As part of my habitat improvement plan and wildlife management exemptions, I decided to plant some beneficial trees. White Oak is prime for deer. They'll flock to a tree like a herd of goats when they start dropping. Nuttall Oak and Willow Oak for ducks and deer in the low areas because they're the most flood tolerant. Native Persimmon in the dryer areas. And Button bush inside and around pond banks for wood ducks. Some of each planted along the Navasota river bottom. And some near Lake Somerville.
I started in Late January with 100 mixed white, nuttall, and willow oak from Mossy Oak Nativ Nurseries. https://www.nativnurseries.com/collections/oak-trees Dudley in their sales department is a great help. He has a bunch of helpful youtube videos too. Unfortunately, the Mossy Oak trees get a little pricey and are labor intensive, requiring an actual hole to be dug for each one.
I also ordered more bare root seedlings from Missouri DOC. https://mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-seedlings/order-seedlings 100 nuttall, 100 white oak, 200 persimmon, and 100 button bush. At only $32 per 100 trees, I was expecting small seedlings that should be easy to put in the ground with a dibble bar but many were really too big for a dibble.
Dibble bar- https://www.amazon.com/Timber-Tuff-TMW-73-Dibble-Green/dp/B07DMJNTGW/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=dibble+bar&qid=1584912952&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-6
For protection, tree tubes are highly recommended. 60" if deer are thick in your area. 48" if not. This was the cheapest place I could find them. Unfortunately, they took about 6 weeks to ship. https://www.johnsonsway.com/products/tree-pro-miracle-tube
Unpacking the native nurseries nuttall oaks.
Planted by digging a hole maybe a foot across and a foot deep and mixing compost about 50/50 with the existing soil.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the tree tubes were slow to arrive and I had a number of trees get dug up before I could get them protected.
Bare root white oaks. I guess with the ground not being as disturbed and no use of compost, the bare root plantings did not attract whatever dug up some of the first group of trees. These are not getting tubes until they actually sprout.
Normally February should not be dry but this winter was crazy dry. Rigged up some drums to gravity water from the 4-wheeler or truck tailgate.
Went back out yesterday to see how things were looking. Persimmon and nuttall are just starting to bud. The White Oak and Willow Oak are really taking off in Navasota. Not as much in Somerville.
Nativ Nurseries White oak Navasota River-
Willow Oak Navasota River-
If I could do one thing different, I would not have ordered near as many of the bare root seedlings from Missouri DOC. It turned in to one hell of a project getting them all in the ground. Dudley from Mossy Oak later suggested spreading out your effort and do a little each year in an attempt to avoid the risk of flood, drought, etc.
Ill try to update this thread as things progress in the future. This is new to me so if anyone with more experience would like to add info, feel free. Same thing goes for anyone else planting and wanting to share progress.
I started in Late January with 100 mixed white, nuttall, and willow oak from Mossy Oak Nativ Nurseries. https://www.nativnurseries.com/collections/oak-trees Dudley in their sales department is a great help. He has a bunch of helpful youtube videos too. Unfortunately, the Mossy Oak trees get a little pricey and are labor intensive, requiring an actual hole to be dug for each one.
I also ordered more bare root seedlings from Missouri DOC. https://mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-seedlings/order-seedlings 100 nuttall, 100 white oak, 200 persimmon, and 100 button bush. At only $32 per 100 trees, I was expecting small seedlings that should be easy to put in the ground with a dibble bar but many were really too big for a dibble.
Dibble bar- https://www.amazon.com/Timber-Tuff-TMW-73-Dibble-Green/dp/B07DMJNTGW/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=dibble+bar&qid=1584912952&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-6
For protection, tree tubes are highly recommended. 60" if deer are thick in your area. 48" if not. This was the cheapest place I could find them. Unfortunately, they took about 6 weeks to ship. https://www.johnsonsway.com/products/tree-pro-miracle-tube
Unpacking the native nurseries nuttall oaks.
Planted by digging a hole maybe a foot across and a foot deep and mixing compost about 50/50 with the existing soil.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the tree tubes were slow to arrive and I had a number of trees get dug up before I could get them protected.
Bare root white oaks. I guess with the ground not being as disturbed and no use of compost, the bare root plantings did not attract whatever dug up some of the first group of trees. These are not getting tubes until they actually sprout.
Normally February should not be dry but this winter was crazy dry. Rigged up some drums to gravity water from the 4-wheeler or truck tailgate.
Went back out yesterday to see how things were looking. Persimmon and nuttall are just starting to bud. The White Oak and Willow Oak are really taking off in Navasota. Not as much in Somerville.
Nativ Nurseries White oak Navasota River-
Willow Oak Navasota River-
If I could do one thing different, I would not have ordered near as many of the bare root seedlings from Missouri DOC. It turned in to one hell of a project getting them all in the ground. Dudley from Mossy Oak later suggested spreading out your effort and do a little each year in an attempt to avoid the risk of flood, drought, etc.
Ill try to update this thread as things progress in the future. This is new to me so if anyone with more experience would like to add info, feel free. Same thing goes for anyone else planting and wanting to share progress.