The Brushpile

[Brushpile]

Like you I have some Sawtooth oaks that I planted at 6+ ft tall about 7 yrs ago that still aren't producing a viable acorn...they grow really fast though!

In 2010 I planted a half dozen Sawtooth Oaks that were sold to me as Chinese Chestnuts by Burgess Catalogue. The seedlings arrived in a tiny plastic pouch with no soil, and they looked dead, so I called to complain. I ended up just sticking them in the ground and forgetting about them. 2012 was the worst drought year I've seen and the weeds and grass died and turned brown, and in that brown I saw one green plant.... a Sawtooth Oak, one tough drought tolerant tree, and it was growing with no sign of drought stress. This tree is over 20 feet tall now, but still hasn't produced acorns.

 

[Brushpile]

Chinkapin vs Chinkapin Oak. Chinkapins are small chestnuts. Allegheny Chinkapins will produce small/sweet Chestnuts the year after planting. These are Allegheny Chinkapins, which are loved by deer and can be eaten raw. I believe the other nut in the pic is hazelnut, but I'm not sure.

 

[Brushpile]

Throw back pic. A young Marine trapping on the weekend.

 

[Brushpile]

An average day's catch of coyotes, Grey Fox and Bobcat.

 

[Brushpile]

Young pines are inevitably browsed. This series of pics shows how to protect and repair browse damage. Browse damage normally occurs in the Fall as deciduous trees are losing their leaves, and deer normally target the central leader. Capping the central leader with window screen in early Fall, will protect it from deer. I've had deer actually chew and spit out window screen, which teaches them not to eat pine, but normally capped pines are given a pass.

To cap a pine I simply fold a small square of aluminum window screen over the central leader and staple it in place so that the staples include pine needles to hold the screen to the leader. This is a capped pine tree, and notice that the central leader is protected, while the rest of the tree has been browsed. So long as the leader is protected the tree will survive and grow in the Spring.

 

[Brushpile]

This pine has had it's central leader browsed and required repair.

 

[Brushpile]

Top make the repair a healthy top most branch is selected and gently bent upward.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

Brush my mdc Chinkapin oaks are doing great, been making acorns the last several years and an awesome looking tree to boot.

How old are your MDC chinkapin oaks?

 

[Brushpile]

How old are your MDC chinkapin oaks?

I've planted them twice, and I believe the initial planting was in 2011 or 2012.

 

[Neahawg]

Heres a trapping throw back picture of me and Merle hawggard brushpile.

 

[Brushpile]

Then the new leader is stapled in place. It takes less than a minute to complete a repair.

 

[Brushpile]

Heres a trapping throw back picture of me and Merle hawggard brushpile.

Wow, two otter and it looks like a mess of beaver. Trapping to control critters is important to maintain habitat and reduce predators. That's good trapping!

 

[Neahawg]

Really nees to then the coyotes out on our place may do that this year.

 

[Brushpile]

Really need to then the coyotes out on our place may do that this year.

Coyotes are the apex predator in the Midwest, with deer and turkey populations fluctuating with the rise and fall of coyote numbers. Raccoon and possum not only prey on ground nesting birds, but they break branches on fruit trees as they consume fruit that's intended for deer.

 

[shedder]

Bush ... your reference picture is certainly consistent with your photo; it must be a SWO. I was looking more at the leaf structure; however, I dont believe I could see a complete leaf ... so I must have been mistaken. Thanks for the great reference section on SWOs

After looking again at the leaves on your picture of your tree, I googled swamp chestnut oak (quercus michauxii) acorn ... it may very well be you have a swamp chestnut oak tree ... while a member of the white oak family ir is a different tree than a SWO .. they do share similar characteristics. Here is a picture of a swamp chestnut oak with acorns.

That looks like Q alba not swamp chestnut oak

swamp chestnut oak

 

[shedder]

Bush .... are you sure that is a SWO; it's leaves look more like that of a straight white oak or English oak (also a member of the white oak family).

I agree

 

[Brushpile]

I agree

I was going through old photos when I posted this, and obviously there's been a mistake. However, I do have a SWO that produced acorns early.

Heres a trapping throw back picture of me and Merle hawggard brushpile.

Otters cleaned my pond out, leaving only small fish.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Great to see another trapper brush! I started back in 1980 with muskrat and mink and ended up being a nuisance trapper part time. It's a lot more fun trapping yotes and cats than getting skunks out from under a house.

 

[Flyfixer]

Great to see here, I see you are still prolific with posting updates. Thanks for keeping us slackers in the loop

 

[Brushpile]

Going through old pics I found these Shumard Oak acorns that show drought stress. Both acorns are Shumard Oak, but the flattened one was from a tree on high ground.