our blog here.