White oaks mixed results/ Chestnut question

After planting 160 white oak acorns in pots last fall I have had mixed success.

The best results by far have been from planting outside in the fall and letting mother nature take care of the stratification.

The worst results were from planting inside and attempting to grow the acorns over the winter under a lamp, of the 20 or so I planted inside only 2 survived with all loss coming from white mold.

The results of the acorns planted outside were about 50% of the acorns grew into seedlings. Durring the spring I lost about half of those to white mold, and again lost another half to insects. That has resulted in about 40 first year seedlings, some have already gone to their new homes to compliment the dwarf apples planted last year. A second round of white oaks are being planted this weekend: 2 Bebs saplings, 1 Schuettes sapling (both naturaly occuring hybrid whites I purchased), and as many plain jane white oak seedlings (querqus alba) in small pots as I can carry. The Bebs have already grown 10 inches (see pic) this year so I am hoping to see this continue.

Attachment 30012

If anyone is interested I have a good free source of White Oak seeds in the Burlington area, on King road about 500m North of the North Service Road on the West side of the road by the new(er) buildings there are two mature white oak trees which could drop acorns this year or next year - good for planting or for deer feeding at your hunting spot.

So, here is my question - American Chestnuts - has anyone tried these in zone 3-4? if so what success have you seen?

What other mast producing trees has anyone had success with in zone 3-4?

Thanks, M.

when i have planted oaks, just tossed a naturally cracked acorn in a hole in the ground, and the next spring a oak emerges... the one i planted 5 years ago when we moved in, is now 9 ft tall

I'll pirate your thread a bit and add that anyone in the Pembroke area that wants oak seedlings - about 10" tall, I have quite a few that are growing naturally along a powerline that was bulldozed last summer.

mom and dad have a dozen big white oaks in there back yard ,well thy dropped tons of acorns last fall I mean tons the most I have ever seen any ways we spread mulch on all the gardens this spring and what do you know up pops over 100 seedlings a few weeks latter ,so I did up as many as I can look after and put them in pots and am now looking after a dozen that have really done well ,,not sure on the next step but for now I got them on my front step in pots ,,Dutch

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dutchhunter

mom and dad have a dozen big white oaks in there back yard ,well thy dropped tons of acorns last fall I mean tons the most I have ever seen any ways we spread mulch on all the gardens this spring and what do you know up pops over 100 seedlings a few weeks latter ,so I did up as many as I can look after and put them in pots and am now looking after a dozen that have really done well ,,not sure on the next step but for now I got them on my front step in pots ,,Dutch

---

I thought the Dutch only grew tulips and made windmills LOL.

I assume you will be planting common white oaks at your hunting spots, if so here is what I would do:

First ID the type of tree you have. There are a few types of White oaks which grow in your area, each type will require different soil. if you send me a picture of a leaf I can help identify the type of White Oak, but I am going to assume you have a common white which will look like this:

http://images.morphbank.net/?id=692075&imgType=jpg

If you want to try to ID the tree yourself compare the leaves here:

http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/pages/compare-oaks.htm



For a common White Oak look for spots with damp slightly acidic soil but with good drainage, common white oaks do not like to be wet (swamp whites are for wet areas). Do not plant your oaks in the wrong soil as they will not do well and may die off. They will tolerate shade when young (and actually do better in shade when young) but require full sun to reach maturity and drop acorns. Also just as important is to plant your seedlings with tree tubes, these will prevent rabbits and deer from eating the seedlings, I have a few I can give you for free and will be in Erieau this weekend for the Derby if you want to drop by or in Burlington any other time.

This is a tree tube (not the white curly plastic bark protector):

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=JN.Xnb...d=1.9&rs=0&p=0

Marker, this is a great thread. I want to encourage more oak growth in my hunting area (Bancroft). When I get a chance to scout the area again I will get a soil sample and ID some of the local oaks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LeakyBoots

Marker, this is a great thread. I want to encourage more oak growth in my hunting area (Bancroft). When I get a chance to scout the area again I will get a soil sample and ID some of the local oaks.

---

I am no expert but have learned a lot the past year so I hope to pass along my experiences so others can experience a better success rate. In respect to your prospective planting location (Bancroft) I would lean towards the Bur Oak (or Bur hybrids) as it has a natural range in that zone (all other White Oaks are more Southern):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ange_map_1.png

I did not mention the zones to Dutch as he is in a warmer area where common Whites are naturally occurring.


Bur Oaks have fuzzy acorn shells (see pic below), if you can find some acorns that's the cheapest thing to do (the closest I know of are in Michigan). Alternatively you can order Bur Saplings from a nursery (Rhora's sells them for $10 each http://www.nuttrees.com/hybrid.htm):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...macrocarpa.jpg

leaky boots and I are in the same spot. in the general area, there are many oaks...just not in our direct hunting spot. they are few and far between within 1km of our direct hunting grounds (from my experience). Is the consensus here that white oak is the best way to go?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LeakyBoots

Marker, this is a great thread. I want to encourage more oak growth in my hunting area (Bancroft). When I get a chance to scout the area again I will get a soil sample and ID some of the local oaks.

---

You mean you don't have many oaks? Our camp,in McArthurs Mills is full of them. Good crop of acorns = lots of deer.

Roe+

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marker

I am no expert but have learned a lot the past year so I hope to pass along my experiences so others can experience a better success rate. In respect to your prospective planting location (Bancroft) I would lean towards the Bur Oak (or Bur hybrids) as it has a natural range in that zone (all other White Oaks are more Southern):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ange_map_1.png

I did not mention the zones to Dutch as he is in a warmer area where common Whites are naturally occurring.


