The survival of my young oaks

[whitenack]

Some of you may remember me. I pop in here every now and then asking you all questions about some young bur oak trees I have nursed from accorns to young seedlings. Here I am again.

I have about 20 seedlings planted in my yard. This was their first winter outdoors. They have been planted about a year now. Only a handful survived the winter without being chewed on by rabbits or rodents or something. Some have been chewed halfway down the stem, others are chewed all the way down to the ground. Will either version grow back? If so, will they grow back normal?

Those that aren't chewed on look healthy. They are flushing out buds, and have strong, sturdy stems. However, I have to worry about the periodical cicadas that are coming in at full force here in a couple weeks. I hear they prey on tree branches that are about a pencil in diameter. They won't hurt mature trees, but they will kill the little branches. The whole tree is a little branch!! Is there anything I can do to protect them?

Thanks,

whitenack,
from central kentucky

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Make up cones from screen material. An oak seedling came up in my front yard but the bunnies nipped it two years in a row. Now I have a ring of hardware cloth around the sprouts. I'll be cutting back the weaker ones to keep the strongest stem.

Tom

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

personaly i think you planted the oaks out to early ..i would have waited until they where 3-4 years old until then i would have motherd them and kept them in pots

in the natural world i bet 90# of seedlings dont make it..still i hope you succeed... oh and remember please dont plant them to deep ive seen so many dead saplings this year caused by planting to deep

 

[whitenack]

The reason that I planted them when I did is I worried about how I was going to care for the root system as it grew. Oaks have such a large and important root system, I was worried I wouldn't have deep enough pots, and I wanted to plant them young where they could handle the transplantation process.

I think my failure in this experiment is underestimating the presence of rabbits/squirrels/rodents in the area. I guess just because I don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. Next time I will put up a guard.

Your advice is appreciated though.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

One of the most wonderful tree stories is The Man Who Planted Trees.

I think you can still find a link on this page:

http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/trees.html

Planting in pots is a good idea. If you get them in the ground within two years you'll be fine. You still will have to put up fencing to keep out the bunnies.

Tom

 

[whitenack]

I now realize that I have not been clear with my previous posts. I did pot them initially. We collected the accorns in fall of '02. We did a float test and stuck the winners in the fridge for a couple weeks. Then we planted the accorns in an upside-down 2 liter. We kept them in the 2 liters until the next spring ('03) where we then put the good ones in the ground.

ANOTHER QUESTION:

At what point does a Bur Oak start to develop branches? How do I know if the oak is growing normally or if I need to give it a trim? I can get pictures if you like.

Thanks,

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Prune only for poor structure. That won't come into play for many years. The tree needs every square inch of food factory to grow. Don't cut off ANY leaves!!!

Tom

 

[whitenack]

Hey guys. Thought I would give you an update on my bur oak saplings.

All those that had been chewed on, even down to the nub, have come back. Some have come back better than others, because some have split into a V shape, but at least all are back.

There is one stand that is doing very well. They were the best growers pots, and they were planted at the top of a sloping grade.

The picture is blurry but all I have at the moment.

I am just like a proud parent wanting to show off my kids!

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Nice little family there, daddyo!

I was in NE last month at the arborday place. Couldn't resist climbing a bur oak; they are grand trees. HOp0w you get to climb yours someday.

 

[whitenack]

Yes, I plan to thin it.

When do you suggest I do it? They really grew this summer, but now have slowed down, I guess for winter. Should I do it this fall?

Also, HOW would you do it? Would you just snip off the smaller ones, or try digging them up? I have another spot I would like to put them, but I don't want to disrupt the root system of the good ones to experiment with a bad one.

I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but there are two good, strong, healthy ones that are opposite of each other. Imagine 6 saplings planted in a circle. The 2 good ones are at '12' and '6'. Would you keep both of them for now (discarding the rest), or pick one and get rid of the other?

thanks,

 

[whitenack]

bump.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

I'd leave the 2 big ones to mature as a 2-trunked specimen; the option of leaving only the best one is equally good. You can dig up the others if there is a place for them to grow; if you need to pot them you van shorten the tap root to encourage branching.

 

[whitenack]

Alright folks,

Here are some pictures of my babies. The first picture is of all of them. I know I will prune (cut back/kill) the shorter ones in the middle, leaving the two on the extreme left and right. The big ones are about 5' tall.

The question is what to do with the two tall ones.

The second picture shows the tree on the left (tree #1) from the opposite angle. You can see there the branching off of a limb due to frozen tip/animal browsing.

The third picture shows the tree on the right (#2 tree is in the center of this third picture). It has no branches, but it also had frozen tip/animal browsing.

Which of these trees looks stronger? Is a straight single stem (tree #1) ideal for bur oaks, or is it better to have a few branches (tree #2)?

Guy, you recommend keeping both? Is it ok to have them so close together?

BTW, I plan to mulch them today, once I 'weed out' the smaller ones.

Thanks, I love this place!

 

[whitenack]

tree #1

 

[whitenack]

tree #2

 

[Guy Meilleur]

mos tfolks may say leave #2 only; it doesn' t have that big side branch to deal with. I still say I'd leave them both, and train them away from each other. I'd rather have 2 trunks but that's just me.