Chestnut Update

[Sonny]

Of the 10 trees planted, 8 are doing well, sprouting leaves, looking health y. The two doing poorly (or may be dead) were among 5 that were trampled by cows. We had replanted the cow-affected ones.

The two poor ones seem to have small leaves sprouting from their bottoms, b ut can't tell for sure, as the leaf sprouts are right at or below the soil surface.... they may be of some other plant. I didn't dig to see if they are attached to the chestnut stems. The leaf sprouts look like chestnut, but also resemble other small plants in the area. These leaf sprouts are too small to be certain of exactly what they are. We should know better i n a month or so, hopefully.

Sonny

[Leon]

I have found that a tree that is not going to do well will often sprout leaves from the roots.

[Jack]

I once had a Norway Maple growing at the side of my house, next to the gas meter. I was about 2' tall, I cut it to the ground. Couple months later, it was back. Cut it to the ground again. The next year back again but two stems and bigger leaves. Cut it to the ground again, and again it came back, thicker stems and unbelievably big leaves. It became a curiosity, and I kept cutting it to the ground, it kept coming back, with thicker stems, and giant leaves. I decided it was like a dandelion, and would never die by cutting it to the ground. It eventually disappeared, and I'm too old to remember if it died or I ripped out the roots. This of course only happens if you don't want the bugger around. If you want a plant, look at it crooked and it falls over dead in minutes. So, my guess is the little shoots are probably dandelions.

[dpb]

Updates appreciated! :)

I forget if these were hybrids or grafts onto root stock -- or did you ever even find out for sure?

If they're hybridized, a new shoot sure remain pure; if that is what it's doing you'll want to remove the old trunk to try give it room to grow vertical instead of having to miss the old dead growth.

If they're grafted, it's possible/probable even that it'll be coming up from below the graft and is the root stock...

As say, "time will tell..."

--dpb

[krw]

Yes, the plant's last gasp. The roots are still alive and will try to stay that way. The best strategy is to let the shoots go for a year, then prune all back but the best one.

[Leon]

Yeah! That's what the little shoots are. LOL

[DerbyDad03]

althy. The two doing poorly (or may be dead) were among 5 that were tramp led by cows. We had replanted the cow-affected ones.

s, but can't tell for sure, as the leaf sprouts are right at or below the s oil surface.... they may be of some other plant. I didn't dig to see if t hey are attached to the chestnut stems. The leaf sprouts look like chestn ut, but also resemble other small plants in the area. These leaf sprouts are too small to be certain of exactly what they are. We should know bett er in a month or so, hopefully.

You don't need the tree, or even the stump.

My locust was severely damaged in an ice storm and had to be cut down. The following spring I dug a huge hole around the stump, cut all of the roots about 2-3 feet out from the stump and then ripped it out with a truck.

About a month later I came home from work and saw little plants growing all over my yard. The remaining roots all across my yard had begun to sprout hundreds of little locust trees. If you stood where the tree used to be, you could follow the line of each root as it radiated from the spot.

I spent the rest of the summer ripping out the roots, obviously destroying my entire lawn. What a mess.

[Sonny]

As I understood, they are neither grafts nor hybrids. They are suppose to be "authentic American Chestnut". That is what I had searched for and I d id call Willis Orchards and ask, specifically, what they were. Here is th e list I purchased from, bought 10 of the $19.95 listing.

During my research about and search for authentic trees, I had contacted th e American Chestnut Foundation and got several replies regarding planting, care, etc. Here's an excerpt of one reply from Shana Zimnoch.

"I have attached an American chestnut growing guide. After speaking with on e of the scientists in the office, Ben Jarrett, he explained that after 5 y ears the tree can range anywhere from 6 feet to 20 feet depending on sun ex posure, nutrients in the soil, and water. I also received clarification on nut production: as you thought, after 3-4 years you will see the first of n ut production. After 7-10 years there will be a more significant amount of nuts."

Note: There was nothing in the growing guide or in the Foundation's email s about cows. I had flagged the trees with red flagging tape. The cows were attracted to the red tape, even ate some of it. The 5 unaffected tre es were planted in another, no cows, area.

Sonny

[krw]

The sprouts would have stopped, eventually, just by mowing the lawn (well, you said "yard" but I assume it was mowed grass).

[Sonny]

Yep, I'm familiar with that sprouting. If those sprouts are chestnut, I d idn't want to dig to verify, disturbing the plants. I thought, the less d isturbance, the better, since the trees growth had already been interfered with by the cows.

Related: My grafted satsuma started sprouting from its root stock. An arb orist told me not to cut them off, but to break them off by forcing the suc ker/sprout downward. By breaking it off this way, you remove the bud, als o, preventing further sprouting at that spot. If you simply cut the sucke r's stem it will/may continue to sprout via the remaining bud.

Sonny

[dpb]

I'd forgotten you had found a supplier of "the real thing" but now I do recall. Guess you'll find out in about the same time about escaping the blight...

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It probably wouldn't have made any difference if they weren't flagged -- cows are unalterably curious and will rub on anything no matter how fragile -- and, as you've observed, delicacy and care for fragile items is totally missing in their nature. :) Only stout fencing to keep them out would have worked.

[DerbyDad03]

healthy. The two doing poorly (or may be dead) were among 5 that were tr ampled by cows. We had replanted the cow-affected ones.

toms, but can't tell for sure, as the leaf sprouts are right at or below th e soil surface.... they may be of some other plant. I didn't dig to see i f they are attached to the chestnut stems. The leaf sprouts look like che stnut, but also resemble other small plants in the area. These leaf sprou ts are too small to be certain of exactly what they are. We should know b etter in a month or so, hopefully.

Well, locust trees have a habit of doing this, especially in our sandy soil .

My situation was probably 50% of the right hand image, in that the roots were just barely buried. Mowing had gotten to be a rather bumpy endeavor. If the roots weren't going to quickly die off on their own and continue to sprout in the meantime, it was time for them to go.

[Sonny]

Here's two pics of where they are planted. Surroundings, to the cows, wou ld look inconspicuous if the flags weren't on the trees, I think. Without flags, the cows wouldn't have been attracted to them. The area is somewh at open (cleared of underbrush, though they are on a hill in otherwise a sw amp land environment. Two pics, scroll right.

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First pic is to the right of the gate. Second pic shows the trees to the left of the gate and gate shown.

This pic shows the road leading to the gate. Lots of underbrush on this s ide of the gate and no cow access, here.

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Next trip out I'll take more pics.

Sonny

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[dpb]

On 5/14/2019 10:23 PM, Sonny wrote: ...

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I'd never expect them to survive unprotected flagged or no...just pure chance they'd walk right on one first trip back to/from the water tank.

The flags may have sped up the process, but it was, imo, inevitable if you turned cattle in there that way and had anything you really intended to keep.