Tree Planting

[dbltree]

In regards to electric fence, it may work for some depending on if the trees are not in frequent travel routes like between food sources and cover, but cattlemen here in SE Iowa tire of deer tearing electric fences down so I haven't personally attempted it.

I gather up old rolls of woven wire or sometimes new wire on sale and wrap the trees with it.

It's a little hard to actually see the wire in these pics but they are enclosed.

Easier and better of course to fence them early on when they are inside a tube.

Even then bucks will sometimes rip the wire, tube and all off the tree and still destroy it! A friend had a couple apple trees nicely fenced with wire and posts but a buck ripped the whole mess down and killed the tree!

I had stuck some woven wire over a couple apple trees but with no posts yet.

but the other day I found the wire 20 yards away, crumpled after a buck decided to have a go at it! Fortunately he spared the tree and I replaced the wire but you can see how tall the tree is!

Some folks don't have a lot of problem but once you spend some years developing a complete habitat program that includes safe bedding areas and hidden food sources, the number of mature bucks will jump dramatically and they are powerful animals!

This ole boy shredded this white pine so imagine what he would do to a little piece of wire and a tree tube...

 

[letemgrow]

This ole boy shredded this white pine so imagine what he would do to a little piece of wire and a tree tube...

Exactly, that is why leaving them on for a few years will not do much IMO if you have a good number of mature deer. A tree like that takes more than a few years to grow that large even if it is a fast grower. :way:

 

[Joey Rott]

Great pictures guys...

Does anyone have much experience with Chinese Chestnuts and how the deer like them in comparison to common white/bur acorns? This past Spring I planted about 2 lbs of chestnuts throughout my property. I kept about 30 back to test the germination rates and almost everyone sprouted within 2 months...And now, there are a good amt of seedlings coming up around my proerty.

I plan on planting some American's next Spring. I think i'm far enough west to avoid blight problems.

 

[dbltree]

Great pictures guys...

Does anyone have much experience with Chinese Chestnuts and how the deer like them in comparison to common white/bur acorns? This past Spring I planted about 2 lbs of chestnuts throughout my property. I kept about 30 back to test the germination rates and almost everyone sprouted within 2 months...And now, there are a good amt of seedlings coming up around my proerty.

I plan on planting some American's next Spring. I think i'm far enough west to avoid blight problems.

They grow a lot of Chinease Chestnuts here in Iowa for commercial production and deer do love them! I planted quite a few but I didn't tube or fence them and rabbits promptly killed every single one! :thrwrck:

 

[dbltree]

Here are some more pictures from acorn planting and some thoughts on various tree tubes...

This pic is comparing a white oak acorn from my own native tree and a chinkapin oak acorn...quite a difference!

The Miracle Tubes from Tree pro come in multiple diameters for ease of shipping...

They have plenty of holes and have the tie straps pre assembled

We used the stakes they sell which are very functional but a little pricey

I used a shovel so that I could losen the dirt slightly and better seat the tube tightly against the soil

It takes little effort to "plant" an acorn an inch deep of course and even the pointed stakes can make a slight hole for the acorn

We also planted some hazelnuts

Much of my farm is over grown pasture so there are plenty of "odd areas" to plant acorns or seedlings like this spot where I mowed down a mass of blackberries and goldenrod to plant a variety of acorns.

Joey sent these links, the first which shows pictures (page down) of Tubex tubes on new seedlings.

Tubex example

and this source where they are only a buck a piece and they have 6' bamboo stakes for only .030 cents!!

Tubex Standard - TreeShelters 5 Pack

Tree shelters can be great but they are kinda pricey for large scale plantings unless cost share is involved so price can be an important issue. The Tubex tubes might require drilling holes in which could be time consuming on a large scale but doable nonetheless...:way:

 

[dbltree]

Walking out after hunting the other day I checked on some 3 year old red cedars that were purchased from the Iowa State Nursery as the larger size seedlings they offer.

Pretty darn good growth I think!:way:

Bucks are still hammering some of the sawtooth oaks every year!

Been fencing my hybrids to keep bucks from destroying them using old woven wire.

A few pics of oak seedlings planted this past spring...

I must been tired and planted two at a time!

Dwarf Chinkapin oak from Oikos Tree crops

Hopefully it will look as nice as this one that letemgrow has growing! :way:

The Oust XP/Surflan combination provided all season long weed control!

A friend and I already ordered some bur x gambel oak seedlings from Idaho State Nursery and we'll probably place a small order with Ames...just enough to keep us busy hand planting this spring!

 

[letemgrow]

Good lucking stuff Paul!!

I just got done planting 10 accf american chestnuts, 12 more tree tubes of dwarf chinkapins and 6 more tubes of a chinkapin oak that was dropping loads of acorns on 10-15. Those should be quite a magnet dropping at that time when most other oaks were dropping a month eariler.


