Tree Planting

[letemgrow]

So about a week till it started a root?

Exactly what all did you do here Phil?

Stick the cutting in a glass of water and root hormone?

Explain the process for us...

I dipped the cuttings into water and then miracle gro rooting horomone, and potted them in a peat based potting mix, placed them in a warm south window and kept them moist.

I would say I pulled the first one up after a couple weeks and the others now have started to put on leaves as of yesterday.

My guess is some cuttings are much easier than others and shrubs or small trees are probably way easier.

I am going to get some eastern wahoo cuttings this week and do the same things to them.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

Any best time to harvest the cuttings, or methods to harvest the cuttings?

Also we planted out field screen of willows this past spring, they started growing like weeds but then the deer destroyed them eating them to the ground! They did come back as the summer went on but deer seemed to love chomping on them.

 

[letemgrow]

I think now is the best time to get the cuttings or maybe in late Janurary. I was just dinking around with some trees I threw away from this past fall's planting and decided to take some cuttings and see what they would do.

 

[dbltree]

It's going to be a busy spring here at the Doubletree this year! I have 3800+ trees ordered that will need to be planted ASAP when they arrive!

I applied for and recieved 75% cost share through the REAP program so I will follow my IDNR District Foresters Forest Stewardship Planting Plan.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Owners Objectives:</span> Establish a hardwood forest to grow high quality lumber, to enhance water quality and provide high quality wildlife habitat and aesthetic benefits.

<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Site Prep:</span> Whenever possible, the area should be mowed in late summer to faciltate row layout and spraying. Rows will be laid out on 10 foor centers. Accurate row spacing is important for future maintenance. While existing vegetation is still green, a 4 foot wide band of herbicide will be sprayed over the row center. Recommended herbicides are 2% Roundup and 3 # Princep and 3# Pendulam (per treated acre)

<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Planting: </span>Trees should be planted as early in the spring as possible.Trees will be planted 7 feet apart in the row: rows will be 10 feet apart(600 trees per acre).In areas with existing trees, hand planting may be necessary. Trees will be planted about 15 feet apart (200 trees per acre)
Primary hardwood trees to plant include wite oak, red oak, bur oak, swamp white oak, cherry and pin oak. A variety of other hardwoods and shrubs could be added. Diversity is strongly encouraged.

<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Weed Control:</span> <span style="color: #FF0000">Control of competeting vegetation is critical to the sucess of any tree planting</span>!
Herbicide bands will be applied over the row according to labeled directions every year for at least 2 addictional years. the area between the rows must be mowed to control competing vegetation, normally 2-3 times per year.

<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Protection:</span>Trees must be protected from fire and grazing for 20 years if REAP funds are used.</div></div>

I ordered the following:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style='font-size: 11pt'>Swamp White Oak
Bur oak
Pin Oak
Red Oak
Bur-English Hybrid oaks
Bur-gambel Hybrid oaks
Dwarf Chinkapin Oak
Red Cedar
Silky Dogwood
Wild Plum
Nannyberry
Hazelnut</span>
</div></div>

I've already booked the tree planter from my county conservation board and I just need to pick up some herbicide before spring.

I'll use a combination of Roundup, AS Surflan and Princep on new seedlings and then follow up with Oust and Princep in subsequent years.

I will mark rows with tree flag markers to keep rows straight and easy to mow between. Some I will plant rye or clover between and as the oaks start to grow I have a heckuva a lot of fence to put up! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif

I've been scouting old rolls of woven wire so the only thing required is some good old fashioned hard work and a pair of wire cutters... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Right now I'm clearing cull trees from areas I want to convert/plant to hardwoods like this spot:

Just a reminder if your planting shrubs or trees, you can create a natural funnel by planting 2-4 rows of trees and leaving a 20 foot space between something like this:

Deer will follow it like a puppy on a string! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

Springs not far off...can't wait! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[dbltree]

Doubletree-where are you getting your dwarf chinkapin oaks from.Have fun planting.

Oikos Tree Crops - Dwarf Chinkapin Oak

If anyone becomes aware of another/better source please let me know but this tree is somewhat rare and difficult to find.

As more landowners find out that in can yield very sweet acorns in only a fee years...I suspect it may sell out quickly!

Morse Nursery recently added DCO to their plant list but quanties are limited and expensive in small numbers.

Morse Nursery - Dwarf Chinkapin Source

Letmgrow sent me this link but they don't appear to have any in stock.

LINCOLN-OAKES NURSERIES


Quote:
Prairie Pioneer™ Dwarf Chinkapin Oak - Quercus prinoides ‘Fort Lincoln’

Dwarf Chinkapin Oak grows typically as a multi-stemmed, suckering, large shrub or small tree, 6 - 16 feet in height. It is native in the eastern U.S. as far west as southeastern Minnesota, eastern Nebraska and Texas.

