Just curious if others are growing native trees such as oaks, nut trees, persimmon, ect.
When I first started with growing fruiting plants in 2011, I initially wanted to go with all native plants, but eventually switched over to just cultivated fruiting plants (wish I’d stuck to my original plan!). Now I’m going back to my original plan of growing natives, including oaks and other nut producing trees.
Back in the fall of 2011, I did plant two persimmon seedlings, two Saw-tooth oaks, and a Catalpa tree. Those trees were all 4’-5’ potted trees. Those that get the best sunlight are now at least 25 feet tall. Both persimmons turned out to be males. However, they produce tons of flowers and the honeybees just slam those trees when they’re in bloom. The Saw-tooth oaks are just now starting to produce mature acorns. I keep imagining where I’d be if I’d gone all out with my original plan to begin with!
I’ve recently ordered hybrid oaks from Oikos and NativNurseries, and will be ordering more as they become available. I’ve also planted some pecans. I planted small bare root pecans from plantmegreen over the last couple of years. The results have been poor with those trees. Of eight planted, only three have survived. I think @scottfsmith has also had poor results with them. I’m ordering a few potted pecans this fall to see if they fare any better. Also have a few pawpaw trees planted.
Anyway, just curious if others have been growing natives or other non-fruiting trees and how your results have been. If I recall, I think @subdood_ky_z6b has some experience in this area.
I’m growing lots of native trees for myself and for my nursery. For myself I grow them for wildlife. I planted lots of oaks about 8 years ago. One bur oak has fruited heavily for the last 3 years, starting when it was only age 5. I’ve also planted alot of hackberries, osage orange, american plum, honey & black locust. I’m pretty happy that I took the time to plant them. Most things I just knifed into the sod. The oaks and chestnuts have done the best.
Interesting about your Bur oak producing so young. I’ve been hesitant to get a bur as I’ve heard conflicting info about how long it takes them to produce - sometimes as long as 35 years. I’m not sure I’ve got that much time left! But others have claimed production at a young age. I have some bur crosses, but think I’ll try a non-hybrid or two.
We have some massive hackberries on our property. They make nice looking trees once they mature, but tend to lose limbs in heavy wind or ice. The limbs are the size of most trees.
I forgot to mention that I also have five chestnuts trees of various types planted. Trying to stay with the most timber form varieties. All are supposed to be chestnut blight resistant.
I may also eventually swap out my table grape vines for muscadines. I have to keep my table grapes sprayed, and the birds like to eat them. My muscadines have almost no pest issues.
That was the decision I made a couple of years ago. Growing table grapes required more effort than I wanted to exert. I don’t know if your going with all wild muscadine but I went with some of the muscadines rated as table types. Although these muscadines don’t taste like table grapes they are really good with edible skin. There are more good varieties than I have but I planted Black Beauty, Supreme, and Lane.
I have Hazelnut, Almond and Pecan planted but they all were just put in the ground this year. All seem so far to be doing quite well. They are all with many new branches and have leafs very nice and thick. Of course I won’t be able to talk crops for 5-6 year more at least in most cases. I am seriously considering some Chestnut trees next season. I believe I will plant 3 or 4. From reading about them it is a Favorite for deer even more so than the very plentiful native acorn. I really look forward to some good NUT crops. A good friend has already taken dibs on my first hazelnuts for making his Biscotti!! I will gladly oblige for a tray of his Biscotti!!!
I’m growing many red & white oak native to this area. They are currently in a nursery bed to be replanted elsewhere on my property. Also have a few chestnut.
I have about 10 Yates persimmon seedlings on the patio, some persimmon grafts, as well as a few seedlings from Burnt Ridge all going. I planted 5 in the field last year but had bad luck with winter die back presumably due to the seedlings’ small size. They survived though and are regrowing this year.
I also have about 4 still kicking Pawpaw seedlings planted in some sand that still only knee high. They are on their 4th or 5th year. Slow growers… And in sand… And neglected.
My aunt and uncle planted quite a few northern pecans on the same land. My uncle passed on over 16 years ago now so they are at least that old. And last year was the first that I know at least one produced nuts. Wish there was one of those grafted Hark trees that Dax showed on here a couple weeks ago.
