I’m in zone 5 and wondering if Shagbarks would do well here.
Anyone growing Grainger Shagbark further north?
Does it produce good yields there compared to Ultra Northern Pecans? Does it produce every year? It’s originally from Tennessee, so it must like the heat, but how about some cold…
Slower growth rate might be a limiting factor, does it take roughly twice as much time as pecans to start producing?
Any thoughts?
Grainger is originally from Grainger Co., in east TN; not Texas.
I’m certain that there are growers having success with it in zone 5.
If grafted on pecan or shellbark rootstock, it won’t necessarily be all that slow-growing. I have several on pecan, one on shellbark; two are old enough to bear, but I don’t recall when I grafted them…probably between 10 & 15 years ago Have borne annually for the past 3 years or so. I don’t know that any of the select hickories will challenge a good northern pecan for total nut production.
That said, I’m concentrating more on good hickories, away from the house, because crows/jays/woodpeckers depredate the hickories less than they do my pecans.
Im growing this hickory in NW IA zone 5a. Its doing good just very slow. Think its been in the ground for 7 years and is 6ft tall. I dont forsee a crop for many years.
Thanks for the correction.
I’ve seen one negative comment about Grainger variety on one website describing it:
“Does not store well, as it goes rancid quickly”
Anyone know if there is any truth to this?
Interesting. Do you know how old or how tall was it when you planted it?
Most pecans or hickories, if I can’t get to cracking & picking them out, within 4-6 weeks, I try to get them in the freezer, or at least in the refrigerator.
That said, I had some nuts of Roger Miller’s ‘King of the Road’ shagbark that had been in my desk drawer at work for at least 15 years… @carya and I cracked one, a couple of years ago…it was still good, not rancid at all. Now…if I could just figure out which grafted tree it is…
Where’d you hear that? In general, i would say Grainger stores reasonably well. If cured properly and put in an airtight container, they are fine for at least a year, and i’ve had them after at 2 years totally fine. Soil nutrition and growing season may be factors in storability.
I agree you should be able to grow Grainger for production down to 4b/5a.
Pound for pound I think it’s more productive than pecan.
Not sure how old but probably 3ft tall. It might hit 7ft today. Not more than that.
I’m glad to hear that it’s not true.
Apparently the website owner just read this post and took it down immediately… Tell us who you are! 
I won’t advertise the website publicly, so I’ll send you a PM with an address that still holds this info.
Haha, that was me… I looked back for my reference to the rancidity assertion, and found that it was not on the web anymore, so in light of new facts, I took it down. Don’t want to besmirch the good reputation of ‘Grainger’ if I can’t back it up!
What rootstock do you have it growing on?
I think the main concern with growing some of these larger nuts farther north is ensuring that the nut kernels actually fill in time before the temperatures become too cold.
I was always under the impression that Ultra Northern Pecans would even struggle far north to actually produce viable nuts.
Shagbark hickory can easily handle Zone 5, and the Grainger should do just fine, but the main concern could be nut filling in time. Grainger is from Tennessee which stays warmer much longer.
Although, I know Grimo nursery in Ontario sells grafted Grainger, so I imagine it should work.