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| I have a couple acres of pasture that I'm going to be putting some sheep in. I'm looking for a tree to provide some shade out there for them. I'd ideally like this tree to produce something - fruit, nuts, sap for syrup, whatever. Anyone have any suggestions - has to grow quickly, produce something, provide some shade, and be able to deal with clay - I'm in 7b, also. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| American chestnuts are now available again ( resistant to the fungus that wiped out billions) . It grows fast, produces huge quantities of high value nuts and has a good spreading habit for shade. AND its a beautiful tree. |
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| American chestnuts are now available again ( resistant to the fungus that wiped out billions) . It grows fast, produces huge quantities of high value nuts and has a good spreading habit for shade. AND its a beautiful tree. |
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| Thanks for the comment Mike. Are there particular cultivars that I should be looking at, or is it basically just look for "Blight resistant" I'm not big on nuts, but I'm sure I could find a use for them if there's not much maintenance on the tree and its producing pounds and pounds of them. (Starch->sugar->beer?... animal feed, whatever). Any idea on time-to-bear? This is probably outside the scope of this forum at this point, but Wiki also says this: "Sheep will pop the chestnuts out with their hooves, when in pastures containing the trees. The leaves are not as prone to be insect-eaten as those of the oak, and are also used for fodder." So it looks like a generally useful tree. I couldn't find any references to toxicity to livestock, so its probably safe. Sheep and Chickens would have access to it, so I'm sure it would need some protection early on. Anyone have any other suggestions to weigh it against? |
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| I have the tree in my upstate place and it has the tag with cultivar name. I will be going up this weekend and will let you know when I get back. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.... Mike |
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| You'll need at least two chestnuts, planted within at least 100 ft or so of one another to get nuts. A single will produce burs, but the vast majority of nuts will be empty 'blanks', if a suitable pollenizer is not present. I've been planting a mix of trees in my pastures to provide shade for the cattle: mulberries(M.rubra) - just a big, fast-growing weed that makes a decent shade tree, and produces tasty berries - and is nontoxic, if they decide to browse leaves; pecans (fast-growing, and I am a pecan affectionado), oaks - acorns could pose a problem to cattle, but they will likely be out of those paddocks during acorn fall so the deer/turkeys will be the principal benefactors of the mast crop. Be aware that if you've got livestock, you're gonna have to provide protection for the tree; they'll browse, rub, eat bark, etc., regardless of how good the grazing might be... |
This post was edited by lucky_p on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 15:10
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| It's about 3 acres of pasture, so I don't think 2 trees would be a problem if I decide to go that way. As to the livestock, I can fence the trees while they're younger... run some electric wire out to them to keep the animals off. I remember seeing Pecan whips at Lowes at the beginning of the year. How have they done for you with the animals? |
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| Caged/fenced so the cows/horses can't get to them to eat bark or rub, they do fine. Probably once they get above browsing height, if all you had were cattle, you could possibly even do without fencing- but horses and goats - and possibly sheep, will eat the bark off. Most of the nut trees - including pecans - will require a suitable pollenizer, though most don't require quite the proximity that the chestnuts do. So...if you were planting pecans, hickories, walnuts, etc. I'd recommend two or more. I've done mostly just seedlings of good named-varieties well-suited to my area, so that if I have a 'protection failure', I've not lost much. |
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- Posted by gator_rider2 z8 Ga. (My Page) on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 20:21
| JoppaRich You need go to Chestnut foundation and read before plant any. You find only ones to plant are China Chestnuts because diseases wipe out American Chestnuts. |
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| Gator There are now established American cheztnuts that are immune to the fungus that nearly wiped them out in tje 1800's Mike |
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| JoppaRich AMERICAN CHESTNUT. Here is the cultivar info and photo of the two that I will be planting in the fall. I got too busy and now may he too late as I can't be here every day to make sure they stay watered. Hope this helps. Mike |
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| These are about 6 feet tall and will need to be staked first season or two. Mike |
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- Posted by gator_rider2 z8 Ga. (My Page) on Sat, Jul 12, 14 at 15:46
| Very susceptible to Cryphonectria parasitica; not recommended. I hope yours does very best. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Americain Chestnut
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