planted my first tree

[hackberry jake]

I was walking around the old chicken pen and saw a few of these, I figured I would dig one up and transplant it in my yard. Its been about three weeks since I transplanted it and its looking good, other than the leaves being a little tattered from blowing against the tomato cage. I plan on transplanting two or three more once they go dormant. I love the look of them in the spring. Is it bad to look at such young trees and wonder what kind of logs they will make when they grow up? 

 

[colinofthewoods]

You don't really have to wait too long to cut it,  by next year it will make a dandy marshmallow stick for the ol' campfire ,

[Ianab]

I've planted a few trees over the years, but something like a local Rimu is a LONG term project.

One I planted at my old house when my son was born is still there. 22 years ago. It's probably 20ft tall now, but maybe 5" dbh 

I have one planted here about 8 years back, it's maybe 10ft now, and 1" dbh....

Mature age is about 400 years, although probably harvestable after 200 years. Timber is understandably quite valuable...

Must go and take a picture of it, and compare that with an old post from 5 years back, when it was about the size of your seedling 

Ian

[SwampDonkey]

White oaks must be tough as far as the northern climate. I planted one from New Hampshire and it is now 25 feet tall probably and must be getting near 8". It grows slow, but has nice scarlet leaves in the fall. Hold it's leaves until spring. The neighbors saw it one spring before leaf out and thought it had died the year before.  It flowers most springs but the timing of the pollen flowers and seed flowers is such that they never cross.

I see some old white oaks around towns, usually one or two. I know of one planted in the 19C in one town by a cemetery, but it came from Europe. Has a family plaque on a post by it.

Except for the obviously old trees in the yard here, I planted most all the others over the last 35 years.

I have a healthy beech I planted maybe 25 years ago now and I think it grows slower than an oak. No scale on it so far.

[bandmiller2]

You know your getting old when little whips you planted are now saw logs.Its a very unselfish jesture for an old man to plant a tree. Frank C.

[WDH]

If that is what I think it is, Cercis canadensis, it will never make much of a log, but the flowers are sure pretty in the Spring  .

I doubt that you are going to get any tomatoes off of it, though  . 

Hackberry, you did a good deed!

[tcsmpsi]

Before my eldest daughter was born, my wife (pregnant) and I took 3 days and canoed around Caddo Lake, in far East Texas.  It is a very unique patch of the world.  I absconded with a cypress sprout (of which there was an abundance).  The eldest daughter was born in the bedroom I built for her.  I cut the cord about 1 AM. 
When daylight came bright, I planted the cypress sprout (about 9" tall) with her placenta, which then made it a 'family tree'. 

Well, it is at the previous homestead (owned by my previous wife and used as a weekend retreat) on the Trinity River.
  It is close to the house, and the last time I saw it, it had grown amazingly fast and already had well defined 'knees'.
I suppose I should make a venture over there one day soon and see how it's doing and what, if any, plans the previous wife might have for it.   I would very much hate to lose it to the whims of others.  It would much better be milled and constructed.

[bama20a]

I use to deer hunt ALOT. At times when I was in the woods & find some nice acorns, slip some in my pockets, Then later in a diff- hunting area where there was not alot of acorns will I was sitting,Would stick one just under the dirt.
Don't know how many came up if any,But I'm sure some might have made it.Mark,,,,

[opticsguy]

I planted many Giant Sequoia's about 1988-89 and now some are about 50+ ft tall with diameters ranging from 12" up to 34".  The smaller ones have less sun from other competition.  The big ones are REAL saw logs!!!  Also planted a live Christmas tree (Pine) about 1997 and it is now 40 feet high and 16-17" diameter, certainly a saw log if I wanted.
I live north of Seattle.

Looking back in time, wish i had planted hundreds and hundreds of Giant Seguoia's.

[hackberry jake]

Well, wdh, I planted it thinking it was a catalpa tree... I guess it might be a redbud. Oops

[WDH]

No, I think that you are right that it is a catalpa.  The green twigs give it away.  If you bruise the young bark, it should stink.  Stink bad.  Do you use the worms for fishing?  Catalpa worms are some of the best catfish bait that I ever used.

[hackberry jake]

Sure do! They only show up about every other year tho.

[Al_Smith]

I've got one old gnarly catalpa back in the woods .Where it came from I have no idea because there are no others .

I just thought it just a gnarly old tree and never paid much attention until about two years ago .I was up in the canopies taking the top out of a dead ash with a bucket truck and noticed those big old leaves which couldn't be seen from the ground .

Thick woods and heavy canopies .That thing had managed to shoot to around 85 feet .I had no idea they could get that tall .On the other hand had it not kept up the thing would have died from lack of sun light .

[Brad_bb]

I've been transplanting Black Walnut seedlings to our back pasture(no longer have animals) over the last 4 or 5 years.  If planting in an open sunny area, You've got to force them or train them to grow up and straight. 

I start with bamboo stakes and 3ft grow tubes to force them to grow up and out of them.  I prune off any brances in late winter, leaving the center shoot.  Once they grow out of the tubes, I debud any growth below the top tassle. I also then stake them with a piece of 10ft, 1/2 inch conduit to train them up. 

I force the center shoot to grow up.  I will do this until the tree is  about 16 feet tall.  I will not allow any branches below that height.  That way someday, someone will have some saw logs.  If you don't train them, they will branch out low and grow short and squatty.   A tree in a dense forest will grow tall seeking the light before branching out.  I mimic that with the grow tubes, often two stacked on top of eachother(6ft), and it does stimulate them to grow up seeking the light quickly.