My tree planting notes

This year I planted 250 white oaks. Last year about 50 white oaks, 50 red oaks, and 50 sawtooth oaks.

I got them all from the GA Forestry seedling program. The sawtooths last year were 3 to 4 foot tall, much larger than any white or red oaks. I wanted to get some white oaks established this year for long term purposes, but I think in the next few years I will go with sawtooths because they are so much larger and produce acorns faster. It is hard to keep track of that many trees when they are only 1 - 2 foot tall out in fields. The sawtooths are much easier to see, plus they keep their leaves in winter which helps too. I also use landscaping flags to help keep from running over them with the bushhog.

I also planted 500 white pines last year, but they are not doing too well. I suspect deer may be eating them, because I caught them in the act one night. I couldn't find anywhere locally to get white pine seedlings (the ga forestry service used to have them, but no more - I don't know why). I got mine from the Virginia forestry department. Only thing is they only will send them out in March, which I wonder if that is too late in the year?

Even though I live in N. GA at about 1500 ft elevation, I planted 10 Frasier (Fraser?) firs from greenwood nurseries. They have survived now for over two years, which I didn't really expect. They still look good, but are growing pretty slowly. But they are doing better than my white pines. Not sure what I'm doing wrong with the white pines. One thing I think I did was plant them too deep in the ground. This year I am going to try to to leave the first roots at or even a little above ground level to see how that works. (I did that with my oaks). I used a planting dibble I rented from the forestry service that made things go quickly. But this year they require a $50 deposit and charge $2 per day, so I have used post hole diggers for everything I've planted this year, which is not too bad. I got to where I'd dig about 25 or so holes the size of one post hole digger round and deep, then I'd come along and drop the seedlings in, kick a little dirt over the roots, and keep going till I filled all the holes with seedlings. (This minimizes the time that the roots are exposed to air, which I think is important). Then I come back and fill the rest of the dirt in and tamp it to get the air pockets out. Then I go to the next set of 25 or so trees.

I always have trouble keeping the trees weed-free the next summer. If I do nothing, sometimes the weeds choke them. It is a pain to weedeat, and it is temporary. I think this year I'm going to spray roundup exclusively, but its hard not to get it on the leaves of a small tree. Any suggestions?

I also took some of my oaks and put them in 7 gallon pots to see if I can grow some of them that way. I'm curious to see how that works out.

I also have a bunch of acorns scarifying (sp?) in the fridge which I will put out in March. I've had limited success doing this. S. Freeman let me know I had probably planted them too deep as well. I also made sure to do the "sink" test as told to me by Hambone. If the acorns float in a bucket of water, throw them out. Only keep the acorns that sink to the bottom. Hopefully this year I'll have better luck.

Army worms. Last year they about got all my sawtooths, which had some good leaves on them. I got them in time to save about 20% of the leaves. Next year I'm gonna keep a better eye out for them. Man they are relentless when they hit. No wonder they call them army worms.

Well, thanks for letting me tell all this. My wife's eyes seem to glaze over when I tell her.

TP. said:

Well, thanks for letting me tell all this. My wife's eyes seem to glaze over when I tell her.

Click to expand...

--- I know the feeling.

Thanks for the good report. -- I planted some Honey Locust 2 weeks ago. -- Gonna pour the Miracle Grow to them this spring/summer.

Probably mulch them too.

Nice notes, Tim.

Sounds like you've only got a few years left to teach those boys how to rake leaves.

A lot of the pine species the forestry service used to provide are very susceptible to wind and ice damage. Their sawtooth oaks this year were much taller than I've ever gotten from them before and I've always had good luck with them. Tree shelters are not cheap but they are worth the money in the long run. Dang rabbits and deer and rats seem to want to chew the bark off new trees. Don't give up on the pines the deer nipped. I planted 1000 one year and the deer walked down the rows and ate the tops out of every single tree. But the trees recovered. Deer like nursery trees of any type because they have been fertilized. Hope you aren't planting all those oaks with a shovel like I am.

Tree Planting

TP: Sounds as though you have things going your way.

I will take the liberty of suggesting why your White Pines are not doing very well. It is a long established fact that trees do not perform well when their seed source comes from another region. This is to say that pines which were adapted to the South Atlantic Region would not perform as well as trees grown from N. Georgia seed.

This does not mean that your trees are without hope. With proper care, they should make good Christmas Trees. Proper care in my mind means light fertilization and spraying around them annually.

A technique that I have used while spraying small trees is to secure a flat section of corrugated box at least 3' X 3' in size. Use this cardboard as a shield next to the tree while you spray around the tree. It works.

It is not likely that you planted your White Pine too deep. Recommendations call for the seedlings to be planted deeper than they grew in in the nursery.

Vernon

Thanks for the info and response. GAdeerwoman, how much do tree shelters cost? whats your source? I would need a BUNCH. Do you use a shovel so that there will be more loose dirt and the tree will grow quicker? I would like to run a subsoiler, but I have so many rocks.

Vernon, I left out part of it. On some of my white pines close to my house, I actually dug a circle out around the trees about a foot or so that was an inch or two depressed. It was after all those drought years and I thought it would help retain water whenever it did rain or I watered them. I'm thinking that probably wasn't a good idea.??? Seems like everything I see says trees need to be able to drain excess water.

Another question: when is the best time or times of the year to fertilize oak trees? I want to fertilize them in the optimal way.

Tree Planting

TP: It is ok to leave a basin around seedlings when the planting site is reasonably well drained. As a matter of fact it is a desirable practice. Water may stand for a few hours after heavy rain, but will soon move on thru the soil.

On the other hand, if the soil leans to being poorly drained, soil should be level so as cause water to drain away from the seedlings. Poorly drained soils could be defined as soils which holds ponded (standing) water for days after heavy rains.

Oaks should be fertilized just prior to greening up (late Feb. or early March). Two light to moderate applications are preferred to one heavy one. Second application can be applied in July.

I got my tree shelters from the Natl Wild Turkey Federation. Paid 2.70 each for 48" shelters. I don't use shelters for pines. You really don't need them and it would definitely not be cost effective. I use them for fruit trees and oaks. I set out pines with a dibble. I use a shovel or post hole digger for other trees. ER uses an auger on his tractor and that is a sweet idea and makes quick work of getting in a lot of fruit or oak trees.

Has anyone used the 4" slotted corrugated pipe instead of ordering the tree protectors? I was looking into buying 100' rolls. Only drawback is cutting them into whatever lengths you want. Just curious.

I've done it on some. The trees don't seem to grow as fast as they do with the opaque tree protectors.