Ash tree replacement..................

[acem]

I have pecan trees that are well over 100 years old in my yard and pastures. They are native here. The better paper shell pecans are grafted onto disease resistant rootstock. Pecan is a type of hickory.

I've always heard that the first big meated paper shell pecan was developed by a slave on a plantation in Georgia.

[acem]

Here's the story.

The Centennial cultivar was the first to be successfully grafted. This was accomplished by an enslaved person called Antoine in 1846 or 1847, who was owned by Jacques Telesphore Roman of the Oak Alley Plantation near the Mississippi River

here's a pic of the natural range of pecan trees. Varieties are adapted by climate zone. Pollination is also an important consideration.

[Dave Downs]

Interesting topic - I had a really nice Ash in my front yard, had to have it taken down with a crane in March of ‘21.

Didn’t have the stump ground because it would have involved taking out a fence section plus they did nice job of cutting it flat and low to the ground.

The ‘volunteer’ tree showed up last year, just going to see what happens.

[yellowrosefarm]

12 hours ago, Sledgehammer said:

Do they grow quickly at all?  Any more details?  This sounds interesting. 
 

I’ve got 6, 3yr old pecan trees in 5 gallon buckets that were started from the large pecan in my yard. I know it was the same size in the 1950’s as I have pictures of it. Been struck by lightning twice in the 15 or so years I’ve lived here. I’ve lost large limbs to large storms in the past but that tree is tough. 

I had a monster pecan like that in the yard of the first house I ever bought. It didn't produce nuts every year, but when it did, everybody in my family got a trash bag full.  My Mom's place had several that really increased in size over the 20 years she was there.  The wood is very hard to saw into lumber, but beautiful if you can do it.

[CC_Ranger]

Dave,

The volunteer looks like a Silver Maple, I would get rid of that now while it is easy!

[hobbyfarm]

43 minutes ago, CC_Ranger said:

Dave,

The volunteer looks like a Silver Maple, I would get rid of that now while it is easy!

What is wrong with silver maple?

[hobbyfarm]

14 hours ago, Mr. Brookville said:

My son and I have been planting the new blight resistant  American chestnut all around the farm.  He starts them in old coffee cans and milk jugs and we plant the when they are 2ft tall.  Once the dominate tree in Appalachia and what my barns are made from

This is in our yard.  Old variety or new?  The chestnut yield depends on the year.   It lost a main trunk or limb before my time.  The weather really seems to affect timing of leaf drop.  

[hobbyfarm]

13 hours ago, bitty said:

Pin oak if near house 

3 pin oaks in front of the rental house planted about 1970.  They are stout trees.

[F-301066460puller]

 

On 5/21/2023 at 6:28 PM, IH Forever said:

They don’t get enough credit but I think hackberry are a great shade tree and a good replacement for ash. I have several red oak and they grow surprisingly fast too. Also have autumn blaze maple which grows fast and have nice fall color, my only complaint with them is the shape, don’t have a wide crown like the ash.

 

21 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

There is a Hackberry tree in my dad’s yard. My grandfather was first on that farm when they rented it in the 1930’s. He said it was a big tree back then. It has obviously stood the test of time. 

Lost a big chunk of my Hackberry today. Supposed to be good firewoord.

[Jake19917561]

Curious if any of y’all have to deal with armillaria root rot? 

[Lars (midessa)]

22 hours ago, hobbyfarm said:

What is wrong with silver maple?

Silver Maples are considered a ‘weak’ tree, some years they drop copious amounts of ‘helicopters’, generally don’t have a definitive trunk. 

[acem]

22 hours ago, F-301066460puller said:

 

 

Lost a big chunk of my Hackberry today. Supposed to be good firewoord.

It's good firewood green, compared to oak, due to a lower moisture content. Round here it's the preferred wood if you're cutting it to burn green.

When dry I don't know.

[F-301066460puller]

12 minutes ago, acem said:

It's good firewood green, compared to oak, due to a lower moisture content. Round here it's the preferred wood if you're cutting it to burn green.

When dry I don't know.

I'll find out.. got a lot now lol need a bigger chainsaw though.

[searcyfarms]

from your location you arent much farther north than our farm south of bethany, mo and I can attest that the nut trees - walnut, hickory, pecan, oaks are all good growers around here. Hackberry, evergreen types, sycamore, maple, cottonwood, but no way i would grow some if in/around house/yard.

NO on the sycamore, silver maple, cottonwood or cypress. WHY?

roots from sycamore and cypress will protrude up thru yard and present issues for mowing eventually

silver maple will get hollow with age and the helicopter seedlings will totally fill up your gutters.

