As Paul Harvey would say, "and now for the rest of the story."
4 years ago we bought 27 acres which had been growing Mesquite trees and Locusts. About 1/3-1/2 of it was cleared with a dozer prior to buying. We built a house on the northern edge. I have been wanting to plant trees since then. I have wanted mast bearing trees, primarily oaks, chestnuts, pecans, as well as fruit trees such as apples and pears and possibly persimmon.
2 years ago I purchased "Gobbler Sawtooth" acorns from a gentleman on the QDM Forums. I got about 100 acorns, stratified until spring, planted in peat pots, and then lost all but the 3 I had near the house for lack of water and intense heat.
This year I got some of the chestnuts from Wbpdeer, got them stratified, planted.....and have lost all of the ones that I put out in the field.
I'm pretty much convinced now that spring planting for me is almost a certain death sentence for the trees/seedlings/acorns. I would like to try fall planting and see how that will work. It will also give me some time to figure out a watering system for summer. Problem is chestnuts and red oaks have to be stratified which mean if I start with acorns I'm back into spring, or pot and replant next fall. I'm not opposed to that either.
So, what I'm looking for is a combination of things; Mast producing trees which can be planted now (this fall), as well as mast producing tree seeds/acorns to plant and care for in containers and replant next fall.
I'm also thinking really hard about some hybrid poplar cuttings to get some treelines established and shading some longer term trees.
