Oak tree planting

[Squirrel29]

Hi all, my brother ran a treeathlon back in November I think it was and came away with an oak tree sapling. My garden is too small for it so I gave been looking after it in a pot for him until we work out what to do with it, and actually it's been living in my kitchen because of all the cold weather we've been having. It dropped it's leaves and now looks as if it is budding. My questions are: am I ok to keep it in a pot for a bit longer until it's new leaves are grown etc? Is there a certain size pot ishould be using, am worried it's routes can't grow etc. Anything else I should be doing? When should we plant it properly and where? Have read that after you plant it you still need to look after it but if we plant it in the wild somewhere I can't keep going back to do this so wanted to wait until it was a bit more stable but don't want to stunt it in a pot! In other words please help!

[artdemole]

I grew an oak tree in a large pot for several years.The branches kept trimmed and also the roots.Just like a bonsai tree but slightly larger size.POT WAS TAKEN OVER BY NEW RESIDENT WHEN I LEFT.

[AshLee]

I successfully grew an Pedunculate Oak bonsai for many years. I left home and I think it died of neglect, but with a bit of research I think it should thrive.

[metalfish]

I've got an oak tree, been in a pot for 10 odd years and it's doing fine. Pot size will resrict how big the tree grows, oaks grow slowly so it won't be a problem for a while. Mine does live outside though. If you need to keep yours indoors for the moment then just keep it away from your radiators and give it as much natural light as possible.
Trees are hardy souls so unless you end up keeping it in a small pot for years and years I don't think it'll have any problems when you plant it out.
If you want to keep it in a pot forever then go for it, as it gets too big for one pot then move it up a size (don't go from small to large pots as this will shock it, my old boss used to liken it to giving a starving child from a drought ridden country a supersize Big Mac and expecting them to be able to digest it)

Good luck, just give it a go, plants want to grow and usually will

[Squirrel29]

Thanks everybody that's all really helpful!

[2dogs2000]

I have grown oaks and horse chestnuts in pots. I planted them from acorns and conkers to show my children. They have been in pots for about 10 years. My daughter did take some to the nursery she worked at and planted them in the grounds there. I have one of each remaining and they are doing fine.

[diggleken]

All sounds good advice - just repot it a bit bigger , then move outside - it is one of our hardiest outdoor trees!
if its anywhere near a sunny spot you put it in, keep it fairly damp - it will dry out quickly and die if we have a decent warm summer!
If you cant identify a suitable site where it can grow undisturbed planted out, why not ask your local wildlife trust or Countryside service if they can use it?
Cheers
Ken