Tree Tubes launch hybrid oaks with amazing growth!

(Click to enlarge)

I have been designing and marketing tree tubes for more than 22 years, and I have seen some amazing tree growth - but this might take the cake.

The Tubex Combitube Treeshelter in the photo above is 4ft tall.  That means the tree growing inside of it is a good 8ft tall.

That tree was 18 inches tall when it was planted.  Here's the question:  Do you think it was planted in spring 2010 (two growing seasons) or spring 2009 (three growing seasons)?  Either one would be impressive.

But both answers are wrong.  The tree was planting in spring 2011.  In one season it grew 6 1/2 feet!!

As Paul Harvey would say, here's "The Rest of the Story:"

The planting stock is from Mossy Oak's Nativ Nurseries.  It is a hybrid oak, Overcup x White oak.  Oak naturally hybridize in the wild.  The offspring of those hybrids often exhibit fast growth.  Nativ Nurseries hand selects acorns from naturally occurring hybrids that have shown fast growth and prodigious acorn production.

The seedlings were given granular fertilizer at planting time, and have not been fertilized since.

The seedlings were not watered.

Weeds and grasses were aggressively controlled (thanks to the tree tubes which make it easy to located seedlings and shield them from herbicide spray).

And, of course, they were given the very best Tree Tubes on the market:  Tubex Combitube Treeshelters from Wilson Forestry Supply.

We're less than one year since this tree was an acorn!  My guess is that it will be producing its own acorns at 3 or 4 years of age!





Five Foot Tree Tubes Are Here... But Going Fast!

A new shipment of 5ft Tree Tubes has arrived... but it won't last long!  In fact most were already sold before they ever arrived.

I haven't even had time to put them up on our web site!  To reserve your 5ft tree tubes today, please contact Chris Siems for pricing and shipping.  You won't find a better deal on the best treeshelter on the market:  The Tubex Combitube Treeshelter.

Think Like A Farmer When You Plant Trees

I just got off the phone with a customer who plants trees for wildlife habitat on his Oklahoma farm.  He commented that this must be a great time to be in the tree tube business, because more and more landowners - in his words - "get it." 

By "get it" he meant that landowners these days, especially those planting trees for deer and wild turkey habitat, understand what it takes to successfully grow trees.  And the more you understand what it takes to successfully grow trees, the more you see tree tubes as a cost saver.

This gentleman said something else that really struck me.  Many of today's wildlife tree planters also plant food plots of corn, soybeans, brassica and other crops every year.  They are used to preparing the soil and spraying for weeds.  They understand what it takes to grow a successful food plot, and they transfer this mindset to their trees - with great results.

He went on to say:  "You have to think like a farmer when you plant trees."  I couldn't have said it better myself.  Literally - because in 22 years of selling tree tubes I never have said it better myself!

On another note, after several years of using 4ft tree tubes this landowner is switching to 5ft tubes due to the high level of deer browse he is getting when trees emerge from 4ft tubes.  Judging by my sales, many other landowners are thinking along the same lines.

I have more 5 foot tree tubes on the way, but they are going fast.  Call or email Chris Siems today to reserve yours!

Shrub Prescription: First grow past the deer,then branch out

Many landowners interested in enhancing wildlife habitat for deer, wild turkey, pheasants and other species are planting small, fruit-bearing trees and shrubs like American plum, Nanking cherry, chokecherry, chokeberry (Aronia berry), golden current, buffalo berry and others.

This is another example of how our understand of how best to use tree tube technology has advanced in the past 22 years.

The old - and generally ineffective - recommendation in the early days was to use 2ft or 3ft tree tubes on these shrubby species.  The thinking was that the shorter tree tubes would provide initial browse protection, but then would allow the plants to begin branching out at 2 or 3ft. 

The problem with this approach was immediately apparent.  Deer like to eat these species as much as - and probably even more than - tree species like oak and black walnut.  So every time a shrub would emerge from one of these short tree tubes the deer would nip it off.  Rather than a protective device the tree tube functioned more like an ice cream cone for deer!

Trial and error has shown us a more effective approach:

1) Use 4ft or 5ft Tree Tubes to grow the terminal leaders past the browse line.  Yes, you get a "funny looking" shrub for a while, tall and thin, but a funny looking shrub is a lot better than a "dead shrub" or a 2ft tall "ice cream cone."

The good news is that most of these fruit-bearing shrubs or small thicket-forming trees grow like crazy in tree tubes.  Even if you're planting little seedlings don't be surprised if some emerge from the tubes in the first summer!

2) Keep the tree tube in place for another 2-3 seasons, both to support the stem while it thickens up, and to protect from antler rubbing by deer and bark gnawing by rodents.

3) Remove the tubes after 4 seasons or so, to allow the plants to spread, branch and sucker.  Pruning terminal leaders at that time will encourage more lateral branching. After 5 years or so you will have fully established and well branched shrubs.

It's a different way to grow a shrub, but today's record deer numbers force us to do things a little differently; namely first get past the browse line and then branch out!

Thanks for reading, and if you have questions about this or any other aspect of tree tube use, please contact us!

5 Foot Tree Tubes Coming Soon to Wilson Forestry Supply

A frequently asked question has been:  Does Wilson Forestry Supply offer 5 foot Tubex Combitube Tree Tubes?  I'm happy to be able to say:  We will soon!

4 foot tree tubes are still the most popular size, and get the job done in the majority of situations.  Most tree planters are best served by 4 foot tree tubes - moderate cost, excellent deer browse protection, and if deer nip a few emerging shoots a couple of treatments of Deer Guard repellent are enough to get the terminal shoot past the browse line.

However, sometimes a 5 foot tree tube can make all the difference - that extra one foot of deer browse protection is needed to get the trees past the browse line.

The need for 5 foot tree tubes is primarily drive by the population density of whitetail deer.  The more deer per square mile, the heavier the pressure on available sources of food.  The more pressure on food sources the more deer are forces to reach higher to get the food they need - to the point of standing on their hind legs.

So if your spring project calls for 5 foot tubes, don't worry, we have them on the way.  Don't order from somewhere else until you contact us for a low price on 5ft tree tubes!