Fall Planting Dwarf Chinquapin Oak?

[Brush farmer]

I'm looking for trees I can plant in the fall to ease my spring planting work load. We typically have a late fall, frozen ground isn't an issue until late December. I've had good luck on fall planted fruit trees so far. I should be able to get some persimmons for this fall and I'd like to plant some DCO at the same time.
Our state tree nursery doesn't sell DCO, but they have recommended some species for fall planting and cautioned me to wait until spring on others. Has anyone planted DCO in the fall? Do you know of a nursery that will sell them in the fall? (Or a nursery that sells sells any habitat trees in the fall)

 

[DLH]

Call Superior Trees in Florida they may sell in the fall and have the best prices for DCO too.

 

[Brush farmer]

Thanks DLH, I'll check them out

 

[yoderjac]

I planted them in zone 7a last fall. They all leafed out and are growing like mad this spring. However, I'll caution you that these were not bare root seedlings from a state nursery. I started them in the winter under lights from nuts in my basement using root pruning containers. I kept them on my deck through the summer upsizing containers to 1 and then 3 gal RB2s. They were still green and actively growing when I planted them in early October and they were a couple feet tall already. They went dormant later than the native trees but so did all of my fall planted rootmaker trees. This spring they all greened up right along with my native trees.

I'm not sure what issues you may have planting them in the fall verses spring. I know some trees like pawpaw don't handle transplant well and prefer spring transplant verses fall. I overwintered my pawpaws in a cold room and waited until this spring to plant them. These were grown the same way but I kept them on my deck for 2 growing seasons instead of 1. It looks like I lost 5 out of 23 of them. They are the only trees that did not have 100% success (short of animal damage and such) when planted out of larger rootbuilder II containers.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[bcbowman]

I planted 10 from the wildlife group in December of last year in Michigan. All have leafed out this spring

 

[TreeDaddy]

Jack,

I started several trays of DCOs last fall after getting them to germinate

After vernalization , put them outdoors in March

They seem to be slow to put on top growth and only a few have been moved to 1 gal RB II

What is your experience?

bill

 

[TreeDaddy]

Call Superior Trees in Florida they may sell in the fall and have the best prices for DCO too.

Call early!!!!

bill

 

[Brush farmer]

Thanks for the advice guys. The recommendation by our state nursery to spring plant some species seems to be experience based. I'm glad to hear the DCO seem to take it well. I like fall planting as long as the species does well with it. I think part of the reason for the good results is because the tree lays dormant for more good ground soakings to improve soil-root contact before it wakes up and tries to take off growing.
I agree on getting nursery orders in early. I've learned the hard way that tree selection and planting plans suffer if you don't.
Always glad to hear about experiences starting your own trees. I plan to start some DCO from seed in the future. I've got my hands full with apple rootstocks and grafts for now.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack,

I started several trays of DCOs last fall after getting them to germinate

After vernalization , put them outdoors in March

They seem to be slow to put on top growth and only a few have been moved to 1 gal RB II

What is your experience?

bill

Bill,

Mine were slow compared to some other trees but much faster than the traditional methods. I planted my nuts in 32s and put the tray in an XL ziplock bag and put it in the fridge to vernalize. Mid winter, I took them out and put them under lights. When I had good top growth, I transplanted them into 18s. Mine were only 6" to 8" tall when I transplanted them to 1 gal RB2s. By late spring/early summer I transplanted them to 3 gal RB2s. I planted them last fall. They were a couple feet tall when I planted them in the field. If I get a chance, I'll try to remember to take a picture of them. They all survived and leafed out this spring.

With the traditional method of vernalizing them over the winter and planting them outdoors in the spring, I think I read where you should expect them to be about 9" tall at the end of the first year. I easily doubled that and more with most of them. I'm guessing they will probably slow down now that they are in the field.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I was at the farm today and took a picture of one of the DCOs planted last fall:

As you can see, these are just planted and let go. No protection or weed mat.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[TreeDaddy]

Why no protection,Jack?

bill

 

[yoderjac]

Why no protection,Jack?

bill

Bill,

I'm using trees as permaculture to feed deer. That means volume. So, cost and maintenance are issues. Deer react differently to trees in each area. I'm still figure out what protection is needed in my area. That can also change with time as deer populations change. Here is where I'm at now.

Chestnuts - Need some protection until central leader is out of deer range. Otherwise I get a bush not a tree if the chestnut lives.
Apples/crabapples/pears - Need cages (Remesh).
Allegheny Chinquapins - No protection. 95%+ get zero browsing.
Persimmons - No protection. Have seen zero browsing on these.
Pawpaw - No protection. Have seen zero browsing on these.
Filberts - Tried no protection but got heavy browsing. Will need to adapt.
DCO - Have seen no browsing so far. They tend to be a bushy tree anyway and unlike chestnuts, I'm sure they will produce in bush form.

Other places may be different. I'm trying to match my protection to my deer and keep maintenance as low as possible.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Brush farmer]

Yoderjac, my goals are similar to yours. Thanks for the info on your experience with browsing different species. I could plant more trees faster if I could go without the labor and expense of caging. I'm going to plant a couple DCOs without caging and see what the result is here. I'll know they are a candidate if they make it a year without getting eaten. The DCO would make a perfect tree for mass planting edges if so.
I also have hopes that some of my plantings will take over doing some of their own planting with natural reproduction at some point. This will still mean doing some work helping things along by keeping competing plants cut back. I do this now with mature species I already have that I want to promote.
I can confirm that I've never seen a paw paw browsed. They might still need a cage or stakes depending on other situations though. They are soft stemmed and shallow rooted so they are easily knocked over even if they are not eaten. I have entire groves with two layers of trees in them where the wind has blown them all over then new shoots sprout back through the leaners.
I tried Walnuts and Butternuts without cages once, but had to cage the survivors to salvage what was left of them by mid summer. This morning I saw for the first time that deer had eaten the surveyors tape off some stakes I set as markers. I'm still scratching my head over that one.