Many years ago I tried grafting oaks and failed. It looks like I’m having success this year using bur oak seedlings growing on the edge of a hayfield. I thought a seedling growing naturally would have more vigor to push growth of the graft. I plan on digging it up next year and planting in its proper location.
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I think I’ve heard oaks are hard to graft, but that might’ve been in the context of trying to graft chestnuts to them
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You can graft chestnuts to oak?
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I’m not sure about delayed graft failure, but yes.
I’ve got an experiment to report on.
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Grafting chestnuts onto oak rootstock would be wonderful to expand the range of where chestnuts could be grown. Wet clay soils? I might give it a try.
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I had seen a oak tree at a nursery near me that sold it as ‘fast growing oak’ and it had 4’ shoots of rapid growth on it and was in a 10 gal pot and looked like it was third year from seed and was covered in nuts. Now I wonder about getting something like that to graft chestnut to?
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I’ve been grafting oaks for nearly 30 years. I anticipate success rates comparable to apple, provided I have quality dormant-collected scionwood that has been stored correctly without too much/too little moisture.
I do a simple bark graft asap after the rootstock begins unfurling leaves.
There is good graft compatibility across the white oak group; I use mostly bur oak seedlings as my preferred rootstock… mainly because they are what I have most readily available, but also because they are typically very vigorous growers.
Perixodase incompatibilities may be an issue when grafting members of the red/black oak group. I’ve had good success grafting several red oak hybrids(Q.texanaXpalustris, Q.nigraXcoccinea) onto both M.rubra(Northern Red) and M.falcata(Southern Red), but have one graft of M.coccinea(Scarlet oak) on Pin oak that has a really wonky-looking graft union. It’s at least 12-15 years out, but I won’t be surprised to come out one morning and find the grafted top lying on the ground.
Bur oak seedlings from the large acorn strains that I have concentrated on collecting (25 acorns/lb or larger) are quite vigorous, consistently putting on 2-4 ft of growth annually, once they are planted in a permanent location, in-ground. Most have been producing good crops of acorns by 6-10 years of age.
As to grafting chestnut onto oak understock, it is my understanding that delayed incompatibility is a significant issue. Red oak species, like Q.rubra, are your best bet for a rootstock, if you are going to attempt it.
Q.coccinea ‘Crimson Cloud’ graft on Q.palustris rootstock:
Q.x humidicola (Q.lyrataXbicolor) on Q.bicolor understock
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@DavidinVermont what is your oak scion? Are there certain characteristics that you are going for?
Bigger acorns? Sooner production? Faster growth?
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The graft is a Bur Oak of sentimental
value that has very erect fast growth with very attractive leaves that you can see here.
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On the subject of oaks…
Do any of you know of something like a oak tree museum that Dax would have been familiar with or associated with..
The way he described it to me people could walk around trails and look at Oak trees of almost all kinds of Oak trees. They had signage posted giving details of the tree.
If you were really interested in oak tree varieties… sounds like the place to visit.
Dax was looking at one of my post here (a few years back) and noticed what I had always thought was a common post oak..
He kind of went nuts over what he saw.. very happy to find it.. he had me send him more pictures of it… Close ups of leaves, branches, nuts, etc..
After examining those.. he was even more excited. He sent the pictures of my (post oak ?) To a friend of his who was associated with this (Oak tree museum) and he confirmed with Dax that my tree was one they had been trying to collect for many years.
That fall and winter I sent Dax at his requst… Several nuts from my tree.. and lots of scion wood.
He provided me with many persimmon scions in trade.
I am calling this place a museum.. but no idea what they officially call it.
That next year Dax.. left growing fruit and I never knew why or exactly what happened.
I never heard anything back from him on if they were successful grafting my special post oak.
It could be on display at this place now.
I suppose some of you may have known Dax well. If you know anything about this… Let me know please.
Thanks
TNHunter
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Years ago the neighboring business from my work had about 7 large oak trees around their parking lot. They were Bebbs oak, a cross mix of white oak and burr oak. In the fall when the acorns would start dropping there would be 5 to 10 squirrels under this one particular tree (same tree every year) until the acorns were all cleaned up then they would move on to the other trees in the neighborhood.
Something about that one tree that the squirrels all loved the acorns. I though this would make a good tree for hunting property, generally if a squirrel favors a certain acorn the deer and turkeys will favor it too.
10 -15 years ago I sent some scions to @Lucky_P I think he has it growing at his place now. It got the name of Squirrels Choice.
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Yes! I do have ‘Squirrel’s Choice’ grafted & growing here… I’d forgotten who sent scions to me; It’s topworked into a Bebbs oak seedling from acorns a friend in MI sent… I left one branch of the original at about 6 ft above ground, but below the graft.
I was reading this post, going, “I need to shoot you a message asking for scionwood next spring”, and here I find that I’ve already got it. lol
Thanks for recounting the story of that tree.
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I haven’t been active lately, I’m sad to find out Dax left. I sent him an antique grape grafter years ago and wanted to know how it was working. Does anyone have an email for him or anything. I guess I have his address somewhere, maybe I’ll send him a letter.
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Trev, I wonder if Dax was referring to Starhill Forest Arboretum, at Petersburg, IL; home place of noted quercophile Guy Sternberg…
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@Lucky_P… I did a search on (quercus) on GF and found this post by Dax (barkslip) from 2022.
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I just know there are oak people everywhere. This is Quercus x sternbergii (Q. buckley x Q. shumardii). It occurs in a small band in TX where the two converge. It was not until recently not-considered a new species. It’s named after an author and friend, Guy Sternberg of Petersburg IL where he has an enormous oak arboretum (and other trees) and where ongoing oak-research, occurs. He has the most oak species at one location than anywhere else in the world.
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That must be the place.
TNHunter
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I also found this reply to me from Dax..
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Very cool, oaks. I’d love some acorns if you would, maybe 30 at the most.
If you would please separate any scrubby forms of post oak seed from taller post oak, that would be appreciated. I’d prefer the smaller form.
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So he was interested in a smaller, scrubby form of post oak.
I found one like that just past my home on my property and he loved it.. I sent him fresh acorns from it in the fall and then scion that winter.
TNHunter
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I made a new thread, but this is very related and I thought you’d like to know, I would really like some of that “Squirrel’s Choice” next year if it’s possible and I might have something I can hook you up with as well, some interesting seeds or fruit tree scions, but I’ll have to give you a list later, unless you have a request for seeds soon, message me.
The graft unions are amazing, one looks like it was girdled with barbwire and the other looks like a Lazer cut through it perfectly flat and it kept growing.
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I will check if the ortet is still there, I have no reason to believe it’s not. It’s nice to know @Lucky_P still has it growing also.
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I did exactly that 4 years ago, I’ll be going home to check them soon, they thrived for a couple of years at least. Let’s see!
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