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White oak trees - question

Daver

Daver

PMA Member
Suppose I made a big mistake this past spring and let one of my controlled burns turn into an uncontrolled burn AND the flames made their way over to my neighbor's field too. Once the fire spread to my neighbors' place it traveled through a mostly brome field that also had a number of transplanted white oaks in it. The concern at the time was what would the impact of the fire be on the mostly 1' to 2' tall white oaks.

Generally, oaks are pretty fire resistant, but what about when they are that small...now a few months later it is apparent that few, if any, trees were actually killed off by the fire, but it does appear that many of them are more oak bushes, as in multiple trunks, than single trunk trees.

What to do?

Replant as necessary? I could probably get wild white oaks from my own timber and do this, but it may be very time consuming and I am not sure I could find enough and I am not sure I want to dig up any that are growing well now.

If I did replant, where can I get a fair number, say 25-75, 1 to 2 foot tall white oaks that I could use?

Salvage the trees still present? Is it as simple as trimming the multi-trunked "bushes" back to the best leader and then trusting that they will grow strong from here on out?

Thoughts, suggestions, experiences shared are welcome.
 
I would not replant, they just resprouted from the fire. I would let them go a few years before singling out a single stem to use. The deer will browse the heck out of them and rub them so you will want a few extras to take the heat off those seedlings is my recommendation.
 
I would NOT take oaks out of my own timber (paying peter to pay paul) to plant somehwhere else. I'd either 1) see how they turn out 2) plant lots of white oak acorns OR 3) buy a bunch from the IA DNR for super cheap and much easier! :)
 
The protection that older white oaks have from fire is a thicker, protective bark. The young ones don't have that thicker bark to protect the cambium. It sounds like the fire knocked back the above ground growth and the trees have just sent up new sprouts.

The beauty of white oaks is that they have a primary bud that is underneath the surface of the ground which enables them to survive the fire and resprout. Like Letemgrow said, I'd wait a few years to decipher which new leader is going to be dominant and then trim from there.

My big concern is that you said the field is in brome. In my opinion, brome can be a bigger hindrance on young oak development than even deer browse. Both are problems, but brome is a major competitor with seedlings. I've seen trees that never do come out of the shrub stage for that very reason. If you can cut back on the brome competition, the trees will have a much better chance of survival.
 
Thanks for the replies so far...

they are helpful. Another thought or question...

Given that the trees will, or have, survive(d) and assuming that in a year or so I will supply the labor to trim back to the dominant leader and all is well in the end...what would be fair to my neighbor in terms of compensation? Even if all of the trees survive I have to believe I knocked them back a year or two, no?

Another thought...since these trees are not fenced off in any way and are subject to deer browsing AND they are in an otherwise brome field, does it make sense to fence them and/or kill the brome off in the immediate vicinity of the tree(s)? What about using scrap carpet squares and cutting a 2" diameter hole out of the middle and placing those around the trees? (I think this would keep the brome back some, but it could encourage mice nesting under the carpet, but with a larger diameter hole than the trunk coule that work out?

OR, could they be fertilized somehow to gain back what they lost by surviving the fire? I am trying to think of some way to help these trees recover faster, etc.
 
I would not use carpet, the rodents find those to be a nice home and will girdle the stems and set you back another year. Your best bet is to roundup around the bases of the trees to kill the brome and let the seedlings have all the moisture/nutrients. This can increase browse pressure since the deer seem to find them more. Fencing or tubes would be awfully expensive for a lot of trees.
 
It's just plain tough to knock back the brome and discourage browsing at the same time. I've heard of guys waiting until the trees go dormant and then spray roundup... or spot spraying around the trees. You have to be careful spot spraying. Tubes are costy but sometimes effective. All in all, it's just tough. I'd wait more than a year to determine the best tree in the cluster though.

If the brome isn't thick then the trees can have a shot at establishing.. site quality affects the trees growth efficiency and ability to establish in grass as well. Basically, time will tell. I'd say getting the brome knocked back in the immediate vicinity of the trees is your best bet. Sacrificing a little browse may be the only way to get them established. Then again, if you have a really high deer density then you will just have to be lucky. I wish I was more help! Good luck!
 
I'm not a herbicide expert, but I do know Fusilade is a pretty good one at controlling grass weeds in broadleaf tree plantings. You may sacrifice a little potency, and I can't quote the cost right now, but it will save the "doubt" of whether or not you are avoiding the oaks when spraying roundup.
 
Dave...I would just add that fire is an oaks best freind and they are for the most part fire resistant. Normal practice is to do burns in oak timber to set back invasive shade resistant hickories and such.

So...you actually did those trees a favor and did not set them back any appreciable amount.

I understand your predicamant however, so I would offer to trim them up but otherwise they should be fine.:)
 
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