I have another thousand ready to plant

If you need a place to plant them, head on over. I have just the place for them.

Burr oaks are white oaks, but those acorns are not from a burr oak. Burr oak acorns have bristles around the edge of the cap. Also the burr oaks I know of are taller and do not widen out like that tree.

The best video I know of for identifying oaks.



[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/FIKGm4VSKDQ?si=GnfT7YEcyDpDtuEX[/video]

Identifying young oaks, like a few feet tall or less, is where I struggle.

I planted over 1,250 acorns so far this fall on my property. I planted this 1 in a pot in my office recently & it's already growing



I have 680 in the fridge still, to plant asap.

I got all my acorns this year from 2 white oak trees. Planting goes fast with my tool.

White oaks germinate immediately and should be planted straight away. Drying them may kill them or at least make them more vulnerable to fungal infections.

Red oaks germinate in the spring and can be kept in the refrigerator until everything thaws in the Spring.

I keep my white oak acorns gently moist in the fridge until I can get 'em in the ground. I have a little water mister squirter I use.

I have over 5 gallons of Saw Tooth acorns that will be planted soon. The deer are eating before I can gather them. I have three saw tooth oaks I planted as seedlings 16 years ago that started producing acorns at around 10 years old

White oak grow slower than your sawtooth

My 2 cents - protect your young oak trees. I planted several hundred bare root seedlings about 15 years ago. 90 percent plus survival rate. Those that were tubed and/or caged (about 1/4th) have done very well. Some are close to 20’ tall. Of the 250 or so that were not protected, most are still alive. But not one is over 30 inches tall. The deer keep them browsed back.

Have you tried bud caps? That might help.

I'm looking for some good tree tubes & might be curious what you are using

I removed tubes from a bunch of my Oaks, some have done real good in the tubes and one is even about 8ft above the 5ft tube.
But others not so good. They were going OK then for some reason the top died back, Most of them it was 2 years worth of growth dead but the tree was still alive and growing on the lower branches.
So I have removed the tubes and replaced with 2 x 4 wire in a 2 1/2 ft circle around the tree and mulched them.
Next summer will tell the tale.

I do have some natural White Oak regeneration in the more open areas in my woodlot. The biggest tree I found was a little over a foot tall. Most are just 4-6 leaves about 1/2 foot tall.
They are existing only because they were growing in blackberry patches or other thick cover that the deer never went into.
These areas are also burned occasionally. I have picked a 3 of the small natural Oaks that were in areas that I cleared of all brush and will seed this fall and protected them with the fence. will be another interesting thing to watch next summer. Hopefully more sunlight, protection from deer and fire might yeild some good growth.


picture of the natural white oak regeneration in a area that was burned last spring.


tree that was in a tube for about 5 years, you can see the dead leaves on top and the last remaining part that is still growing.

I have 3000 seedling oaks going in next spring. I refuse to protect them unless you call shooting a few deer protection.

Seems like I have way too many issues with mice in the tubes. I just plant thick and let it be survival of the fittest. I can buy a lot of extra trees for the cost of a tube.

I have planted at least 10,000 bare root seedlings without tubes the last 10 years or so. Would have been farther ahead to plant potted 5 to 8 footers from tractor supply or Lowe’s and take really good care of them. Die off and deer browse very hard on seedlings.

That's been my oak strategy, but with acorns. I've planted 3k acorns in the past 2 years.

For some of my key White oaks, I like your fencing setup Dirty D. I might try that.

I have elk, so damage from browse is even more of an issue.

the shotgun approach or the precise targeted approach?

to me alot would depend upon what your planting into and how much land your trying to get trees on in the end and of the utmost importance the amount of browsing animals in the area.

a bare field with lots of room for lots of trees and few if any deer, shotgun most likely would be best.

I might add here that in all the 5 plus decades that I have traversed farms and fields finding a White Oak sapling is a very rare occurrence. Lots of mature trees but no saplings. They only exist if they are in a place not visited by deer and not too shaded by surrounding trees. Seedlings are not uncommon, but finding one who has grown to 1-2 inches in diameter is unicorn rare. Would be interested in others experiences with this observation.


me, I'm planting into an open woodland with small open patches with no canopy cover, so I plant 1 to 4 or 5 trees in the opening depending upon size of opening. I protect them all.

the old axiom of when is the best time to plant a tree is valid here. Nothing bugs me more than to see a tree that has survived several years only to be destroyed. If protected the tree would still be here and getting bigger.
the window of danger for a Oak seedling is very high in its first 10-20 years depending upon site and conditions of course. Once its past that its odds go down dramatically.

Planting acorns is so cheap & easy that I plant way more white oak than I think I will need.

I go with the poplar approach. Just provide more than they can eat. I will admit it gets harder if you have the only good habitat around you. Best thing you can do if you want to plant a bunch of trees is have a couple of the neighbors do a cut at same time. It helps prevent all the deer from congregating all the deer in one spot in the winter.

Here is something I have found to be helpful if you are planting oaks in rows. Plant rows perpendicular to the direction of travel of deer. If deer go down the rows, you will lose way more.

Here is a screen shot of my property. Notice all the oaks that are highlighted in top right (1/3 acre). See where I lost oaks to the deer because they were moving top to bottom or bottom to top? It doesnt matter because they still need to be thinned. Now look at the section of oaks that run top to bottom that I highlighted in black marker along the spruce trees. They were planted the same time and I lost vast majority. This is because two reason. Number 1, the deer travel down the rows. Make them pick a path and they will stay on it saving you a whole bunch of trees. The spruce trees provide lots cover for rabbits. One winter with lots of snow they girdled a bunch of trees.

The other section of pine that I have highlighted is one of the cuts this year. Guess which way I am planting those rows and why?