![]() Pittman suggests setting out sawtooths near pine plantations as a source of food near cover for deer and wild turkeys. Sun is a must for these oak seedlings to grow to their potential. At my farm during the early days of research, we planted several 24-inch seedlings in shady areas and six years later they had only grown one foot. The sawtooth oak requires sunlight 75% of the day, so they do best when planted in open fields or large forest openings. Seedlings are often available from state forestry agencies or may be purchased online from Be sure to order early (late summer) before you plan on planting the coming fall or spring. Planting time can be from late fall to early spring. The seedling has a large, carrot-like taproot that must be set out with the point straight down, not bent into a “J” shape, and the roots must be completely covered. Most deer managers prefer to plant 18-inch to 36-inch bare-root seedlings when planting sawtooth oaks. The sawtooth oak, like any other high-yield plant, must be planted with care if it is to give satisfactory results. Called the “Gobbler” sawtooth oak, it yields about 150 acorns per pound. Because wild turkeys prefer smaller acorns, researchers in Kentucky developed a new variety of sawtooth oak that produces a 5/8- to ¾-inch acorn. The average sawtooth acorn is 1½ inches long. Considering that there are 40 to 80 acorns per pound, that’s a lot of fall and winter food for deer and other wildlife.Ī 8-year-old tree can produce a bushel of acorns, while a 15-year-old tree can produce 1,000 pounds of acorns or more. Sawtooth oak trees that are 15 years of age and older have been reported to produce 1,000 to 1,300 pounds of acorns in a single year. “Once my sawtooths started producing acorns, they have produced every year since.” My experience has been the same except for one year when my farm was hit by a late spring freeze just at the peak of the sawtooth oak’s flowering stage. But whether these trees bear acorns the fourth or eighth year of growth, this is still much faster than the 20 to 40 years it takes other oaks to produce their first mast crop. Trees planted out in the open that were fertilized and kept free of competitive plants are the first to bear acorns. Research we conducted on my farm has recorded initial acorn production the eighth year. Some researchers have reported well-managed trees bearing acorns as early as the fourth year, although I personally have never seen any that produced that quickly. ![]() Sawtooth oak food lots require annual management during the first few years to obtain maximun growth and early acorn production.ĭeer managers interested in planting food lots will like the sawtooth oak’s ability to produce acorns at an early age, often as early as the sixth year after being planted as a bare-root seedling. It doesn’t do well in areas where winter temperatures frequently dip below zero degrees. ![]() the sawtooth has been successfully grown in much of the eastern half of the country, from southern New England west to south-central Michigan, and southern Minnesota south to east Texas and east to the Atlantic. They do poorly in deep sand and in areas that retain water. It grows well in fertile, well-drained soils, but is widely adapted to a variety of soil types and moisture conditions. A species of white oak, the sawtooth is a fast-growing tree that may reach 50 to 70 feet in height, with a 30- to 40-foot spread. ![]() The sawtooth oak, which gets its name from the serrated edge of the leaf, was first imported into the United States from Asia in the early 1920s as an ornamental tree. “They drop large acorns, and are a favorite food for not only deer and wild turkey, but squirrels as well.” “If you take care of your sawtooth oaks they grow fast, start producing acorns when they’re about six to eight years old, and have the potential for a good mast crop annually,” he says. This Alabama farmer is a serious deer manager and has planted more than 4,500 sawtooth oaks over the past 12 years. “Acorns are probably the most important food item for our deer and wild turkeys, and sawtooth oaks are the most consistent acorn producers I’ve seen,” says Bo Pitman. The most popular food lot tree at this time is the sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) and more and more we are seeing food lots planted strictly with these fast growing oaks.
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