Bur Oaks have fuzzy acorn shells (see pic below), if you can find some acorns that's the cheapest thing to do (the closest I know of are in Michigan). Alternatively you can order Bur Saplings from a nursery (Rhora's sells them for $10 each http://www.nuttrees.com/hybrid.htm):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...macrocarpa.jpg

---

Great! Thanks! Hey Boots, I think I know where one of these trees is.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Roe+

You mean you don't have many oaks? Our camp,in McArthurs Mills is full of them. Good crop of acorns = lots of deer.

Roe+

---

Ya I know! To the north and east of the lake we hunt, the area is jammed with them. just not where we are.

Are you talking about Pritchard?

Roe+

the oaks at mom and dads grow on the rim of deep gullys .we have a lot of them and thy are very big trees ,Thy are growing along the top of the gullys all around the farm and the farms next to us for miles ,,thy had the best year last that I have ever seen more acorns then we could keep swept up with the tractor and sweeper ,,tons of them ,,I will get a pic of the leaves up soon Dutch

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Roe+

You mean you don't have many oaks? Our camp,in McArthurs Mills is full of them. Good crop of acorns = lots of deer.

Roe+

---

No there are lots of oaks in the area, just not in the immediate area where we hunt. More than anything, I need to look more closely.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...8/DSCF3473.jpg
here are the trees I transplanted .thy have been in the pots for a few weeks now ,so what kind of oak are thy ,,,Dutch

Look like white oaks to me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by werner.reiche

Look like white oaks to me.

---

I agree, White Oak. The first leaves to sprout on my white oak seedlings look the same as yours. As the tree grows you should see the leaf take on more shape, on mine the second branch down usually shows more typical white oak features of rounded lobes and a deeper v section between the lobes.

Your plants look quite healthy, keep doing what you already doing and I think you will have some nice seedlings to plant.

thanks I got a dozen left just like the ones in the pic ,what do I do with them come late fall .or should I plant them before freeze up ,Dutch

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dutchhunter

thanks I got a dozen left just like the ones in the pic ,what do I do with them come late fall .or should I plant them before freeze up ,Dutch

---

That's a good question, I have read the best time to plant is spring or fall when the tree is dormant but I will be planting mine throughout the year as I can only get to my hunting spots occasionally so I do not have much choice. After saying that, when I did landscaping years ago we planted most of our trees in the summer and they did fine as long as: 1. the roots do not get exposed to the air, and 2. they get watered regularly until the tap root develops.

I would definitely use some form of protection from deer grazing.

Here is a pic of an Oak planted in 1965 with no protection (http://www.hastingsreserve.org/OakStory/Deer2.html):

http://www.hastingsreserve.org/OakSt...s/BonsaiQD.jpg

I have got chicken wire around some smaller saplings but as they grow I will be replacing that with tree tubes. I took tomato frames turned them upside down and wrapped in chicken wire, an idea I got from the internet (on the right):

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P1khm2021V...ermarked+2.jpg

Burr Oaks are the only big oak trees in the Northwest.
They grow well along shorelines like the Rainy River.
But they also grow well in many areas in the clay soils of division 10.

There is about 10 acres dominated by oak on the south end of my property.
Does it help deer hunting? Probably not.
It seems bears are the main big game animal that eats acorns in the fall.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marker

I am no expert but have learned a lot the past year so I hope to pass along my experiences so others can experience a better success rate. In respect to your prospective planting location (Bancroft) I would lean towards the Bur Oak (or Bur hybrids) as it has a natural range in that zone (all other White Oaks are more Southern):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ange_map_1.png

I did not mention the zones to Dutch as he is in a warmer area where common Whites are naturally occurring.


Bur Oaks have fuzzy acorn shells (see pic below), if you can find some acorns that's the cheapest thing to do (the closest I know of are in Michigan). Alternatively you can order Bur Saplings from a nursery (Rhora's sells them for $10 each http://www.nuttrees.com/hybrid.htm):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...macrocarpa.jpg

---

A friend who lives in Barry's Bay has white oaks and they self-propagate. I've found the best way to sprout the white oaks is to rake the acorns up with the leaves in the fall and then just leave them in a pile. Then in the spring carefully go through the pile, pick out the sprouted acorns, pot them and in the fall plant them.

At our old farm we had a lot of red oaks and the easiest way to sprout them was to just leave then out in a sunny spot, on the surface of the ground, water them occasionally and wait for them to sprout.

Not American chestnuts but I did grow some "horse chestnuts" in zone 3 (I picked up the chestnuts in Ottawa) but I had to put snow fencing around the young trees to make a micro-climate.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenLakePete

Not American chestnuts but I did grow some "horse chestnuts" in zone 3 (I picked up the chestnuts in Ottawa) but I had to put snow fencing around the young trees to make a micro-climate.

---

We used to collect the Horse Chestnuts and roast them back in the UK, they are actually quite good. I am just researching the Dunstan Chestnut (hybrid cross between the Chinese Chestnut and American Chestnut), apparently it is less susceptible to Blight which almost wiped out the American Chestnut in the 1900's. Not sure how hardy the Dunstan is though is I am in the North end of the historical range of the American Chestnut.

we buried the acorns under 4 inches of mulch and thy sprouted very quik ,made them easy to dig up to as long as you did not leave them to long as the tap root grows deep very fast ,,Dutch