Kentucky Chapter Partners with US Army Corps of Engineers to Establish Germplasm Conservation Orchard at Green River Lake

The Kentucky Chapter is working with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to develop a Germplasm Conservation Orchard (GCO) at Green River Lake in Taylor County, Kentucky.  A GCO is a repository for pure American gene sources.  Specifically, it is planned to utilize this GCO for genetic material from the Knobs Physiographic Region of Kentucky.  Stump sprouts can be transplanted to the site, nuts from mature native trees can be planted and cuttings can be grafted and planted in the orchard.  Once in the orchard, trees can be nurtured with fertilizer, water and insecticides/fungicides while they grow in full sunlight.  The goal is to protect the trees and encourage them to mature to flowering where pollen can be gathered from them or brought to them in order to create new genetic lines for Kentucky’s backcross breeding program.  After providing new genetic breeding lines, these trees can continue to be cared for in order to provide a source of pure American nuts.

A newly found chestnut sprout at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. (Photo by Ft. Knox Natural Resources Branch personnel)

KY-TACF members Tim Sheehan, Matt Strong, Keith Chasteen, Kerrin Hester, Rick Caldwell and Jimmie Sizemore, along with members of USACE, KY Division of Forestry and US Army personnel from Ft. Knox have searched a few specific areas within the Ft. Knox reservation with some success.  The primary search area is a unit where thinning/harvesting activities occurred in 2012.  The resulting increase in sunlight to the forest floor has promoted stump sprouts to respond by putting on rapid growth.  Now that two growing seasons have passed, the sprouts can readily be found within the forested environment.

Eric Gracey, KY Division of Forestry, with a two year old stump sprout in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. 

In February, volunteers will be returning to Ft. Knox to dig some of the sprouts that have been found.  On the same day of digging, they will be transported to Green River Lake in order to be planted immediately.  Many known sprouts will be left at the Ft. Knox site so that this natural chestnut source is not completely removed from the stand.  However, due to chestnut blight, it is not anticipated that these trees will reach flowering maturity out “in nature.”  Since Ft. Knox is a military reservation with limited access, it was determined that the best alternative for utilizing this genetic source was by moving some of the sprouts to a location where they can be cared for, easily accessed and to get them away from military training activities that could cause them to no longer be available (restricted areas, shooting and bombing ranges, etc).

Preparation has taken place at the Green River Lake location by laying out an approximate half acre site (trees will be planted on a 20’ X 20’ spacing, providing approximately 48 planting spots).  The site was cross-ripped by USACE staff utilizing a KY Division of Forestry’s sub-soil plow.  Although the Frankstown silt loam soil on the site does not tend to develop a hardpan layer, the cross-ripping of the site will ensure conditions for rapid and deep root growth by the trees.

David Wethington, US Army Corps of Engineers, Green River Lake, Kentucky, cross-rips the future Germplasm Conservation Orchard site. 

KY-TACF will fund an electric fence for the orchard in order to keep deer away.  Some funds were raised through a silent auction at the KY-TACF Chapter’s Annual Meeting at Lake Cumberland on August 23, 2014.  The remaining funds were approved by the Chapter’s Board members during the quarterly board meeting in November, 2014.  These funds come from portions of memberships and donations made to the Kentucky Chapter.

As other Knobs Region genetic sources are found, they can be utilized in the Green River Lake GCO to further develop backcross lines from within this physiographic region of Kentucky.

American Chestnut Trees in Des Pres Park!

Politico Magazine was there to document the Louisville Restoration Branch's planting efforts.  You can see their photo report at: Louisville Grows Trees

 Although the rains never let up all Friday night (about 1.5" overnight, ~4" total for the first week of December), we went ahead with plans for the planting at Des Pres Park off of Lowe Road in Louisville.  I arrived early to start hauling planting materials and tools to the site.  What I found was standing water in two of the planting spots and the soil being completely saturated in the other spot.  Not very good conditions for growing chestnut trees!

 The planting and roasting crew, minus one who had to leave early.

After everything was set up, some visiting went on and the nut roasting started, planting activities moved forward.  The first hole was dug and immediately filled with water/mud!  Terrible!  That was going to be the end of the planting, except that the Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation representative on site was agreeable to move the planting spots to slightly higher ground!  Perfect!  So the other two trees got planted without having wet feet!  The initial tree in the mud was moved a day or two later to get it onto higher ground.

Newly planted American chestnut trees in Des Pres Park, Louisville, KY.

