How to Grow Oak Trees from Acorns - Direct Seeding Acorns | Dream Farm w/ Bill Winke
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- Опубліковано 10 жов 2024
- I have been planting oak trees from acorns since the mid-2000s and have had good success (in most cases). This past fall, we planted about 13 acres this way on the new farm. In this episode, we show the results (how many trees came up) and go through the steps involved in direct seeding acorns to grow oak trees.
Here is a link to the Iowa State Forestry Extension Office white paper that I have been using as my guide to planting acorns: drive.google.c...
I had some loggers that were crooks and cut over 400 oak trees there were not supposed to be cut on my 70 acres .One was a 150 year old red oak .A tractor would not work in my case so I hired some high school guys from the wrestling team to plant acorns with dibble bars and planted thousands of acorns .You plant trees for your children and grandchildren .I pick up acorns from different states so no matter what type of weather I have some acorns will drop at different times each year with many varieties .I also plant chestnuts and have had chestnut trees produce nuts only 4 years after it was a nut .Most everyone around me grows pine trees .I know hard mast only lasts a few months but most acorns and chestnuts drop during Georgia's long deer season .Buying lifetime sportsman's licenses for my grandchildren I know they will be able to hunt deer long after I am gone and maybe take a nice buck eating some nuts under a tree that was a nut put in the ground by my efforts .
I hate that you had a bad experience with loggers. Many are honest, but that is one business that brings out some very crooked dealers. I have had a couple of bad experiences too, but not that bad. We are going to plant chestnut trees here either this fall or next spring. I think they are a great addition to any deer hunting property. Have a great day.
I wish you the best of luck. Oaks are such beautiful trees, and they give so much back to the land they grow in.
I love oak trees too. The farm has a lot of them already, but I want to do my part to keep regenerating oaks where I can.
Great Job. I've transplanted white oaks myself. My grandchildren will be able to hunt them in 20 yrs.
They say that white oak is the favorite for wildlife.
Another excellent informative video, thanks for taking the time to create, produce and posting
I appreciate the comment and the support. Have a great day.
I love oak trees so much that I have several of them in my backyard, and I wished my backyard were bigger so I could fill it with more oak trees.
I am an oak tree lover too. Not even sure why. My favorite is the swamp white oak.
It is funny that you treat the competition plants. I only have a few acres but it butts up against state hunting land. For the size of my property, I have an abundance of oak, mostly northern red. I gather some acorns each year and either scatter or put under ground in my small woods. What I discovered is that the saplings that finally make it are the ones that were protected by the bushy flora from the deer. That is part of natures struggle I guess. It seems that if you eliminate the protective flora around the saplings, the deer can more readily find them and eat them. The squirrels can also find them easier too. Loved the video, thanks from Michigan.
Richard, there is some truth to that. There is a tradeoff in my experience. If you let the oaks have full sun they grow much faster the first several years (five or six). If you let the grasses and weeds come over them, they survive critters better but grow much slower. Some get swallowed up by the weeds and basically disappear. Fortunately, we don't have a high deer number so they aren't browsing the small oaks, but the squirrels and chipmunks definitely do. It is a good question. The forester prefers that we have the best possible sunlight get to the small trees and the white paper I read on direct seeding put out by the Iowa Forestry Extension Office several years back recommended two years of weed control. I have done five large scale direct seedings that were on at least four acres and each of them have progressed a little differently. Time will tell. I will have a better idea in a few years how well my current plan worked.
Good stuff guys! I know y’all are proud of the progress of the acorn seeding.
They are coming along well, but man we need rain. Have a great day.
Great job bill and Jordan. Also what a perfect name for the farm
Thanks Steve. Much appreciated. It was a cool project. We have to do another 13 to 15 acres this fall.
What a unique farm! Enjoying the updates.
-on the cool season grass in the old pastures- step 1 tag out early (so you dont have to sweat step 2), step 2 GLY spray the whole area early Nov. after the second hard frost (native grasses or forbs will be dormant, non-native grasses will be active still), step 3 burn as much of the areas as possible the following spring to remove the grass thatch (late March/early April), step 4 over-seed additional desired natives immediately post burn. Step 5 Monitor sites for non-natives late May/June. We do this on old cattle ground in Ohio every year. Sometimes you release non-natives like johnsongrass or sericea lespedeza and you want to stomp those out before they go to seed year 1. Deer probably wouldnt be bothered by tractor spraying on a warm Nov day.
I have some areas where we can do this. There are areas on the old pasture that are too steep to get a tractor to. I am going to hand plant those with browse/mast trees/shrubs but that won't give me complete coverage. I will give this method a try, but unfortunately, it will all have to be hand sprayed because of the steepness.