Prairie Pioneer™ is a seedling selection grown from seed collected from a native stand in southeast Nebraska by Greg Morgenson, manager of Lincoln-Oakes Nurseries, Bismarck, ND. This novel, small-statured, tree-like cultivar is collaboratively released by NDSU and may reach 24-28 feet in height at maturity.

It has withstood -35 to -40◦F numerous times in Bismarck, ND, and therefore is hardy in zone 4, and potentially zone 3b as well. Prairie Pioneer™ was selected for its dark green, very lustrous foliage and upright growth habit easily trained to a single stem. The leaves vary from 2 - 4 ½ inches long, ovate-oblong to obovate, acute tipped and wedge-shaped at base, with 4 - 6 shallow undulate to dentate teeth on each side.

The lustrous foliage is somewhat reminiscent of the leaf quality on broadleaf evergreen holly species. The underside of the leaves is finely tomentose and lighter colored. In spring, trees are covered with yellow male catkins before leaves emerge, and sessile acorns are produced if a suitable white oak member species is in the area for pollination. Fall color is typically yellow to tannish-brown.

Propagation is by side grafting on containerized seedlings of chinkapin oak (Q. muehlenbergii), swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) or preferably, bur oak, if proven to be compatible. Prairie Pioneer™ merits attention as a dense, quality-foliaged small tree for residential landscapes and various sites where large trees are unsuitable.






These are some pics of PassThru's DWARF CHINKAPIN OAK and you can see this is more like a shrub then a tree but laden with acorns!

Current Nebraska Champion Tree - Oak, Dwarf Chinkapin

Oak ID Key

True Nature Farm - Dwarf Chinkapin Oak seedlings

RPM Southern Hardwoods

 

[letemgrow]

Dwarf chinkapin's sure are hard to find and hopefully some other sources will come up in the next few years. Every place with them seems to sell out quickly.

That is going to be a lot of work this year Paul!!! 3800 trees!!!

 

[dbltree]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

Since these oaks are sort of like a shrub,,even when fully mature, can the deer mow em down?

They get 20 feet tall so no...deer can't hurt them when mature.

When young they are just as vulnerable as any oak or young tree.

They will have to have some fencing around them or they get killed for sure!

This is a mature tree

 

[Joey Rott]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

I just had a box full of seeds/acorns arrive yesterday. I decided to try another avenue this year and plant with seed. I ordered a few pounds of acorns from a variety of oaks, some chesnuts, apple and pine seeds. Most of the germination rates are supposed to be above 90%. A few of the acorns were already sprouting.

I'm soaking them right now and plan on planting them in a month or so, or until they start to sprout. I'm taking pictures, so i'll be posting those in a month or so.

 

[letemgrow]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

I just had a box full of seeds/acorns arrive yesterday. I decided to try another avenue this year and plant with seed. I ordered a few pounds of acorns from a variety of oaks, some chesnuts, apple and pine seeds. Most of the germination rates are supposed to be above 90%. A few of the acorns were already sprouting.

I'm soaking them right now and plan on planting them in a month or so, or until they start to sprout. I'm taking pictures, so i'll be posting those in a month or so.

Personally I prefer seeds instead of bare root transplants. What type of oak seeds did you get?? The white oaks start to sprout soon after dropping in the fall and I would be interested to see how they store white oaks till now if you received some of them.

 

[Joey Rott]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

I got Bur, White and Sawtooth. It's funny you mentioned the white oaks sprouting, because they were the main ones that were sprouting. A few of the Sawtooths were just starting to peek out but not nearly as much as the whites.

I hoping to have more success with the seeds. Most of the seedlings I planted last year had transplant shock, and with temps reaching over 100 degrees in the summer and lacking water, I lost more than I would've liked. I'm thinking that I can get a good root base with the seeds, and without the transplant shock, possible have better survival rates through the hot & dry summer weather here in KS.

Luckily, I rarely see any squirrels on my property and occasional deer only come around at night. So I think the potential problems of animals digging them up, will be low.

 

[southfork]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

That picture was taken about 15 miles from my house, i'll have to look around to see if I can see any dwarf chinkapin trees

[/quote]

 

[dbltree]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

That picture was taken about 15 miles from my house, i'll have to look around to see if I can see any dwarf chinkapin trees

Sweet! We might have to enlist you as an "acorn collector" this fall...

 

[Joey Rott]

Re: Chinkapin Oaks:

Where did you get them from Joey?? I would like to call them and see how they have stored the seeds till now from this past fall.

I bought mine from Sheffields. http://www.sheffields.com/ I can't say I know a lot about them. I read a few online reviews which seemed to be good. I would be interested to see how they're stored as well.

dbltree.. I might have to take you up on that. There aren't any white oaks close to my house, so it's tough to get them locally. There are oaks along the river, but i'm pretty sure they're all bur.

