Description
The hickories are long-lived, slow-growing trees. In their natural forest setting, they can grow slowly in the understory, staying small for years and years. Eventually, when a hole in the canopy opens up, they can shoot up and become a dominant member of the forest.
In cultivation, the hickories offer some of the most sought after hardwoods. As a landscape tree, they offer tall, straight trunks and rich fall colors.
All of the hickories offer nuts which are edible in some fashion, although there are subtitles that exist for each species.
First Year trees available this year are listed below. Hickories start out very small in their first year or two, and the above ground portions of these plants hover around six inches or less. In these first years, much of their energy goes into root growth, getting their mighty taproot established. So expect a small top with quite a large taproot below. With such a small top, youll want to give these trees some focused attention for the first year or two, protection, weeding, mulching etc.
Yellow Bud (aka bitternut) – has one of the highest oil contents of any nut. Breeders around the region are working to select superior individuals to help usher in a regional hickory nut oil industry. For a family, the nuts from any yellow bud can easily be processed at home to make your own food grade oil! Similar in taste to olive oil.
Shagbark – known for its distinctive shaggy bark. It’s less known for the delicious flavor of its nuts, which is among the best known.
We also have some special third year trees available this year. These are Yellow Bud hickories that are a foot or taller, and these will be much more ready to be planted and forgotten about for a while.
Growth Parameters:
More sun means faster growth, but remember slow growth in the shade is just that, slow. Think of it as an investment in the future canopy! Expect a large, full size tree at maturity, which may be hard for some people to see in their lifetime!
Plant two for cross pollination if you are interested in a nut crop.