Been watiching for years, always wanted to plant , wild acorn. Don’t have internet or much of anything in life. I’m not a smart person. Maby killed twenty deer in fifty years… But I can still dream big…. Thank you verry much. All your hard efforts much appreciated.
Thanks Carl. I really appreciate the comment and the support. I hope you have a great day and good luck with the acorns if you give it a try.
I noticed quite a few burr oaks coming up! They grow faster than any other oaks I've grown. I've grown quite a few oaks myself. I started them in pots and gallon ziploc bags of potting soil. Then, transplant them in specific spots in my pasture in February, after they're 2 years old. Here in NE Texas, we have pretty bad droughts almost every year late summer.
I think about 15% of my acorns were burr. Droughts are the real problem with any tree planting. Once you get them past a couple of years, they do just fine, but the mortality rate that first year (no matter how you plant them) in a drought can be super high.
I picked up quite a few good acorns recently... several were already germinating, so i planted those in a pot. I hope i can get a few to do something!
Those are white oaks. They should grow now. Not sure if you can just set the planter outside but that's how it works in nature.
Great information Bill and Jordan.
Thanks Mitchell. Much appreciated. Have a great day.
Thank you Bill! I’m assessing this idea for my Kansas farm. Thanks so much for the insight. Btw your format is entertaining and fun to see. #family
Thanks Daron. I would focus on local species of oaks there. I have been in Kansas some and the oaks are different, in general, than in my area. In other words, get your seeds locally. You might also consider adding wild plum seeds to the mix and maybe a few other species like crab apple and choke cherry, etc. If your area is dry, you will need to make sure the mix you use matches the conditions. It is a lot of fun and rewarding. Good luck.
Copacing or pollarding them is also a good option. Easy to handle firewood after 5-6 years
That barn would turn into an awesome hunting cabin 😉😉😉
That is actually what it is. Redneck is making pre-fab hunting cabins now. We will review it soon. Here is a link to learn more: redneckblinds.com/collections/hunting-cabins-for-sale/products/hunting-cabin
Great episode! Thank you for sharing
Thanks for the support and comment. Have a great day.
Great video! Thank you for covering this, i was always very interested in those projects you did on the last farm (I wonder how they've turned out) and will be looking at the white paper!
Alex, thanks. Most of them turned out great. The high deer density there made it tougher for the trees to grow quickly but enough of them eventually got past the deer to create a forest. I was impressed with the results. If I still owned it I would be thinking about thinning those areas now.
Dream Big brother 🙏
Thanks Edward. You too.
I don't even have 1 acre. I tried, but squirrels dug them up. So, having over 100 acorns sprunning into tree, I tossed them into my backyard and the ones that grow are from squirrel farmers!!
Gotta like the Squirrel farmers.
Very useful, great video
Thanks. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
Such great content!
Thanks Justin. Much appreciated. Have a great day.
Great stuff. Always good to see people trying to leave a piece of ground better than what it was when they got it. If you want any Chestnuts let me know, I pick them up from a few of my trees every fall and keep them in fridge over winter and plant in March or April. Always looking to give them away to people who will plant them. This year did Chestnut, sawtooth oak, and a few bur oaks. Sawtooth grew very fast in the greenhouse. Keep up the great videos. When do we get a tour of the Redneck Cabin?
That would be great.
Thanks Travis. I appreciate the offer. I would definitely plant some chestnuts. I have been thinking how great it would be to have a few of them to plant from seed to see how that worked. If you are serious, please hit me up at bill@billwinke.com. We are planning to do the Redneck Cabin tour this coming week. Have a great day.
chestnuts are a pain to get started tree tubes and i spray the base for grass and weeds but they are worth it. ps i like the nuts also
Agreed. I am definitely going to make them part of the finished product on this round of farm upgrades.
We love seeding oaks in Timberborn! In 30 days you get 8 wood! Don't step on a chestnut.
I need to plant some chestnuts. That is the one hole in my habitat plan that I have not addressed yet. Thanks for the comment. Have a great day.
Thanks again awesome video
Thanks Brian. Much appreciated.
Love these vidoes
Thanks Jarrod. We appreciate it. Have a great day.
Love this series. Curious if you would be willing to share your supplier for the acorns? I’m not far from your farm , completely understand if you don’t want to share it on UA-cam though. I know a couple foresters in this area I could check with as you suggested. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
That's what you need to do. Call as many foresters as you can (DNR and private) and ask if they know anyone collecting and selling acorns. I have two good suppliers in Iowa. One I have used on and off since 2007. You want to get acorns from as close to your property as possible so they are well adapted to your climate.
@@bill-winke Will do, thanks again!
Outstanding video and thanks for covering this subject. Thinking about trying it with Live Oak acorns here in NW FL/South AL. I have plenty of Water Oak, Laurel Oak and some Southern Red Oak, but for whatever reason the Live Oaks are few. But plenty Live Oak that drop heavy just 30 minutes south so easily gathered. Has anyone tried this in the south and to what success?
