Pignut hickory

[SwampDonkey]

Three years ago white traveling and visiting in near BlacksBurgh ,VA I picked some pignuts that had fallen from some mature hickory trees. I suppose i had 20 or so. I out planted the seed on my woodlot that same fall and today I discovered one by mistake in the middle of a scarified planting row. It seems to be quite hardy and no die-back observed. I didn't have my camera or any flagging to mark it, but here is a link to pignut hickory.

http://wildwnc.org/trees/Carya_glabra.html

Says the seedlings develop slowly and that would coencide with what I have observed. Its a beautiful tree when it matures.

[sprucebunny]

It will be interesting to know how long it lasts. Did it get really cold where you are last winter? It got to 30 below here and killed my 3 year old Douglas Fir .It had been growing here 3 years that is;I dug it up in Montana. I.ve got cypress trees I started from seed but I don,t think I'll try putting them outdoors!

[SwampDonkey]

2001 was the mildest winter on record up here, 2002 was severe cold and plenty of snow, 2003 was another mild winter and only had the blower out twice in January. Snow is a good insulator and I suspect once the seedling reaches a hieght above the snow depth, it may get bud damage. I have black walnut in the yard I planted in 1992 and there is some die-back, but they seem relatively healthy. I also have black walnut seedlings out on the woodlot that are surviving. They definately suffer from frost hardiness though. If that weren't enough we have snow shoe hare that eat about anything they can sink their buck teeth into. ;)

[sprucebunny]

And if the bunnies don't nibble the bark off then it would probably be porcipines. The moose have done quite the job on the hardwood on my land .They are in league with the beavers to wipe out hardwood.You're right :the hares knaw on anything,even tamarack.

[SwampDonkey]

Tons of moose here too. The beavers are more or less contained on  3 acres of my land as the valey along the little brook is narrow and terrace-like, so they'd have to built one mighty dam to flood the woodlot. The area surrounding the stream was always wetland with poor growth. The moose seem to target birch, poplar and willow and they nible the maple some. There was an ugly bull moose last fall that decided to strip the bark from some of my planted pine and tamarak. I've seen them in Christmas plantations doing major damage by stripping the branches and bark off.  I don't have many deer, at most three does which I see together once in awhile. :

In 1988 I transplanted a wild white oak from the Exitor, NH area. Its quite slow growing, but it is frost hardy. This spring it had pollen flowers, didn't notice any acorn flowers though. My father's uncle had a cottage down there on a man-made lake, that's how I came by the oak.  ;D

[sprucebunny]

You are lucky that your beavers are contained.They have built terraces and canals that flood about 30 acres here.Do you know how to tell if one of thier lodges are still inhabited?I would think it would have new branches on it? They have made about twelve ponds and seem to be moving down the valley. The moose mostly eat the red maple ,birch and poplar .It's so heavily browsed that one wonders how any hardwoods got to be full sized ! I guess there is enough hardwood that they haven't bothered the spruce much . I haven't seen much sign of deer here but it's almost impossible to get to some places because of the wetness. There is a cedar swamp in one place that's very hard to get to; good spot for a deer yard.I thought I might limb up a section of spruce and see if deer came for the winter. How tall is your oak now?

[SwampDonkey]

The white oak is a little over 10 feet. I planted a red oak at the same time and its lots bigger in girth and height. The red oak had been producing acorns for 5 years now. Do you find that bur oak leaves look like chestnut leaves. Dunno if they (chestnut) grow that far north in NH. Forestry Canada has been giving out bur oak seedlings to the provincial Woodlot associations to reforest the river valley. There are only very few pockets remaining. It never was that abundant here I don't think. Anyway, those leaves on the seedlings sure looked like chestnut. The trees where potted in 500 cc jiffy pots. I could have taken some, but never had time to prepare a site. I'de have to use some roundup on the weeds in a small area for them. Anyway, I'de rather have red oak, since they grow fast. I've also planted butternut seed all over and they seem to do well with good germination. I thought a seed coat as hard as they have would take a couple years to soften before the seed could germinate. You sure can't use a nut cracker to open their shell. Get the hammer out. if one can keep the hare away from the butternut they will grow fast.I have a seed bed in the garden, which is getting choked by grass, but I have some butternut and red oak started there also. The moles get the oak in winter, but I had tons germinate. The best way to germinate them is to cover them with some soil and then leaves on top to hold the moister in spring time.   Raccoons can be a problem with your acorns, they can smell them and dig them up. ;)

We just sold over 300 acres of woodland and some did get flooded by beavers after harvesting. I measured about 25 acres of flooding or wetland along the main stream. My woodlot has a separate stream than can go dry in a dry summer. This summer has seen plenty of rain. All I see in that creek are chub and leeches, so you can tell its not a fast flowing creek with those critters in it.

Beavers will come and go from older ponds, but they will maintain several ponds to ensure ample water for their main logde. You may not see new branches on the main lodge untill fall when they stash new stems for winter months. Just make a break in the dam with the lodge that seems inactive and they will fix it over night if they use it still. ;)

I have alot of white ash on my lot and the animals don't seem to bother it. In my area white ash is quite common and it will grow up with poplar after cuts. I did a management plan for a farmer and his lot had alot of ash too and the forest floor was carpeted with germinating ash. Growing like weeds. White Ash is my favorite hardwood, then yellow birch, then sugar maple.

Cheers

[sprucebunny]

White ash is my favorite hardwood too. I rebuilt the interior of a 44 foot boat several years ago using ash and teak.The ash is a little like white oak. I'd love to start some ash. Can you recomend any places to get seeds? I believe it would do well on some of the higher places on my land.
My house in North Conway has alot of butternut around it. I think dampness makes the shell decay fast ,probably combined with the tannin etc. A lumber merchant I buy from in the Carolinas said that butternut is a declining species ( I don't remember why) so I bought some to make my kitchen cabinet doors.Haven't done that yet. A very light weight and pretty wood. Should work easy.
Bur oak is not a tree I know right off. I don't think we have much around here. According to the little map it's not native to your area either! There are quite a few chestnuts in this area: a very handsome tree. Several grew near the grade school I went to :I spent alot of time admiring them. The pictures I have of bur oak show a very deeply notched leaf whereas the chestnut leaf is more like an ash leaf with toothed edges. There is a "chestnut oak"but it's leaves are more like chestnut than oak.

[SwampDonkey]

Ok on the chestnut. I looked up the leaves of chestnut and that of bur oak and they are different for sure. Its the seedling leaves that fooled me, as I always thought the leaves where like white oak before I saw those leaves on the young trees. The leaves and fruit of chestnut are actually similar to beech.

Bur Oak in Southern New Brunswick

Study of bur oak in New Brunswick

I've seen it in the wild in the Woodstock area, but only isolated individuals, not good. ;)

Old Ridge Nursery in Northen Maine may have seeds or seedlings of white ash. Their stock tends to be a bit pricey for reforestation.

cheers

[sprucebunny]

You always find good web sites to explain stuff! I guess I'd forgotten how much the Gulf Stream influences Eastern Canada. It always surprises me that it can be warmer to the north of here. The big piece of land I have is 50 miles north of where I live and there is often a huge difference in the weather. So I thought the pockets of bur oak so far from other populations very interesting. It looks like a pretty tree. I like the blue-green leaves (my favorite color group !) and the furry little green outfit the acorns start out with. .