 

Nine volunteers showed up to assist with the planting!  With everyone keeping busy, it took no time to get the work done and move onto eating some roasted chestnuts!  The activities also drew 10 additional people who had either heard about it, were brought there by friends or who just happened along and stopped to see what was going on.  These folks were treated to some roasted chestnuts, were provided information on The American Chestnut Foundation and were told about the potentially blight resistant trees we were planting.  They will be able to watch these trees grow as they drive past the park or use it for recreational activities.

 

The planting was done along a walking/running trail which receives a lot of use.  Come spring, it is hoped that interpretive signage can be added to inform visitors about the American chestnut tree.  Hopefully, TACF and Metro Parks can partner with a Louisville based company or other organization to fund this signage.

 

A view of the planted seedlings along the walking/running trail.

 

Be sure to let Metro Parks know how glad you are to see American chestnut trees being planted within the parks!



First Kentucky Produced B3F4 Nuts?

In December 2012, four B3F3 American chestnut trees were obtained from the Kentucky Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation for planting in Joe Creason Park at the entrance to the Louisville Nature Center.  These were some of the most advanced trees in the blight resistance breeding program and are known as Restoration Chestnut 1.0 trees.

 

Peter Glauber and Anne Myers Bobigian carefully plant a 1 year old chestnut seedling in Joe Creason Park, December 2012.

 

The trees were tended to by chestnut steward, Peter Glauber, who has watered each tree during dry periods, has pulled weeds, monitored, helped prune, mulched, etc.  Peter's efforts have been a tremendous aid to these "pioneer" chestnut trees within Louisville's Metro Park system - having been the first American chestnuts to be planted within the park system since at least the 1940's (estimated).

 

From Peter's care, as well as several Louisville Restoration Branch work days to help tend this small grove, the trees have grown quite well!

Now, I'm sure you have heard or read that it takes chestnut trees 5 to 8 years of growing before they begin to produce nuts, right?  Well, the Louisville Restoration Branch is happy to be the first producers of what are called "B3F4" nuts!  That is correct!  These trees that have been in the ground for only two years produced a few viable nuts - 3 to be exact.

There are four trees planted in this grove.  Last year, tree #4 produced male flowers and none of them produced female flowers (burs).  However, this year, tree #4 was covered in female and male flowers!  Chestnut trees are self-infertile, so they need an unrelated partner to produce viable nuts.  Luckily, tree #1 had two male catkins (flowers) on it!

LNC tree #4 displaying both male and female flowers, June 2014.

 



With such a limited pollen source, I attempted to assist nature a little by removing half of one of the male flowers from tree #1 and rubbed it on each female flower in hopes of successfully pollinating tree #4.  The rest would be up to nature to take care of.  Although limited in success, I did manage to harvest the three viable B3F4 nuts at the end of September!

Of course, nature (squirrels) may have beat me to others, but three is a start!  These nuts are currently stratifying in cold storage so that they will be ready to plant this next spring.

Stop past the Louisville Nature Center to check out the chestnut grove!  If you are interested, plan on helping to plant some additional chestnut trees in another Metro Park - Des Pres Park - on December 6, 2014, beginning at 10:00 AM.  Following the planting of three Restoration Chestnut 1.0 trees, participants will have the opportunity to taste some roasted chestnuts!  Yes, take a break from your Christmas shopping, help plant some trees and enjoy "chestnuts roasting on an open fire!"  (BTW - the "open" fire will probably be a propane burner, but the nuts will still be tasty!)

Contact this blogger at kchacha@yahoo.com if you would like more information.

 



In Search of Chestnut Sprouts

Several American chestnut stump sprouts were reported at Ft. Knox over the past year or two.  On September 10, 2014, representatives from Ft. Knox, from the Kentucky Department of Forestry and from KY-TACF conducted a review of the known sprouts prior to searching for others.  The group headed off into the woods.

It wasn't long before arriving at the first known sprout.  Everyone enjoyed seeing this tree reaching up towards the sky.

After a quick look in the vicinity of this sprout for others, the group continued on to the larger sprout that was found in July of 2014.  Although suppressed by a large oak tree, this sprout is much larger.

The sprout has the light pink flagging on it just left of the bigger tree with bright pink flagging.

 

Directly beneath the chestnut tree was a "monster" trying to blend in with its surroundings.

 

 



The group proceeded onto an area that had some thinning conducted several years before, so that additional sun light would be penetrating the forest floor.  This additional light can encourage suppressed stump sprouts to begin growing more quickly which makes them easier to find.

