Creating an understory bed of perennials or small shrubs is your best bet. Avoid planting too close to your oak tree's trunk unless you are using very small or shallow rooted plants. Even with smaller plants, be sure that you dig gently to ensure you aren't hitting your tree's roots.

Brown Oak is technically not a distinct species of oak, but rather refers to oak (almost always English Oak or another European species) that has been infected with a fungus. This fungus (Fistulina hepatica) has the effect of turning the wood a deep brown color.

Oak forests are important habitats for thousands of animals and plants. At most scenic overlooks in the Appalachian Mountains, the rolling green ridgetops you see stretching towards the horizon are covered with oak trees.

Since the earliest ties between humans and oaks, a very strong symbolic image of oaks has developed in which these trees have become associated with longevity, strength, stability, endurance, fertility, power, justice, and honesty.