Can't have nothing

[White Oak]

I'm in central VA myself and have native persimmons growing. My best bang for the buck for fruit trees are persimmon. I find a tree 1" to 3" in diameter that does not produce well. It may be a female that just is not prolific or it may be a male tree that will never produce. I cut them down and bark graft them with scions from prolific trees and trees with different drop times. A bark grafted persimmon in that size range will produce the first fruit in the 3rd leaf after grafting.

If I were you, I would try to save the genetics of that tree if it is a reliable prolific producer. It is the wrong time of year to collect scions. I would take root cuttings if I were you and see if I could get some clones growing. You don't have to wait for them to mature. Once they are large enough to take scions, you can bark graft the scions to other native trees in the 1" to 3" diameter range.

Thanks,

Jack

The tree is gone , had a guy cut it up and take it away....It was a mess just laying in the front yard. While it was a reliable prolific producer I'm also going to say Persimmons are a very messy tree for your yard , every little wind storm it would drop twigs and branches that I had to clean up before mowing ,...Not just this tree every Persimmon here drops a lot of twigs and branches . My remaining Persimmon trees are on field edges and in the woods , so no worries about twigs and sticks dropping there as much.

I have about 13 crabs combined from Blue Hill and Whitetail crabs in my hunting "tree plot" , the earliest planted in 2020 so time will tell on drop times and if they are a draw during hunting season. I also have a couple Native Nursery Wild Deer pears, Dr Deer peras , Keiffer and a moonglow .

My Whitetail Crabs are producing some crabs..., Terry the owner said it takes about 5 years for them to really produce....so I'm hoping in 2 years they will be a substitute / draw for the missing persimmon

 

[White Oak]

I feel your pain. Last year we lost a 200 year old black walnut (and some fence line) and saw our persimmon tree split in two. Technically it was not a tornado, but wind sheer. Its always sad to lose great trees.

Sorry to hear that

 

[yoderjac]

The tree is gone , had a guy cut it up and take it away....It was a mess just laying in the front yard. While it was a reliable prolific producer I'm also going to say Persimmons are a very messy tree for your yard , every little wind storm it would drop twigs and branches that I had to clean up before mowing ,...Not just this tree every Persimmon here drops a lot of twigs and branches . My remaining Persimmon trees are on field edges and in the woods , so no worries about twigs and sticks dropping there as much.

I have about 13 crabs combined from Blue Hill and Whitetail crabs in my hunting "tree plot" , the earliest planted in 2020 so time will tell on drop times and if they are a draw during hunting season. I also have a couple Native Nursery Wild Deer pears, Dr Deer peras , Keiffer and a moonglow .

My Whitetail Crabs are producing some crabs..., Terry the owner said it takes about 5 years for them to really produce....so I'm hoping in 2 years they will be a substitute / draw for the missing persimmon

Yes, I would not want a persimmon in a yard. In fact, I wouldn't want the maintenance of any fruit dropping tree in a yard. One problem with persimmon is that they are very slow growing. That means the trees I plant will probably not be great trees during my lifetime. However the native trees I find and bark graft produce fruit pretty quickly because of the large well established root system. The problem I find is that from a hunting standpoint, I have to accept the trees where they grow. Strategic placement requires planting trees and waiting for many years.

 

[White Oak]

Yes, I would not want a persimmon in a yard. In fact, I wouldn't want the maintenance of any fruit dropping tree in a yard. One problem with persimmon is that they are very slow growing. That means the trees I plant will probably not be great trees during my lifetime. However the native trees I find and bark graft produce fruit pretty quickly because of the large well established root system. The problem I find is that from a hunting standpoint, I have to accept the trees where they grow. Strategic placement requires planting trees and waiting for many years.

Any recommendation for fertilizing a persimmon tree ?. I have one maybe 1/4 to half the size of the tree that fell growing 30 yards in the woods. I cut down everything around it last year to give it room to grow and let the deer find the persimmons , maybe I could give it some 10-10-10 or Jobes fruit tree spikes , maybe that would help boost fruit production ?.

 

[yoderjac]

Any recommendation for fertilizing a persimmon tree ?. I have one maybe 1/4 to half the size of the tree that fell growing 30 yards in the woods. I cut down everything around it last year to give it room to grow and let the deer find the persimmons , maybe I could give it some 10-10-10 or Jobes fruit tree spikes , maybe that would help boost fruit production ?.

Yes, don't bother. Persimmons don't respond to fertilizer much. Not worth the effort unlike with apples and pears.

When you find a persimmon and want to release it, do so slowly. I'll cut down a couple trees per year at most. Persimmon wood is quite hard. When they grow with competition, they reach for the sky to get light and become tall and spindly. They are protected from the wind by the competition when they are young. When trees are not stressed by the wind as they grow, they become more brittle and less flexible. You could have it snap in the wind if you release it too quickly.

When I cut a couple trees around it with interfering crowns, it gets more light and a little more wind causing stress and flexing. It begins to adapt to the changed environment. I'll then take down a few more trees and give it more time to adapt. Remember Natty's Allee effect...

Thanks,

Jack

 

[White Oak]

I would log it and make something from lumber

Sounds like you know a thing or two about logging. My woods was logged before I bought the land maybe 25-30 years ago. This tornado dropped a lot of Oaks across my logging road through the woods . Would loggers be interested in trees that blew over from a tornado ?. Any idea what they pay per tree ?. Also when they come in do Loggers make a mess and tear everything up ? do they take away the branches ? grind them up ? put them in a burn pile ?. Thanks for any info as I have no idea....If they are going to tear everything up I'd opt to just cut the trunk of the tree out of the logging road myself and leave the rest laying there.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Sounds like you know a thing or two about logging. My woods was logged before I bought the land maybe 25-30 years ago. This tornado dropped a lot of Oaks across my logging road through the woods . Would loggers be interested in trees that blew over from a tornado ?. Any idea what they pay per tree ?. Also when they come in do Loggers make a mess and tear everything up ? do they take away the branches ? grind them up ? put them in a burn pile ?. Thanks for any info as I have no idea....If they are going to tear everything up I'd opt to just cut the trunk of the tree out of the logging road myself and leave the rest laying there.

FWIW - we've had several loggings done at our camp over the last 30 years. Best advice - spell out in your contract exactly what you want the loggers to do with your roads, trails, limbs, etc. If you don't spell it out, they may make a mess and drive away. We had them repair, grade our trails and roads to fix any ruts from skidding logs. We wanted the limbs / tops left for cover and protection for new seedlings so deer couldn't get to them. If you want the limbs ground into mulch, you need to tell them that. Keep in mind, the more the loggers have to do for you, the more it'll cost you in the end.

As for the value of tornado-damaged trees ..... depends on how much damage was done, I'd guess. Talk to several logging outfits to get their opinions. If too much damage for market logs - oak makes great firewood - for your own use or to sell.