I've been working in my Oak planting.

Native Hunter

5 year old buck +
This tree planting was originally done around 14 years ago. It has a White Pine Road screen and most of the rest of the planting is 7 or 8 different kinds of oaks. On one end I have a fruit orchard that you guys see me posting pics of all the time, but this post is about the oaks, which I don't talk about much.

Over the next 3-4 years after the original planting I did some replacements where trees died. I was mowing the rows with a tractor and bushhog, but the lower limbs on the oaks are spreading out so much the rows are closing in. This year I am going through with the DR Mower and my saw doing some final work before walking away from this and calling it good.

The only real work is cutting and stump treating some useless volunteer trees that come up in the rows with the trees I planted. In my case that is mostly sweetgum. In 80% of this planting, I don't worry about it anymore - the oaks have dominated and nothing can catch them. But, I will continue to work in some of the slow areas for 3-4 more years before calling it good and leaving it alone.

This is from the outside looking in. The oak planting is behind these pines that I also planted.

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This is on the inside looking out. You can see that the oaks are about as tall as the white pines.

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This was taken out in the planting. This is a couple of red oaks - either pin oaks or cherrybark, I have both and don't recall which these were.

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This is typical of what some of the bigger ones look like at the ground. I think this is an overcup oak.

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Same tree as above.

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This is a typical red oak.

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Burr Oaks and their corky looking bark. I only have maybe 30 of these. They are a little slow but healthy.

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This is one of my sweetgum piles. I have these scattered around at different places. Good bunny hiding spots.

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Just thought I would share how I have been getting some much needed exercise, and figured some of you guys would enjoy the oaks. Best wishes.
 
Great growth there!
 
Great growth there!

Thanks. It's ground that is suited for oaks with good moisture. A few places are almost too wet, but some of the oaks like the Pin Oaks and Overcups like those places too. It took a lot of work to get it to this point, but now they are pretty much taking care of themselves.
 
Dang, looking good, I'd be real happy with that overall growth.
Massive looking burr for only 14
 
Dang, looking good, I'd be real happy with that overall growth.
Massive looking burr for only 14

Thanks, I wish I had planted more Burrs. They have been slower than some of the others, but seems to like the ground well.
 
Are any of these producing acorns yet?
 
Are any of these producing acorns yet?

I don't walk around in there late in the year, but I do recall seeing just a few acorns on some trees at the edge. I know I saw some on one of the Chinkapin Oaks and maybe another variety too. Most oaks take a lot longer to get acorn production going really good.
 
That area looks mighty good Native. Tons of acorns coming for all the critters. Those pines give nice security too, for any deer wanting to feed on the acorns. It's tough to beat oaks for LONG-TERM food supplies. 100+ years worth. Your oak variety is even better for varying weather conditions.

Some of the oaks we've logged were 120+ years old by counting the growth rings. Your trees will be dumping acorns for decades.
 
That area looks mighty good Native. Tons of acorns coming for all the critters. Those pines give nice security too, for any deer wanting to feed on the acorns. It's tough to beat oaks for LONG-TERM food supplies. 100+ years worth. Your oak variety is even better for varying weather conditions.

Some of the oaks we've logged were 120+ years old by counting the growth rings. Your trees will be dumping acorns for decades.

That's the great thing about oaks - you get a lifetime of food production from trees that require almost no maintenance except on the beginning. I also like the idea of mixing them up so that if it is a bad year for one species, it might be a good year for another species.
 
Nice trees!
 
I have a long way to go to catch up with you Native Hunter....but I am working on it. I have not got any acorns on any of the Red Oak I have planted but I am starting to get some now on some of the White Oak varieties:

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Looks like you're up to no good too, Wildthing. Nice trees. ^^^
 
I have a long way to go to catch up with you Native Hunter....but I am working on it. I have not got any acorns on any of the Red Oak I have planted but I am starting to get some now on some of the White Oak varieties:

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That looks like a first class tree operation you have going there. Keep up the good work....
 
What size were the oaks when you planted them?
 
What kinds of white oaks are producing for you and how old are they.
I've got swamp white oaks and Bur oak seedlings coming in a couple weeks from MDC. I have English oaks sprouting now from acorns but I'm 68. Hoping to see acorns while I can still pull a bow. I'm in Alpena county Mi
 
What size were the oaks when you planted them?

They were mostly knee high with some being a little more or less. I bought them from a guy who when out of state somewhere to get them but never told me where they came from.
 
What kinds of white oaks are producing for you and how old are they.
I've got swamp white oaks and Bur oak seedlings coming in a couple weeks from MDC. I have English oaks sprouting now from acorns but I'm 68. Hoping to see acorns while I can still pull a bow. I'm in Alpena county Mi


The original planting was like 14 years ago, with some replacements for dead trees going in over the next 3 years or so. The only white oaks that I know for sure that are producing is Chinkapin. I can see some of them from the edge of the planning on the north side. I don't go back in there when the leaves are on, so I don't really examine very many of the trees for acorn production. I will try to do a better job looking for acorns this fall.
 
What kinds of white oaks are producing for you and how old are they.
I've got swamp white oaks and Bur oak seedlings coming in a couple weeks from MDC. I have English oaks sprouting now from acorns but I'm 68. Hoping to see acorns while I can still pull a bow. I'm in Alpena county Mi

I am 70 years young now Rubee. I am in Southern Dickinson County in the "Banana Belt" of the U.P. When I first started planting oaks 15+ years ago my wife thought I was crazy. She said "I don't know why you are wasting your time planting oaks - you will be dead and gone before one of them ever grows an acorn". Well....I proved her wrong!

I got my first acorns on oaks which I had planted as seedlings probably about 10-12 years after I planted them. I have planted so many different varieties that I'm not really certain which are which any more but I am pretty sure those that have grown acorns already are Swamp White Oaks and probably some type of a Bur Oak or Bur/Something else hybrid and maybe some other type of white oak. I have yet to get an acorn from Northern Red Oaks that I planted 15+ years ago but I am confident that one day they will bear.

I have a lot of English Oak in the ground that I grew from acorns that came from some old, stately English Oaks from the Michigan State University campus. These oaks are supposed to be very prolific producers so I hope to live long enough to see them produce acorns some day. If you ever get near East Lansing in the fall or know anyone down there that can collect some for you I would highly recommend that you give them a try Rubee.

Here is a Northern Red Oak that was planted by a squirrel at my home in town. I transplanted it twice from there to where it is now. I had it planted in a shady area the first time and it just didn't grow. It also had 2 equal stems which I knew wasn't good so I flipped a coin - cut off one of the stems and then transplanted it here and it has grown very well since then but just hasn't produced acorns yet. I'm guessing it is 15-18 years old now.

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I got acorns on these 2 oaks starting 2 years ago when they were about 12 years old. They were planted as seedlings. Those in the background were planted 7-8 years ago and have not yet grown acorns.

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Thanks both Native Hunter and Wildthing for your replies. You both have some beautiful oaks. I just bought some hunting property last fall after hunting state land for 54 + years. I'm all excited about developing it for deer hunting for myself,son and grandkids. I don't think chinkapin oaks would grow well in northern Mi. The English oak acorns I have germinating now did come from trees on the MSU campus. I love this forum and am learning all I can. Thanks again for sharing.
 
I have a long way to go to catch up with you Native Hunter....but I am working on it. I have not got any acorns on any of the Red Oak I have planted but I am starting to get some now on some of the White Oak varieties:

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what a great post

thanks

bill
 
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