Once at the location, the group spread out in order to cover more area while searching.  It did not take long for the first clump of 3 stems to be found.

Around five other stump sprouts were discovered during the short search!  Each sprout's location was recorded with GPS.  The team discussed the desire to return to the area after fall where the chestnut sprouts will be easier to find.

Currently, the understory vegetation is lush and green.  This makes spotting the toothed green leaves difficult to do.  Once fall comes and most vegetation loses leaves, the chestnut sprouts tend to hang onto their leaves (even after drying up) into the late winter.  This makes searching for and spotting them a bit easier in mid to late November.

With the sprouts found during this short excusion, it is encouraging to know that additional sprouts will be found in this area in the future.

Some sprouts that have been found will be dug and relocated to a Germplasm Conservation Orchard where they can be tended to with proper light, water, fertilization, weed control, etc.  This "pampered" treatment will encourage the trees to grow quickly and to begin producing flowers.  From the male flowers, pollen can be collected and applied to other trees.  Once female flowers form, pollen can be brought to the trees for pollination.  Nuts produced from these efforts can then be planted in backcross breeding orchards, tested for blight resistance and carried forward in the KY-TACF breeding program.

Intereseted in participating in restoring the American chestnut in Kentucky?  Join TACF at Join TACF and be sure to indicate KY for your state chapter.

Chestnut Challenges

Chestnut Challenges

Locally here in the Louisville, Kentucky area, there have been several insect outbreaks found affecting American chestnut plantings this spring.  Photos and samples have been sent to the University of Kentucky for insect verification, but I have indicated with the photos what the culprit appears to be.

Ambrosia Beetle:

 

These small holes are on a lower branch of a 10 year old tree.  The entire branch is dead from 2” diameter on up.  Usually, AB will attack trees when they are at about 1.5” diameter – or similar sized branches in older trees.  Monitoring can be done with AB traps beginning in March.  If the beetles are found, then a spraying regime can begin to protect the trees.

One bad thing about AB is that it will introduce a fungus into the tree that may continue to affect the tree even after beetle outbreaks have been controlled.  Prevention is important for our display trees at area sites.

Round Headed Borer or Long-horned Beetle:

 

Although it is hard to tell from the photo, these holes are much larger than those caused by Ambrosia beetle. The resulting dead trees send up stump sprouts, which can be managed to “replace” the lost tree. Similar to blight, the above-ground portion of the tree has been killed, but the root system remains viable.

In both cases, once the insect identities are confirmed, spraying of tree trunks to the point of runoff will be done on a regular basis with a 2.5% permethrin product.  This will kill larvae not yet in the tree and will kill emerging adults, so as to not spread the attack.

I always say that, “everything likes chestnuts!”  By this, I mean the nuts, the leaves, the twigs, the wood, etc.  This species used to make up about 25% of the forests in the Eastern US.  What a significant impact on wildlife when they basically disappeared due to the introduced blight.

 

Leaf Eating Insects

I have a chestnut tree growing in my front yard, doing quite well during its second year.  It is well over 6 feet tall and there are still a couple of month remaining in the growing season!  The other evening, I noticed some of the leaves were “skelotonized!”  This is a sure sign of Japanese beetles.  Upon closer inspection, I found that there were 2 or 3 dozen beetles on the leaves!  A quick dusting of Sevin dust seems to have resolved the problem, as yesterday I found no beetles on the tree!

Sometimes this time of year, you start to see leaves beginning to curl a bit from the edges.  Many times, this is caused by sucking insects, such as leaf hoppers and aphids.  Sometimes, you must look at both the top of the leaf, as well as the underside, to find what might be affecting your tree.

Keep your trees healthy and they will put on more growth!

Blooming American Chestnut Trees

The American chestnut tree tends to bloom later than many other nut producing hardwood trees, such as oaks.  This is why historically, the chestnut produced a nut crop every year consistently.  Oak trees may only produce acorns once every couple of years, so wildlife (deer, turkey, etc) can only feed on this mast during times of production.  Since the chestnut blooms late, there is little chance for the flowers to get nipped by a late frost, so they tend to produce nuts annually.  This is why American chestnut trees were so beneficial for wildlife species in the forests of the Eastern United States.

When the blight basically wiped out chestnut trees from Maine down to Mississippi, it must have been a terrible impact on many wildlife species.  Eventually, this tree will be surviving back out in the forests where it once reined as "king!"

