Silky Dogwood and Scotch Pine

dogghr

dogghr

Well-Known Member
I've ordered some of these for planting this year. Have never done either type. Planning on planting Silky along creek bottom and using tubes for protection. Scotch Im doing on sunny hill side with no protection. My deer do browse the heck out of my Whites and Northerns if I don't protect but I understand they don't care much for the Scotch.
Any suggestions or does that sound ok??
 
I have planted scotch pine in the past but have come to the conclusion that they don't do well here. I have had them grow for 8 or 9 years and then just die...I think they can't take our heat and dry weather...
 
Uh Oh. I'm not sure of the Scotch either. Not native here but are used some on reclaims. Thot I try just a few and see what happens, but my spot will be hot and dry. May have to rethink.
 
I noticed several of the scotch pines planted along a road near here about 15 years ago have started dying...bottom land type area but full sun with hillside to the south of them... They look great for a few years and then just give it up...
 
Every scotch pine I have seen in this area as well is dead or dying. I am somewhat in the same area as OkieKubota. Maybe they will do better in your area but not here. Someone told me years ago that they die of a disease. I cannot substantiate that but that's what I recall.
 
I plant silky dogwood every year. They are my favorite shrub. A few hours of sunlight and they grow like a weed.
 
You will like Silky Dogwood. Silky Dogwood is thicket forming, so space them at least 15 feet apart. The branches on Silky Dogwood will bow to the ground and take root.
 
Nebraskaz71 said:
I lost 200+ scotch pines the last few years, most were about 20yrs old
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Well I think when I plant the Scotches, I will just cover them with apple juice so the deer will immediately eat them and I won't have to waste part of my life watching them. :) Thanks for the knowledge. Pines tend to fight a battle here with various bugs and blights. This nursery is good about developing disease resistant plants from oaks to chestnuts. So perhaps these will work. Really do appreciate the responses.
I am excited about the silkies. as I understand as said that they are good growers and form good thickets despite deer browse pressure.
 
Another thumbs up for the silkies here. I planted a row of them in my road screen; only spaced them 3' to 4' apart because I wanted screening asap. I did not protect them, and even where the deer cross every night and morning, they survived the browsing. I don't think I would tube them more than one growing season if I did at all; that should give them enough time to establish good roots so that they can bounce back from browsing. Their growth habit doesn't seem conducive to tubing, in my experience? These have been in the ground five years and are 7' to 8' tall. (I have heavy clay, so almost everything seems to be a slow grow.)
20170218_080204 resize.jpg
 
ng270 said:
Another thumbs up for the silkies here. I planted a row of them in my road screen; only spaced them 3' to 4' apart because I wanted screening asap. I did not protect them, and even where the deer cross every night and morning, they survived the browsing. I don't think I would tube them more than one growing season if I did at all; that should give them enough time to establish good roots so that they can bounce back from browsing. Their growth habit doesn't seem conducive to tubing, in my experience? These have been in the ground five years and are 7' to 8' tall. (I have heavy clay, so almost everything seems to be a slow grow.)
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Awesome. Not sure I'm brave enough not to tube first year but might try some. My deer will browse rocks given the chance. Yours look great. I'm not using them for a screen, just some plant diversity but they will go along a row of pines. Hope to get them in today. Thanks and welcome to the club.
 
I use 2' tubes for one or two years. Mine are all planted around plots so they get browsed heavy. I have not lost one yet to browsing. They put out a massive amount of growth early in the growing season and the deer work on it all summer.
 
I'll agree with the other guys about Scotch Pine. A LOT of them die after 15 or 20 years. Although I do have some that seem quite healthy after 20+ years, while I've had some that were planted the same day die off 5 years ago.
I consider Scotch as being a short-term, "throw-away" tree. They do serve a purpose for a while. Decent thermal cover and a really good rub species. Once they get to 6 or 7 feet, it seems like they almost can't be killed by rubbing. They really handle the abuse by bucks well. Excellent tree for scrape locations, too.

Choosing conifers is really becoming a challenge. So many of them have some sort of issue.
Here's a list of ones that I have that are either sick, dying or dead...
Blue Spruce
Red Pine
Douglas Fir
Scotch Pine
And my Hemlock have not yet been effected by the Woolie Adelaide, I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
I don't see any sick White Pines, though. The only ones that aren't healthy are the ones that have been attacked by deer or rabbits.
 
I am planting Rocky mountain juniper this morning...slow growth but excellent dry weather tree in Rocky, Sandy, or clay soil...perfect for my area but gonna be awhile before they get to where I want them...

I have great luck with loblolly from Oklahoma state nursery but the ones I got last year from MDC had a lot of issues so I am back to the Oklahoma grown seedlings.

Norway Spruce can't handle our hot, dry summers...

Trying a new pine here this year...Virginia Pine...have 100 to experiment with...

100 Sawtooth seedlings, 50 persimmon, 50 sandplum, 50 American plum...

Gotta get back to work!
 
Well with a little research, the Scotch is a no recommend in the midwest. They especially are dealing with pine wilt which as talked on here begins to really affect around 10 years of age. Of course disease can be an issue any part of the country. Oddly, an internet search and they are still quite prevalent for sale. Isn't really a problem for me as they are row of a multi row planting of them, whites, bush, and fallow field. But with the problems that are seen with the other pines as Tap alluded to, I thot these might be a good change. I think that is why the Scotch is a good Christmas tree, they are cut before disease takes them.
I have good luck with Norways and Whites, but if not screen capped then they will be browsed before they can survive. Found that out on the first 100 Norways I planted one spring.
Odd how several types of pine grow on my place naturally, but when forced to do so, they don't like my choices. Areas I try to plant these, Cedars are the most easy to grow and my least liked pine. Part of reason is they love south facing slopes and can take over a field in short order.
Again thanks for the replays, and since Chummer and I have similar land characteristics I will be tubing the silkies the first year. I know my deer to well.
 
Here is a silky that is 3 years old. It is located on the edge of a clover plot. It survived early summer browsing and still put on good growth. This pic was taken early September. My guess is this was browsed heavy again October/November. I have a 100 or so around now and they are fool proof for me.
8aae5fc940e6dcb6f941f26fdd2ccbb2.jpg



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Thanks for the picture of the silkys, ordered a few and planted them along side a wide road food plot of cover and thick cover near by.
 
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