My neighbor has an oak tree that has dropped its acorns, and I grabbed some to plant...does anyone have any idea just how to do it? Do I soak them in water first, or just shove them in the ground and 'hope for the best'? I also heard that these oaks are VERY slow growing...is that true? Thanks! Joe

-- Joe (Threearrs@AOL.com), October 06, 2000

Answers

Joe, a couple of million squirrels can't be wrong. Every year oaks grow from cachets of acorns that were forgotten. I would plant them in pots (mainly so you don't forget where you planted them and accidently mow them down). Oaks aren't fast growing trees. What my Grandmother used to do is walk through the woods and dig up a very young sapling that she liked the looks of. She had wonderful luck doing this. She had such good luck that mowing became like maneuvering an obstacle course.....after a while my Papa told us he wouldn't get upset if we 'accidently' mowed over a few small trees! Good luck.

-- Amanda Seley (aseley@townsqr.com), October 06, 2000.

Joe, I'll add a bit to Amanda's good advice. Do pot the acorns up, or put them in a well marked garden bed. Perhaps if you're far enough South there are oaks that don't need a freezing cycle, but those up here do. The acorns will get that automatically if you just leave the pots outside or in an unheated building. You might want to cover them with some wire to keep rodents out. I wish I knew Amanda's grandmother's secrect for transplanting saplings, oaks have a tap root and deeply resent being transplanted when most people do it. So move the little things early to their new homes.

And yes, oaks are very slow growing. If you want to plant them where in the location you want the tree, go ahead and stick a couple of acorns in each spot. A ring of wire would be a good idea to help solve the mower problem. Unless your ground is extremely dry this fall, other than a bit of water for good luck when you put the acorns in, you shouldn't have to worry about soaking or watering until next spring. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), October 08, 2000.

So if apples comes from apple trees, pears from pear trees, cherries from cherry trees, plums from plum trees, peaches from peach tree, etc. . . . . . . . How is it acorns from oak trees?!?!?!?!?!?!

-- Michael W. Smith (kirklbb@penn.com), October 08, 2000.

Jeepers, Michael, I guess oaks are just kinda' querky that way.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), October 13, 2000.