I’ve got several oaks grown from seed, red/white 000–a bur oak i collected 8 years ago in N Wisconsin is probably 20+ foot tall and had acorns last year… It grew in a pot for a few years before put in the ground. Lots of black walnuts come up from the squirrels. I’ve let a few go for a few y ears and those fruit very quickly (and grow like weeds). Various conifers.
I like growing fruit, but my interest is in all plants.
I usually collect various seeds in the fall. Its very easy to get most trees to sprout from seed.
Thanks for the mention, but I’m sad to say my pecan tree growing experiment is mostly a big fail. I was recently out in the pasture bush hogging, where the 8 trees are that we planted about 16 months ago. Of those 8, I think maybe one or two are still alive above the graft union. The rest of the scions on the other trees are dead, from what I can tell, but there are 2 or 3 that are sprouting from the rootstock.
As mentioned in another thread, I got these trees as bare roots from PlantMeGreen as well, and they all seemed to have a good thick taproot, but not a lot of smaller feeder roots. Was this the reason they failed? I don’t know.
Even if the rootstocks send up a new tree, they are all Caddo’s (type 1), so I’d never get any pecans, because of lack of a type 2 pollinator in the area. Pecans are rare in these parts, but since I grew up in OK, I love pecans and wanted to see if they’d work out here. They may still do OK here, but I’m probably done with trying. Might be better off with an English walnut. We have lots of black walnut trees that thrive here, but I’m not a fan of the flavor.
I used to have 2 paw paw trees but I traded them back to my citrus guy for a couple of citrus after growing them for a year, a decision I now regret. I’m still debating on whether to add an American persimmon to my 7 Fuyu/Izu collection. I have lots of oak and hazelnut seedlings but these are from nuts planted and forgotten by local squirrels.
We have three chestnuts from Oikos (great customer service), and six hazels from Badgersett (do not buy from them). They are in ground about a year and looking great.
I always wanted to try hazelnuts but i have bought the nuts and don’t really care for them…in all honesty i don’t care for nuts at all!..i like “Pistachio, Pistachio” Ben/Jerry’s ice cream if that counts.
Isn’t it chestnut that have the stinky flowers? I would like to try some.
In 50 years ash tree lumber is going to be impossible to find. Do they sell an ash hybrid that can handle ash borer? Right now you can’t give that lumber away. I can imagine a lot of it will rot/wood chips or be firewood.
Bad experience with Badgersett?
Mine was mixed, got my order in mid summer, very small seedlings.
Most survived, putting out first light crop of nuts this year.
I have a hedgerow buffer strip along my road frontage that I have been working on for a few years with the goal being shelter from road noise, wildlife, pollinator forage and potential food crops. So far I have native red oak, butternut, buarnut, linden, black locust, elderberry, viburnum trilobum, chokecherry, mountain ash, hazelnut, beaked Filbert, seedling crabapple, blackberry, apple rose, Rosa rugosa growing with plans to add in chestnuts, northern pecan, white oak, shadbush, Osage orange, various dogwoods.
Also herbacous perennials like tansy, comfry, mints, milkweed.
Yeah, ordered in June of '15, received in May of '16. Plants were in a priority mail box with no sign that there were plants inside. All the soil was shaken out of the planting tubes and half the plants were dry and dead. No response to emails, no explanation for the delay, nothing. I hear now that Badgersett is shutting down and Oikos is buying their stock.
All that said, the surviving hazels are doing great.
I’m not positive on this one…another Bur or something else? Rounded leaves…so a white of some type. Just a few acorns on this one, but it’s a younger tree. I believe this was seed collected from somewhere around Madison, WI.
From what I understand, many of the white oak species hybridize freely. Which makes id even harder! There are some bur/overcup oak hybrids around here that are massive. Both the trees and the acorns. Look up the Venerable Tree Project for pics of some of them. Incredible!
How does one tell which from which? Is it mainly based on acorn shape/size or is it more leaf? Tree size? I’ll have to go collect more seeds this fall. Its fun/free. Oaks are fast growing trees in the right conditions.
Leaf shape, tree shape, and acorn size, shape and texture are the main identifiers. Zone, climate, soil condition, and location can play a role too. Even so, white oak are hard to ID. You can find dicotomous (sp) keys online and good books help.
