0AK WILT RISKS FROM BARE ROOT PLANTING

[maple man]

I have a young and very healthy red oak dominated woodlot in midcoast Maine. Due to adverse deer herbivory I am thinking of planting some white oaks in cages to fill in and increase diversity in 7 year old patch cuts which are devoid of a 1-5 foot oak cohort. .We have zero oak wilt in this state and I am worried about bringing in pathogens to my woodlot and my state. The only bare root stock I am finding for sale comes from the Northern Midwest where wilt is very common. Can wilt be carried by the bare root plants? Does anyone know of northern New England  sourced white oak seedlings? Thanks for any help.

[Ron Scott]

You night check with your local Conservation District or Extension Forester for a recommendation.

[maple man]

I am still waiting to hear from them. 

Because we don't (yet) have this disease here I think it's not really on their radar. We don't usually need supplemental planting here but with the deer explosion regeneration practices which worked fine in 2000 don't seem to be adequate today. There are some small stands of white oak in Maine and I am going to try to get some local acorns to start but at age 70 I wouldn't mind getting some started plantings.

[Jeff]

I highly doubt oakwilt is harbored in a seedling. We are in an oakwilt area in mid lower Michigan. Once a tree is introduced to oakwilt,  usually by storm damage or by inappropriate and uneducated tree service work,  or, from root grafted trees to infected trees caused from the aforementioned causes..

It does not take long for the tree to die once infected. Days.

[SwampDonkey]

You might have luck in NH and I know the trees from there are very winter hardy as I planted a white oak seedling 40 years ago from my father's uncle's camp yard in NH. About 20" in diameter now. Still alive and well, wish I had 3 or 4 more as I have nothing for it to cross with. I get unpollinated acorns because the flowers on the same tree seem to be timed so that they don't self pollinate. Where as the red oaks don't care. Private nurseries are mostly lawn and landscape oriented and expensive.

NH  State Forest Nursery might have some.

https://www.nh.gov/nhnursery

[maple man]

Thanks for the comments. I am going to wait on the oaks this year and try to get get some seedlings from NH next year. Meanwhile I have found some canker resistant butternut sourced from trees 10 miles from my lot and some volunteer walnuts from my next door neighbor. Decent winter for a change this year but spring is coming fast!

[Jeff]

Why not try and source acorns and sprout your own?  

[nativewolf]

Thanks for the comments. I am going to wait on the oaks this year and try to get get some seedlings from NH next year. Meanwhile I have found some canker resistant butternut sourced from trees 10 miles from my lot and some volunteer walnuts from my next door neighbor. Decent winter for a change this year but spring is coming fast!

you are spot on about being concerned re oak wilt.  Absolutely it can be transported mostly that is done via beetles.  I would not want to bring any soil/bedding materials that could harbor beetle eggs etc.  I don't know the exact life cycle of the beetles that carry the fungus from tree to tree but nurseries use potting materials from bark mulch. The reason you see oak wilt popping all over hundreds of miles apart is human transport.    You should try to source from material collected as far north as you can in the mid-atlantic.  Rhode Island?  Call the state forest nursery there and ask them.  PA certainly can sell you a few hundred seedlings but I'd try to get closer to home.  

Great idea and good luck.  Another to look for would be burr oaks.  A white oak member and does well in colder climes.