Sawtooth Oaks

H

Heart shot

Active Member
I would like to get some more oaks here at my house. Only 3 acres but a ton of deer and once the whites drop the deer are gone for about a month. Was thinking a grove of Satooths could be the ticket. I want something that will grow quick and produce soon as I’m 41 an want to hunt over these.

Questions
1 Are sawtooth the right choice here in Missouri?
2 where should I buy them? Looked online and only Mossy Oak native nursery had some to order.
3 what size? Is it worth getting the 3 or 5 gallon trees. I’m willing to pay to get acorns in a couple of years.
4 how much sun? I’d like to add them near my a stand in the back woods, a bunch of dogwood, male persimmon grow now so I’m thinking I’ll thin those and replace with the oaks?

Would love feedback
 
They grow great in KS zone 6a. Not sure how that correlates to you but I would guess MO is going to be fine.

Ours drop early and quickly. Not great for hunting as they are done by October. There are different strains that drop later though.

Full sun is always going to be best for oaks.

I have acorns in the fridge. Super easy to grow from seed. I'll send you some if you want.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
1) Sawtooths will probably grow in Missouri. Whether or not it is the right tree is up to you. There are native oaks that will grow just as fast and produce almost as quickly as a sawtooth. The native oaks will also be around when you are 70-years-old. The sawtooths may not be. They are a short lived species and my parents' neighbor planted about 50 in the 1990s. A lot of these trees are now dying. My dad planted some 15 years ago. He has lost three over the past couple of years.
2) I have heard nothing but good things about Nativ Nurseries. The Wildlife Group has sawtooths and is well respected also.
3) Whether it is worth it to buy a larger tree depends on your budget and your ability to water them the first year. Large trees are great, but will struggle the first year without supplemental water. A seedling can catch a larger tree if the larger tree is left to fend for itself.
4) Sawtooths will require full sun. If you want to shoot deer, get rid of the dogwood. If you want to grow deer, leave it as the deer will eat the dogwood if they can reach it. If you do cut them down, do not kill the dogwood. Let them grow back from the stump and provide browse. Give the persimmons a sex change and graft over female scions so they can start producing soft mast for you.

You seem like you are in a rush for someone as young as you are. Realize that while a sawtooth may produce acorns in 4-5 years, it will be at least 10 years before it produces a significant amount of acorns. Think about a diversity of oaks, chestnuts, and other soft mast such as pears and apples.
 
catscratch said:
They grow great in KS zone 6a. Not sure how that correlates to you but I would guess MO is going to be fine.

Ours drop early and quickly. Not great for hunting as they are done by October. There are different strains that drop later though.

Full sun is always going to be best for oaks.

I have acorns in the fridge. Super easy to grow from seed. I'll send you some if you want.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Thanks that is very kind of you. When starting from seed how long do they take to produce? I’ll PM you.
 
Mine take considerably longer than 4 yrs to produce from seed, but there's a lot of factors involved in growing a tree. The LLC might just be in the perfect scenario for Sawtooth, or maybe I'm just in a not great spot. I do get good growth and fast production though.

Care can be important and a difference maker. I planted a row of sawtooth 4 or 5yrs ago. I put cages around every other one. The caged one's are 6-8 foot tall, the non-caged ones are 2-4ft tall. They get browsed and rubbed. My deer have plenty to eat, plenty of native oak sprouts to attack, plenty of everything... but they still pick on what I plant.
 
I got my acorns in the fall of 2016 and planted in the spring.....I would LOVE to see some acorns next year.....
 
Of course you got to remember the question was “to produce seed” not “to produce abundant seed”. Mine usually take 6 years to produce a substantial crop. But they will generally produce 3 or 4 acorns at around 4. IF a late freeze don’t get them which has happened a time or two. Also, I always grow sawtooths in tubes.
 
I planted Sawtooth from nursery grown seedlings in 2006. I planted "grown from seed in my greenhouse" seedlings in 2013. Both groups took six years to produce their first acorns. Both groups are prolific producers now. But even with that the soil location of the tree is very important. It is amazing how different the resulting trees can be.
 
Here is a 5-years-from-acorn sawtooth at my house today. It is from one of my late-droppers from the farm 60 miles to our East. It’s about 15-feet high.
AA4C13E4-886C-4631-B61D-D222C911FDD5.jpeg
 
I only heard about a dozen fall when I sat in my tree stand 13’ up one of my sawtooths last Wednesday. Saw a few still hangin on tho. Had 9 deer under me for 2 hours Chomping away. What amazes me is not 100 yards away are 30 white oaks with acorns covering the ground.


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Picked up a few dozen sawtooth acorns yesterday. Still undecided about planting them on our place in the Appalachians. I haven’t seen a sawtooth within 100 miles of our place, not sure I want to be the first.

Is that crazy?


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weekender21 said:
Picked up a few dozen sawtooth acorns yesterday. Still undecided about planting them on our place in the Appalachians. I haven’t seen a sawtooth within 100 miles of our place, not sure I want to be the first.

Is that crazy?


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Click to expand...

Being the only one with them is the best reason for planting them. You will have all of the deer.
 
Native Hunter said:
Being the only one with them is the best reason for planting them. You will have all of the deer.
Click to expand...

.....and bear!!
In my experience, it’s the best wildlife tree there is. And that includes chestnut. It’s a regular producer of large, numerous acorns that are as attractive as white oaks.
Ours are 20 years old, 40’ high and I have more mature Dunstan and Chinese chestnut volunteers (3) than I have sawtooth(0). They simply won’t make it. I’ve seen lots of seedlings but never one more than 2’ tall. They need sunlight (full) and they get browsed to death.
I’m going to plant another 50 or so to add to my 100 and I won’t have to worry too much about habitat work for awhile.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum
 
massey said:
.....and bear!!
In my experience, it’s the best wildlife tree there is. And that includes chestnut. It’s a regular producer of large, numerous acorns that are as attractive as white oaks.
Ours are 20 years old, 40’ high and I have more mature Dunstan and Chinese chestnut volunteers (3) than I have sawtooth(0). They simply won’t make it. I’ve seen lots of seedlings but never one more than 2’ tall. They need sunlight (full) and they get browsed to death.
I’m going to plant another 50 or so to add to my 100 and I won’t have to worry too much about habitat work for awhile.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum
Click to expand...
I agree they are one of the trees that do well in the lousy soil I have to deal with. Where are you located?
 
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