Cottonwood are lightening magnets and will eat electronics.......ask us how we know i was even truck by splatter from one as a kid and sister and gma saw it happen i dont remember anything but a sizzling sound lucky to be here

personally i would lean to the pin oak, moderate growers, strong, healthy, keep leaves until spring, yes they can get in gutters but nothing like a maple

hackberry/pecan/hickory would also be a good pick you do have to deal with the acorns/nuts from them just mow with chute away from house lol

we have had good luck with austrian and white pine. the austrian shorter lived though for some reason

the natives around are best choice like has been said

[DT Fan]

Pin Oak or Sugar Maple. 

[KWRB]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:11 PM, vtfireman85 said:

Cottonwood grows fast and provides ample shade. Ain't much for firewood, but it is a nice shade tree. 

That's an understatement. It rots faster than it dries.

[560Dennis]

Plant multiple species for your area.  ,small im sure but healthy in my opinion 

pour soil and water offer tree sales locally. 
just suggest 

[pt756]

just noticed planting a field alongside woods, compared to last year a lot of trees with o leaves on, last year hardly noticed it , so i wonder how long before they start to get soft? we can use it all for firewood, just got to talk a amish neighbor into skidding them out,

[yellowrosefarm]

2 hours ago, pt756 said:

just noticed planting a field alongside woods, compared to last year a lot of trees with o leaves on, last year hardly noticed it , so i wonder how long before they start to get soft? we can use it all for firewood, just got to talk a amish neighbor into skidding them out,

They go doughy a lot faster if you leave them on the stump. I've cut down over a hundred and the first ones are holding up the best. The borers make the bark literally fall off, so peeled and stacked off the ground they will last.  Plus, the longer they are standing, the less predictable they are to fell. The hinge will not hold any more, and they will fall wherever.

[dads706]

Going to go with Hackberry. Ordered 50 from Iowa DNR. My poor back is aching already and they won't come until late next week. Hate to do it but may as well fire up the chain saw. The ash have to come down sooner or later. Maybe I'll start with the ones that are 80-100% gone and then work my way into the others. The thing is, I have enough firewood for the shop to last me as long as I'll need. I may try to save some of the bigger trunks and have milled. We'll see how things go.

.

[IH Forever]

39 minutes ago, dads706 said:

Going to go with Hackberry. Ordered 50 from Iowa DNR. My poor back is aching already and they won't come until late next week. Hate to do it but may as well fire up the chain saw. The ash have to come down sooner or later. Maybe I'll start with the ones that are 80-100% gone and then work my way into the others. The thing is, I have enough firewood for the shop to last me as long as I'll need. I may try to save some of the bigger trunks and have milled. We'll see how things go.

.

I ordered and planted 25 Black Oak seedings from the Iowa DNR this spring.  They appear to be healthy and are all leafing out now, but as you said earlier, buying seedlings I won't see that get very big in my lifetime.

Good luck cutting down all the old ash trees, I don't envy you for that.

[Ian Beale]

On 5/22/2023 at 9:45 AM, nomorejohndeere said:

something that's green year around

 

John Deere shade trees?

[DT Fan]

17 hours ago, dads706 said:

Going to go with Hackberry. Ordered 50 from Iowa DNR. My poor back is aching already and they won't come until late next week. Hate to do it but may as well fire up the chain saw. The ash have to come down sooner or later. Maybe I'll start with the ones that are 80-100% gone and then work my way into the others. The thing is, I have enough firewood for the shop to last me as long as I'll need. I may try to save some of the bigger trunks and have milled. We'll see how things go.

.

Hackberry's grow like weeds around here, not a fan! In fairness, they aren't nearly as bad as mulberries or silver maples. Most of the trees in the yard nowadays are hackberies, Dad just let them grow, now they are everywhere.

[acem]

Live oak is green year round but you might need to move way south to keep it alive.

Spanish moss in a live oak tree is beautiful.

[Mr. Brookville]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:36 AM, Sledgehammer said:

Do they grow quickly at all?  Any more details?  This sounds interesting. 
 

I’ve got 6, 3yr old pecan trees in 5 gallon buckets that were started from the large pecan in my yard. I know it was the same size in the 1950’s as I have pictures of it. Been struck by lightning twice in the 15 or so years I’ve lived here. I’ve lost large limbs to large storms in the past but that tree is tough. 

I believe the chestnuts grow slower than pine or maple but quicker than oaks. 

If you read any old documents or hunting stories from long ago you see that the Pennsylvania  game thrived on and preferred chestnuts to acorns or other foods. The wood is naturally rot resistant. That along with being a dominant population  in the applilachian forests were why it was a popular building material.  

I just love the color of the wood when finished with oil or hand rubbed furniture  wax or Polyurethane.