My lone swamp white oak seems to be hanging on. It leafed out this spring (I planted it here last year, it got chomped to ground level by squirrels and re-sprouted) This past week it put out another flush of fresh leaves. I noticed all the oaks near me have done this in near unison, both red and white families. The heavy rains recently have really kicked things into high gear.
I haven't had much luck lately due to the deer. They're even eating yew in June and not just the tender new shoots. They knocked a fence down and got to my potatoes and kale. Bent my rebar "posts". Tree seedlings don't have a chance.
I have wild rabbits all over my yard but they don’t bother anything, not even my lettuce. The biggest pests here are the squirrels and chipmunks.
Yesterday I was offered some black walnut seedlings, I told him maybe if I had time today I would get them, didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow evening or Thursday
Interesting. The wabbits and deer around us will eat anything young and tender that they can get at. Grey and Doug Fir squirrels and a few Chipmunks don't bother any of our plants.
Normally deer here will browse young shoots of trees, but I haven’t seen any deer in my yard (yet) A coworker of mine lives way out in the sticks and he has to put large cages around any trees he wants to keep. I’m not sure why the rabbits haven’t been a problem but I suspect they’re eating plenty of wild greens which keeps them away from my stuff
That poison ivy is super easy to grow also... The Black Locust is growing like a gangbuster. I'm always battling grapevine and other invasive species in our woods. Every year I spend at least a full day riding around on the tractor looking for grapevine and honeysuckle to kill off. I try to keep the multiflora rose in check, but that's almost a never ending battle.
Sharp eye there. Yeah unfortunately I brought in more poison ivy with the root balls of the saplings. It’s small enough now to where I can probably eradicate it easily. I’m battling grapes and multiflora rose here too, along with burning bush, bittersweet and forsythia. I just have a small yard/patch of woods to worry about so it’s manageable though. The rose is incredibly tenacious, just like grape vines. I cut it down to ground level and every couple weeks I can pull off more new growth. Guess the root systems have to be dug up if I want it gone entirely. At least with it knocked back a bit it can’t make rose hips for the birds to eat and spread it around more.
Interesting concept for deer proofing: 'Slash walls can keep deer from damaging young forests.' Granite Geek: Slash walls can keep deer from damaging young forests (concordmonitor.com)
Looked what popped up in the woods almost 2 years after I buried it. A tiny swamp white oak Small miracle considering I buried hundreds of white and swamp white acorns here that were lost to the squirrels.
Guess what I’m planting next year It’s not too often I find naturalized versions of these that have escaped cultivation and are reproducing on their own.
You got it I know they're fairly common where you're at, but there aren't too many out this way, and very few that produce pods. Mostly thornless landscaping stock here in southern New England.
Yeah it's wild. There's a row of planted trees and some smaller ones that popped up naturally in the area, so somehow they're multiplying. Not sure about the thorns since it's a small tree heavily draped in bittersweet and multiflora rose. Right along a highway off-ramp so I took the picture fast and got back in the truck without too much investigation.
Sharp eyed arborist you are. Wonder what age the wild ones first get thorns? How many chestnuts have almost caused an accident? Just about any roadside tree is a potential accident when im driving!
Question for you Monty. At what age/size do wild honey locust first get their thorns? Ive only seen two mature trees in my lifetime that have thorns. Landscape thornless ones a dime a dozen around here.
