thinning the herd

[whitenack]

I have planted bur oak seedlings in my yard in a couple spots. In each spot, there are 5 seedlings a foot or so apart. At some point, I will need to pick one seedling that looks the healthiest at each spot and remove the rest.

When is the best time of year, and the best age of the seedling to do this?

These seedlings were collected as bur acorns last fall, grown indoors over the winter, and planted this spring. So they are getting close to 6-7 months from being planted outdoors.

Also, which seedling is the best to keep? Is it obvious? The tallest and green-est of leaves? What if one is taller, but is not as bushy leaved?

Thanks for the help!

PS. I have gotten addicted to this stuff and can't wait for fall so I can go back out to my old bur oak in the local cemetery and collect its acorns and start the process over again!

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

It would be best to wait, IMO. The mortality of young oaks is quite high the first couple years, mostly due to rodents or other mammals. Once they get to about six feet tall, this mortality drops off.
At that point, it's just like you guessed, pick the one to stay just like you were at the nursery picking out a tree.

 

[whitenack]

will they start to interfere with each other? They are only a foot or so apart. Will their roots tangle up with each other if they get too old?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I'm sorry, I thought you were going to just cut the others off, in which case the roots would not be a problem.
I have not had much luck transplanting Oaks once they are more than a year or so, you need such a big root ball and the roots go so deep. You will need to have the trees in loose sandy soil to facilitate easy seperation and you'll want a root ball about the same width and depth as the tree is tall, while they are this young.
THere will be some transplant shock too, which will slow the growth of the tree. You may just decide to do as I originally suggested and cut off the other trees.
If you do decide to transplant the extras, perhaps some root pruning would help, Done in advance of the move would reduce shock at the time of transplant and also keep the roots from growing together.

 

[whitenack]

No, you had it figured right. I plan to cut, kill, whatever, the losing oaks. I just didn't know if the all the roots would tangle up with each other if they all continued to grow, and if I should go ahead and kill off the losing oaks now so that that doesn't happen.

I am wondering if they are all trying to fight for the same root space they might all suffer?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

No problem waiting. If you look at a soil profile, you will see that a relatively small percentage of the soil is occupied by roots. There is plenty of room for everyone down there.

 

[Sapwood]

Was out in the woods last night...acorns falling all over the place. Walked up on a whitetail doe feasting on 'em. Watched her for 10 minutes or so then ran her off. Going out tonight to collect about a 5 gallon bucket of white oak acorns. I have kept acorns in a fridge over winter in an open zip lock, put in some peat moss and let them alone. In the spring you soak them in water for several hours. The ones that sink are good, the ones that float will not germinate. Helps cut down on planting the ones that arn't any good.

How did you grow them indoors?

Sap

 

[whitenack]

I used the link below for help.

http://www.rngr.fs.fed.us/reforestation/pdfs/growingOakFromSeeds.pdf

I did the float test, stuck the sinkers in the fridge for a month (required for burs), planted them in 1/2 gallon milk jugs with the bottoms cut out and turned upside down. Set them outside until it got cold and brought them inside to a sunny window. They sprouted in a couple weeks.

Last year was my first year. I was amazed at the success rate. This year I think I will plant some straight in the ground as acorns as soon as I collect them and float them.

 

[wysiwyg]

When I was away at school I collected a bunch of white oak acorns and stored them in wet paper towel in the fridge. Within a week they had all germinated. By the time I was able to take them home and plant them, the roots were 3-4 inches long on some of them. It was amazing how they all germinated and how fast they grew, as I picked them from the tree when they were still green and still somewhat attached to the cap. Unfortunately all but one died over the winter, probably because I waited too long to get them in the ground. It's probably best to get them in the ground at the first sign of germination so that they can establish the tap root before the weather gets cold.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm with Mike. Wait and see how they grow.

thin them out slowly, maybe cull a bad one when it gets too close to a good one.

Get some sort of protection for them so that the deer don't browse them. Over here they are rodents with hooves. Though they taste better then the rat I ate in the Phillipenes.

 

[Dan F]

Rodents with hooves

Not to change the subject, but I once had a landscape designer from the upper portion of the lower pennisula tell me that they no longer warranted spruce against deer damage. The only thing they would warrant was rocks, and even those were getting iffy!

Whitenack- if you are going to plant more, why not separate all of the clumps this fall and plant individuals where you want them. That will save having to possibly cut down a good one or two to establish the single one you want...?


Dan

 

[whitenack]

Dan -

I am scared that I might kill them trying to transplant them. I guess, though, if I am going to kill them eventually anyway, what does it matter?

How big a ball should I dig out to transplant them? How deep? They are about 2' tall. When planting in the new spot, should I plant them ball and all or should I wash the dirt away and plant them bare root? When should I transplant them?

Last question: Is it worth the trouble?

 

[Dan F]

Is it worth the trouble? Probably not...

If you want to move them, wait until dormancy. Dig a ball as big as you can and move them ball and all. With them being young saplings, probably a ball ~1' diameter would be adequate.

If I were you, I'd probably leave the ones you have already planted, and just plant singles from now on.... If one dies, well, it seems as if you know how to propagate them, stick a new one in. That might give you a little variance of size too, so you won't end up with a bunch of trees all the same size 20 years down the road.

With all of the oak wilt concerns (as well as various other pathogens), you might want to consider a diverse planting, mixing other trees in as well. That way if one specie is wiped out, you won't notice as much difference as you would if all of the trees died....

My $.02.


Dan