I plant 2-4 seeds per tube and let the strongest man survive so to speak in each tube and I am lazy and did not want to plant 100 seeds in 100 tubes today.

 

[dbltree]

Your going to have chinkapins coming out your ears Phil!

nice problem to have in a few years...

Here's the link to Okio's Tree Crops for acorns and seeds...

Okios Tree Crops- Acorns

I asked Ken Asmus of OTC's and he said he stores all his acorns and plants them in soiless plant tubes in the spring.

Plant Bands

I may order acorns and plant bands and store them for sprint planting...surely my wife won't notice one more package of acorns in the fridge...

 

[letemgrow]

Your going to have chinkapins coming out your ears Phil!

...surely my wife won't notice one more package of acorns in the fridge...

I sure hope that I have so many dwarf chinkapin and chinkapin oaks that the deer and other critters cannot eat them all. I planted all, but what I want to keep for a test run for a spring planting so those are in the fridge in damp peat and I will see how well they do as opposed to fall planted acorns.

I have a drawer in the fridge designated for acorns/seeds and once I fill it up I am done for the winter....dang it...the drawer is almost full already and I have a lot more remanent prairie cord, big blue, blazing star and various other wildflowers to collect still!!!

Guess I will just scatter seed a bit more than I had originally anticipated this fall/winter.

 

[sadam]

Just wondering if any of you plant any Northern Pecans? I know squirrels like them but how about deer?

 

[dbltree]

Just wondering if any of you plant any Northern Pecans? I know squirrels like them but how about deer?

Haven't tried that one but perhaps someone else has?

 

[letemgrow]

I put some pecan seeds in the ground this fall....hopefully they were not some of the ones the hogs eat the tree guards on......

 

[letemgrow]

I planted out some persimmons that I grew from seeds, they were started in rootmaker containers and look at the rootball they have!! It would be best to grow them in soil like where they will be put so then you can just plant the rootball and all. I had problems in the past growing them in potting soil, then planting the root ball in soil that did not drain and well and it killed the seedlings. That is why I took them bareroot to the farm wrapped in damp paper towels after I got them out of the bags.


Here is the persimmon pictured below in the rootmaker bag and after I pulled it out...I cut the bottom of the bags so I just pop the top off and knock all the potting soil off with ease.

 

[letemgrow]

Here is one of my dwarf chinkapin oak patches where I planted some acorns at...this is right by the dead end gravel so it will make it easy for me to put up metal guards when they grow out of the tubes and also to maintain them. Them I will collect the acorns to spread out further on the farm.

 

[letemgrow]

I also collected a pile of northern red oak acorns off this tree. It was maybe 15 feet tall and loaded with acorns. There were 25-30 other northern red oaks alongside this one, but they had no where near the amount of acorns. Either it was pollinated at the right time, or has better genetics. Time will tell since I planted some out on my farm. They were planted out in their spot and winter will take care of breaking dormancy for me. Some were stored in the fridge too in case the rodents get to them.

 

[dbltree]

Wow! Heckuva root system on that persimmon...I like it!!

I didn't use to pay much attention to red oak acorns but I noticed they fell later then the white oaks at my place and deer were scooping them up like crazy!

Good stuff Phil!!:way:

 

[letemgrow]

Wow! Heckuva root system on that persimmon...I like it!!

I didn't use to pay much attention to red oak acorns but I noticed they fell later then the white oaks at my place and deer were scooping them up like crazy!

Good stuff Phil!!:way:

I noticed the same thing and collected some off of a norther red oak growing along the creek to spead them out further on the farm. The deer seemed to be pretty fond of them. :way:

While sitting in the stand on the 4th of November, I watched a buck make a rub and scrape then head straight to another northern red oak I have on the farm and he was working on the acorns for quite a while and this was on a great white oak year so I would hate to see how big of a draw they are when there are no white oaks!!

 

[dgallow]

Are supplies of your other acorns depleted and they are left with the red oaks? That is really wierd they are scooping them up...has to be the soil. Used to hunt alot in the Ozark highlands, acorns of the northern or southern red oaks were the last to be eaten and least preferred. Then in SEOK shumards/pins and blackjack are like candy...of course any acorn is a blessing down there. Amazing how areas differ!

The roots on that persimmon sprout makes me ache all over....we have this ongoing love/hate relationship! :thrwrck:

 

[dbltree]

Are supplies of your other acorns depleted and they are left with the red oaks?

Yes for the most part whites drop earlier and they suck those down like candy but eventually they run out and they turn to the reds.

You see why we are all planting sweet white oak varieties like Dwarf Chinkapin Oak....:way:

p.s....I think those would do very well out your way too...

 

[letemgrow]

Are supplies of your other acorns depleted and they are left with the red oaks? /QUOTE]

Exactly, northern reds are not prefferred, but they do really key in on them whenever the white oaks are gone or never developed a crop on any given year. I just watched another deer head straight to the same northern red oak yesterday evening.

That is why diversity is the key. :way: