We removed dozens of trees @ Owl Creek this year…Some had been dead for a long time… Some were volunteers too close to driveways or barn…Some were contortions of trees…bent, split, broken. Several logging projects in the past 50 years harvested hard woods…walnut, maple and oak trees. Our understanding is that oak seedlings are difficult to locate.
Our recent experience: Squirrels/Ground Squirrels consider fresh sprouting acorns hors d’oeuvres. Half of what I transplanted to containers were uprooted to eat the meat of the acorn. (Redbud, tulip and cedar trees were undisturbed.) I rescued these seedlings by moving them to the screened porch.
To get 2020 spring plants off to a bigger start, I gathered acorns from the backyard. Mostly green, squirrels had not run off with them.
“How to Grow Oak Trees from Acorns” Shelly Wigglesworth Oct 16, 2018, published in New England Today, Living
I like the idea of refrigerating with peat and barley in a sealed container over winter.
Shelly recommended discarding acorns with pin holes. They are made by “inch” worms exiting the hull. I believe the worms enter under the cap. After checking closely and drying about two weeks, I discarded 20 acorns of the 60+ I had gathered from our backyard.
Here we “grow” again…