I assume it works anywhere. Nature does it so you should be able to see much better results by helping out a bit: getting the seeds into the ground at the right time and at the right depth. I don't know why it wouldn't work there just as well as anywhere else. Thanks for the support and good luck.
Hey Bill, great video. Question, How long can you keep the white oaks in cold storage? Can you wait a week or more for rain?
I am not sure on maximum but a couple weeks is OK. I wouldn't want to go much beyond that.
If you have a thick forest of oaks will you be thinning out some trees by selective cut to ensure that they won’t suffocate each other out?
Yes, I figure that will happen around year 10, roughly.
not only acorns i see walnuts also smart move. what about pecans in the mix? will you plant some chestnuts along the edges later?
Going to plant chestnuts either this fall or next spring. I have a source that is going out of business and I am hoping to get a bunch of them at a good price. Still tons of work though. Have a great day.
Wondering why you did the acorn planting? I would think that the timber ground on the property would be made up of mostly acorn trees.
In most of the Midwest, the forests are losing their oaks at a fast pace. Most of them are filled with junk trees. I always try to do my part to reforest oak whenever possible. Plus, I just love oak trees. Additionally, it is much easier to get acorns than almost any other local tree seed (other than walnut). So planting them from seed is not as hard as it would be to plant less common tree species. I will add more browse plantings in the future. This is just like making a painting by starting with the background. I painted the background with oaks. Can add other stuff as desired later.
Great start how do you keep the deer off em??
That is the hard part in areas with high density. Hopefully, our deer numbers are low enough that these will make it past them without any problem. Spring is the toughest on the trees because the deer like the new growth. If I can get the trees past the deer for about four or five years there is no problem. Otherwise, because of the sheer number of trees, it will eventually happen, but it will take about twice as long.
Deer commonly chomp 98% of the new growths, squirrels as well if they can dig up the sprouts
How many acorns did you plant on that 13 acres. Looked like a lot. I saw the videos when you planted, just curious what you think the germination rate is, and how many stems per acre will you likely get?
I asked too soon. Lol. So given the seed every 2 ‘ that’s too many to create a good mast crop when they do get big enough.?
Yes, if they all come through (which they won't) that is way too thick. If we get decent results, we will definitely be thinning certain parts of that stand in about ten years. Not sure what the ideal density is per acre, but I am guessing in the hundreds, not the thousands (what we are likely to have). But nature will take a lot of them. By year ten we will have a pretty good idea what the long-term stand will look like. Have a great day.
Wouldn't the grass and weeds help protect the oaks from too much sun and deer
Yes, but oak does best in full sunlight so it is a tradeoff. On this farm, the deer numbers are low enough that I would rather have full sun and take my chances with the deer.
Never thought about soil temp….Things that make you go hmmmm! 🤔
Yes, it was interesting to see how much difference that made. Have a great day.
This may be a dumb ? But would I be able to just pick the acorns off the ground when they drop and do it that way or are the ones you buy different
You can sure plant the ones you find yourself. That is an awesome way to do it. Good luck.
Could y’all make some dream farm apparel?
I think Jordan is working on some ideas. Hopefully offer something soon. Thanks for the suggestion. Have a great day.
Do you anticipate that many of these seedlings will be destroyed by grazing deer?
I am sure they will get some, but the deer numbers on this farm are not high yet (and I hope to keep it that way) so it is not super hard to create habitat and even plant browse species here. I need to get that part done right away in the event deer numbers increase too quickly for me to hold them back in the future.
If one grows too close to another, can’t you dig it up and move it to a bald spot?
You could definitely move them. No doubt about that. Have a great day.
Is there any whitetail value in planting walnut?
No, not really. They have great future timber value and they grow aggressively so you can count on them to come through in a direct seeding, but they don't serve any real wildlife value. Have a great day.
@@bill-winke Thanks Bill, I know the red squirrels that filled the walls of my 1876 farm house love them!
What state are you in?
Iowa. The farm is in the area where I grew up.
11:59 chemicals??? Why spray chemicals to grow trees?
You have to kill the existing pasture first so you can break up the soil and get the acorns planted. No way around that.
oak tree seedlings are so fragile and finnicky, hard to transplant and hard to care for. they die very easily, they need everything to be perfect in order to thrive
The ones that germinated and came up from the acorns have proven to be very resilient. I planted another 17 acres this past fall so it will be interesting to see how those do versus the ones we planted in 2022.
@@bill-winke i have a bunch of seedlings in pots right now, anywhere from 2 inches to 12 inches tall...im going to plant them outside in april but my hopes arent very high, ive had bad luck with transplanting baby oaks