Does Kindred Spirit Oak provide pollinator benefits?
| Posted in Mid-Atlantic Gardening on
I just came across Quercus x ‘Nadler’ KINDRED SPIRIT® on the site and am wondering if any research has been done regarding its benefit to pollinators? https://www.finegardening.com/article/a-tough-slender-oak-tree
I want to help pollinators but love that this hybrid is columnar, which would help for sun and space saving purposes…
Replies
Hi! I'd love to hear more about what you mean exactly by "helping pollinators" to better answer your question. When we think of pollinator plants, we often think of plants with flowers that insects use for nectar, but since oaks are wind pollinated, I don't think they'd necessarily fall into this category. It is well known that many species of lepidoptera use oaks for habitat and their larva feed on the leaves, so in this sense, they do support those pollinators. Unfortunately, I don't think you will find much very specific information regarding pollinators and this specific cultivar, but I would think you could assume it would offer similar conditions to oaks with more traditional habits. I think that if you like the tree for its habit, you should go ahead and plant it because there are plenty of other reasons to plant oaks!
Kindred Spirit is a great plant and provides a variety of ecosystem services.