 

[dbltree]

Re: Tree Planting - Oak Wilt

Oat wilt is something we all need to be aware of an be cautious of unknowingly encouraging it. We spend a lot of time and money planting oaks, the last thing we need is to be the cause of oak wilt mortality.

Oak wilt spreads by a number of ways but here's a couple

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">upper pathway. Long distance spread of oak wilt occurs when nitidulid beetles carry spores of the fungus from spore mats on infected trees to wounds on healthy trees, causing infection and death of the tree. Time from infection to mortality may be very short for red oaks and Texas live oak, or many years for members of the white oak group.

Lower pathway. Local spread of oak wilt occurs when the fungus travels through the interconnected roots of infected and healthy trees. </div></div>

Since we do active TSI, edgefeathering, hingecutting etc., etc. we have to be careful not to injure oaks opening up the possiblity of infection via beetles.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Avoid injuring healthy trees
Trees with fresh wounds outside existing oak wilt centers are visited by beetles transporting spores of the fungus. Because open wounds create avenues for infection, damage to trees from construction, pruning or severe storms may lead to new infection centers. Avoid injury to oaks during favorable conditions for infection, which in the North occur in spring and early summer, when spore mats are present, and the beetles are flying.

Favorable conditions usually occur between April 15 and July 1 in the Lake States, and over a correspondingly longer period of time to the South. In Texas, avoid damage to oak trees from February through June.
</div></div>

Just be aware and follow guidelines in the supporting links for controlling the spread of disease.

Identify, Prevent, and Control Oak Wilt

Oak Wilt in Wisconsin: Biology and Management

OAK WILT

Oak Wilt in Minnesota

Oak Wilt - Iowa State Extension Service

EIGHT STEP PROGRAM TO OAK WILT MANAGEMENT

 

[dbltree]

Re: Tree Planting - Oak Wilt

I have a question about spraying either Princep or Oust on seedlings I planted last fall. What effect does rain have on these premergent herbicides? Do I have to be careful not to spray before a rain?

No...rain will help incorporate these residual acting herbicides into the top soil surface where they will prohibit weed seeds from germinating.

Herbicides like roundup or Select work through the leaves so those types we don't want to apply just before a rain..

 

[dbltree]

Re: Tree Planting - spring planting

I am going to try and transplant some small red cedars this weekend from a grassy field. I will replanting them along a fenceline that I hope one day will provide a screen from the road. Any hints or secrets I should know? I have replanted white pines in the past but never cedars. Thanks

I haven't personally transplanted any but I know several people have done it with a high degree of sucess!

As with any bare root trees...do NOT let the roots dry out!! Even minutes in the open air can kill a tree of any kind so keep the roots dampened or in a bucket of water if need be and get them re-planted ASAP!

Let us know how this works out for you but they should do great!

 

[letemgrow]

Re: Tree Planting - spring planting

One way to keep roots moist is to put some wet sawdust in a garbage bag and as you dig the trees immediately put the roots into the sawdust. Depending on how many you're digging, have extra sawdust and water to add as the bag fills up. Buckets of water also work but can be messy and heavy to carry around.

I shred my junk mail at the house and wet those down and use those to transport the trees.

 

[dbltree]

Well I just finished planting all the seedlings last night. Got them in right before some snow came in early this morning. Have about 4" so far and expect another 2-3". The good thing is that it's a really wet snow with the temperature at 33, and should all melt pretty quick as it's supposed to be up to 50 this afternoon.

It was the 1st time I ordered Cedar Seedlings from Coldstream Farms. They only offer 2 yr old bareroots. They had some massive roots systems with most of them 12-18" long and thick with roots.

Dang! Wish I had mine all planted!! Sounds like you had perfect weather (for the trees). Dry, windy sunny days really dries roots out so cloudy calm days are actually better planting days.

The snow will help keep the soil moist and should help settle the soil around them.

Keep us posted on how they do this year Joey!

 

[dbltree]

The first seedlings of the year arrived Friday at my place from Oikos Tree Crops

Dwarf Chinkipin Oaks

The seedlings come in small paper pots which really helps to keep bare roots from drying out.

The bottom of the tube is open so all one has to do is plant it...pot and all!

 

[dbltree]

I pooled and order to get the DCO's at a huge discount compared to smaller quanties so some I planted and the rest I heeled in until others can pick them up.

"Heeling in" is something one pretty much has to do with any seedlings or bareroot trees unless your prepared to plant them right after arrival or you have cool storage such as a walk in cooler.

I usually dig a small trench and lay the seedlings or small trees in it

Then I cover and pack the soil down firmly

and in my case I covered them with chicken wire to keep the rabbits away from them and water them well.

I thought I would try some fertilizer tablets, some water gel (for holding moisture on bare roots) and I bought one "tree mat" just to compare to other possibles for holding down weeds.