The location is an overgrown area up 2/3 of the way up the hill to the south side of a 20 foot tall black walnut. There will be some shade on the tree promoting more narrow growth until it outpaces a couple redbud volunteers growing near by.

My plan is to clear a spot in the overgrown area and let the tree do its thing hopefully growing more tall than wide.

There is even a good nursery just outside of town which offers a few Pecan cultivars and some "select source" seed grown trees.

Do I understand right that:

St Louis is a bit far north of their optimum range for nut production due to frosts but the trees still reach good 80+ foot height here?

They are very moisture tolerant but only moderately drought tolerant?

Fall color is pretty consistent in the species? How is it in your opinions? I always see this GREAT tree growing at Mt Vernon on line.

Planted singularly it will produce nuts in a decade or so but probably not a bumper crop ever?

I am looking for a big tree to dominate the property when the current generation passes and this location is far enough from any structures and utilities for whatever. If I can pick a winner with normal foliage, good fall color, and something interesting like edible nut production it would have that over a big oak.

I really enjoy this pecan, it has been completely care-free so far and is growing well. I can't say the leaves turning in fall havwe ever jumped out at me, but it's situated near a sugar maple and it could be I've just never noticed because of the competition. LOL.

It should grow in your area, stands attributed to planting along rivers by Indians have been found as far north as Wisconsin. Mine is located on a small north-facing rise a above an intermittant stream bed from spring run-over but has survived two droughts so far with no ill effects. I wonder if Lucky might join in on the conversation. He is very knowledgeable about nut production. BTW I am located in Appalachian Ohio. Link below to reputable info source on pecans and close enough to your area to be similar.

Since pecans have such a varying bloom time, a person would literally need a lot of trees to accomplish pollination. In other words, to select a cultivar such as 'James' for example and to purchase a seedling of a "select source".. when a company states the seedling is a good pollinator for 'James' is not-true. What Lucky basically said is that the chance of pollination would be more likely to occur if 10 or 20 pecans were planted.

Tornado, I grow pecans here. I have two. I'm quite a bit north of you (Mercer County, IL) and I have absolutely no issue with hardiness.

In my educated opinion, it would be best for you to select a grafted cultivar for two reasons. One, the wood that is grafted will already have the genetic traits of "age" and you'll have nut-production much, much, sooner. And two, many of the cultivars (you'll have to research) are prolific producers w/o pollination being a necessity.

I hope this helps.

Dax

Grafted trees should begin producing some nuts somewhere between 5 and 10 years; seedling trees may require 12-20 years(or more). Pecans are not reliably self-fertile, so we generally recommend planting two or more varieties with compatible pollen-shed/nutlet-receptivity patterns. Wind-pollenated, so trees don't have to be all that close to get the job done.
Grafted trees, since they're typically propagated with wood from mature bearing specimens which have lost the propensity toward strong apical dominance, tend to be more 'spreading' in habit, while seedlings - as with most species in juvenility - will tend to have a more upright growth habit.

Fall color? At best, you might get a modest yellow, but most just go rapidly from green to brown.

Dr. Bill Reid at KSU has a good Northern Pecan blogspot - check it out.

I don't think they do mail order but in the spring they offer some bare root common trees on the cheap and they are willing to accommodate retail customers.

My first trip I wanted a small prairie fire crab apple. Everything on display was taller than me and I hate digging big holes. I asked if there were any small ones "out back" and the lady behind the counter called one of the guys working who rode a cart out to the back 40 and he came back with a couple for me to choose from.

I might not go with a Pecan now. It seems good fall color is the exception rather than the rule. Thanks for the link to that blog. It was interesting and reminds me how much work goes into growing any crop.

Dax, I emailed you about the other thread.

To anyone wanting edible-when-raw acorns, this is a fine selection.

I grew up in UCLA(upper corner of lower Alabama), where pecans - grafted and seedling - are everywhere. Have seen those broad, spreading orchard trees, tall timber-type volunteer seedlings in creekbottom swamps that may not have branches for the first 30-40 ft, and venerable old giants isolated out in the middle of cow pastures. Some develop short-lived yellow fall color, but many just go quickly to brown; it's a crapshoot, and as indicated, they're usually planted for nut production, not necessarily for aesthetic qualities - though the huge old Mahan and Stuart trees, now over 100 yrs old, shading my family home were most pleasing to me - and certainly provided welcome shade.

Dr. Bill Reid, in his Northern Pecan blog - linked earlier in this thread - has an entry on 14 Sept that does a nice job of covering climatic adaptation of pecans - with regard to areas where maturation of nuts is possible. Evidently, the trees may be hardy and grow well in some areas of the country, but maturation of nuts may be a virtual impossibility due to insufficient growing-degree days(or whatever).