Photo by Melody

Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Need help...I would like to grow various oak/maple seedlings, 3 by MaypopLaurel

Communities > Forums

Image Copyright MaypopLaurel

In reply to: Need help...I would like to grow various oak/maple seedlings

Forum: Trees, Shrubs and Conifers

<<< Previous photoNext photo >>>
Photo of Need help...I would like to grow various oak/maple seedlings
MaypopLaurel wrote:
It was a beautiful day for nut hunting and picture taking. I wanted to share photos of a walk in the woods and the nuts and acorns now collected (#1-#4). The trees will not reach full color for several more weeks.With help from SO, I located a variety of acorns though not absolutely positive of IDs. Amazing how many were already sprouting. It doesn't seem stratification is necessary at all unless holding them at cold temps to prevent sprouting is a good thing (?). Some species could do well in southern MS, others might not tolerate that range http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/fieldguide...

I was able to reach about fifty seed pods from an Eastern redbud (each has three or four seeds) and think I collected three varieties of hickory. Two are similarly sized but different colors. Since you expressed interest in Yellow Poplar I was able to locate several intact seed heads. Dogwood berries have gone to the birds here but I gathered a few and have more in Atlanta. Along with redbud, you will have a start for understory though redbud is iffy in extreme southern MS.

Shortleaf, I've got multiple issues with Yellow Poplar starting with a growth habit that outpaces other hardwoods. Slower growing oaks and hickories can't compete in the same habitat. It volunteers, along with other trash trees and scrub, wherever land has been cleared. All along our roadsides, and around the pond and dam, clearing Yellow Poplar is a never ending chore. Try spending a day on a steep hillside wielding a chainsaw and clippers or wallowing around in waders. Unless we drill and inject Round Up into the stumps they continue to sprout from the base for years. They volunteer among the cleared area that supports my fruit and berries. Yellow Poplar isn't a poplar at all, rather a soft porous hardwood of little value. Unlike valuable oak and hickory, it's a utility grade wood used for cheap furniture frames and pallets. It's so porous that it burns fast when used for heating making it inferior for fireplaces and woodstoves. We use it in our fire pit because it's not even worth curing for heating. We have enormous ones overhanging our house in Atlanta (photo #5 is outside the deck to my bedroom which is over 30' up there). So yes, the limbs start at around forty feet. The porous limbs have lampooned our roof and decks. When foresting land for investment or conservation there is a value added quality to other hardwood that Yellow Poplar does not have. Here in the deep South it's often mispronounced "Yellow Popular". I think not.

It occurred to me that a reasonably priced source for six foot trees is the Big Box stores. They usually stock trees for the region in spring and fall. I see hardwoods, redbud and dogwood along with fruit trees. Since they are guaranteed for one year you could always take them back if they failed. The trees are usually priced at about twenty five dollars each and they half price them after awhile. If you are going to MS in December you might find some good head starts there. Since the zone is relatively mild, and the trees guaranteed, I'd not worry about the planting time.