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Farmstead Forest: Raising oak trees from acorns is easy, and the resulting trees could outlive those who plant them.

Curt Arens, Editor, Nebraska Farmer

October 24, 2022

2 Min Read
Young oak tree
FALL PLANTING: Once you have identified viable acorns, it is easy to plant them one-half to 1 inch deep in a cool, moist location. The acorns also can be stratified and planted in the spring. The resulting trees could live for centuries.Igor Klyakhin /Getty imaegs

Along the Missouri River Valley in northeast Nebraska, there are plenty of native bur oak trees growing among the hardwood river woodlands.

But 12 miles south of the Missouri River, in the watershed where our farm is located, there are no native oaks growing along the streambeds. We have plenty of hackberry and cottonwood, but no oaks.

That’s why I am interested in growing some of my own oaks to plant around our farmstead. Bur oaks, for instance, are hardy specimens and can take weather extremes that have been thrown at them for centuries.

One bur oak located in Ponca State Park, about 50 miles east of our farm, has been tabbed as a Nebraska Heritage Tree and was core-sampled, dating it to nearly 380 years, long before the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through in 1804. So, acorns planted on your farm today, if they are not disturbed, should outlive us by at least 100 years.

Follow these steps

Here is a step-by-step guide for growing your own oak trees from acorns, gleaned from a circular by Iowa State University horticulturists:

Collect acorns. Most oak species produce an abundance of acorns at least every two or three years, while white oak, for instance, produces acorns about every four to six years. Collect the acorns in the fall as soon as you can after they hit the ground.

Identify viable acorns. You can separate the viable acorns from the damaged or unfilled acorns by placing them in water. The good ones will sink in the bucket. Discard any acorns that float because they will not germinate.

Store in a cold location. Acorns from bur, pin and red oaks will not germinate until they have gone through cold and moist conditions that are most often provided by our Great Plains winters. This process can also be accomplished by stratification — placing the acorns in coffee cans, food storage bags or small ice cream buckets containing a moist mixture of sand and peat moss, and storing in a cool location at 32-41 degrees F for 30 to 60 days for bur oak, and 30 to 45 days for red and pin oaks.

Plant acorns. Bur, pin and red oaks can be planted one-half to 1 inch deep in their forever location in the soil in the fall, or stratified seed can be planted in the spring. Acorns can also be planted in a “nursery” location, and then transplanted to their permanent location in a year or two.

Keep critters away. We all know that squirrels and other critters love acorns, so the area where you plant those oak acorns can be covered by chicken wire or hardware cloth after planting to keep the critters from digging up your seed. Remove the covering in the spring when the seed begins to germinate.

Learn more at extension.iastate.edu, or by contacting your local forest service or Extension professional.

About the Author(s)

Curt Arens

Editor, Nebraska Farmer

Curt Arens began writing about Nebraska’s farm families when he was in high school. Before joining Farm Progress as a field editor in April 2010, he had worked as a freelance farm writer for 27 years, first for newspapers and then for farm magazines, including Nebraska Farmer.

His real full-time career, however, during that same period was farming his family’s fourth generation land in northeast Nebraska. He also operated his Christmas tree farm and grew black oil sunflowers for wild birdseed. Curt continues to raise corn, soybeans and alfalfa and runs a cow-calf herd.

Curt and his wife Donna have four children, Lauren, Taylor, Zachary and Benjamin. They are active in their church and St. Rose School in Crofton, where Donna teaches and their children attend classes.

Previously, the 1986 University of Nebraska animal science graduate wrote a weekly rural life column, developed a farm radio program and wrote books about farm direct marketing and farmers markets. He received media honors from the Nebraska Forest Service, Center for Rural Affairs and Northeast Nebraska Experimental Farm Association.

He wrote about the spiritual side of farming in his 2008 book, “Down to Earth: Celebrating a Blessed Life on the Land,” garnering a Catholic Press Association award.

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