Flowers are forming on chestnut trees right now and should begin blooming in a few weeks!  It is said that chestnut trees were so prevalent in many eastern woods that during the blooming period of June, the mountains appeared to have snow on them!  This was just the many showy flowers of the American chestnut tree!

Male flowers forming - late May, 2014.

 

 

Typically, a chestnut tree will begin flowering at about 5 to 8 years old.  Sometimes, flowering will occur earlier, depending on the amount of light and growing conditions.  The trees pictured here are currently in their third growing season.  Although many male flowers are apparent, I could not yet find any female flowers - which is what will become a bur.  I'll keep an eye on them, though, in case there is an opportunity to do some manual pollination.

 

The first male catkins (flowers) this 3 year old tree has formed!

 

 

A good example for seeing flowers forming on chestnut trees up close is at the Louisville Nature Center located at 3745 Illinois Avenue in Louisville, KY.  While there, be sure to not only look at the trees, but read the 3-panel sign which tells all about the American chestnut tree, chestnut blight and efforts to breed a blight resistant tree.

 

If you arrive during the Center's open hours, stop in the building to see their displays and get information on the hiking trails.  This facility and preserve are wonderful assets for our community!

 

In a few weeks, the whitish flowers will be very obvious on the blooming chestnut trees.

 

 

Come and look at later posts.   I will attempt to take some photos and post them on this blog when the trees are in full bloom!







582 Orchard Planting - Carr Creek Lake, KY

Initial planting took place on Monday, April 21, 2014 at the 582 Orchard, hosted by the US Army Corps of Engineers at Carr Creek Lake, KY.

Winter Drag - Chestnut Grafting

Although the long, drawn out winter continues here in the Louisville area, that doesn't mean that American chestnut restoration efforts are at rest.  What is happening right now? Well, for one, chestnut seeds (nuts) either in the wild or in cold storage are getting ready to start sending a tap root out.  This happens every spring!  Sometimes early, sometimes late.  My guess is for this year - late.

What else is happening?  Well, for me, I am experimenting with nut grafting!  What is nut grafting, you might ask?  It is a way of grafting living/growing materials (from trees/stump sprouts/etc) onto a live seed.  The nut provides the energy for bonding a twig onto a nut and producing roots to feed the twig.  Basically, it provides the ability to clone an existing tree by using a nut to "nurse" the twig along.  It sounds more difficult than it is.  A great resource for learning more about this can be found at Nut Grafting and this is what I used as a guide, for the most part.  Photo guidance is always good!

So, I am seeing some results from my early February nut grafting attempts.  Here is a grafted twig with not much bud activity:

The bud appears dormant (or dead) even after a month of having been grafted.

However, look at this bud.  See a difference?

The bud is expanding/swelling as it should be, which indicates a successful graft!  You might note that something is coming up at the base of this grafted twig, as well.  This sprout is the epicotyl coming up from the nut.  This will have to be cut back, as it does not have the genetics of the graft, but genetics of the nut.

Here is a closer look of the sprouting from the nut next to the grafted twig:

This sprout will have to be removed, as will this lower bud if it sprouts out and attempts dominance over the bud above it.

Here is the same sprout 10 days after the other photos were taken.  Slowly, the bud continues to grow!

And a few days later, it is still expanding.  Slow going, but it IS growing!  Note that I removed the lower bud.  I want all of the energy to go into the growth of this shoot.

The resulting grafted seedling will be a genetic mirror of the tree that it was removed from this winter.

Why would anyone want to go to the effort of doing this?  Well, think about genetics.  If we were to find an overtopped stump sprout in the woods, say in a woods that cannot be manipulated by management activities (timber harvest, removal of surrounding trees, etc), we can take part of the stump sprout with the simple tool of pruning shears and graft it as I have done here.  If successful, the grafted seedling can be outplanted into a mother tree orchard where it can serve as a "mother" for receiving pollen from other trees or it can be used as a "father" by collecting pollen from it, once it matures to the point of producing flowers (about 3 - 5 years).   The genetics from this "lost" tree can now be carried forward within the Kentucky State TACF breeding program rather than being lost completely or never being utilized within the breeding program.  The more genetic variation within the breeding program, the better off it will be (within our regional area).

Grafting can also be used for carrying forward "selected" trees from backcross orchards.  If a particular tree shows high resistance, it could be cloned (ie, grafted) to make "more of it" in order to produce more nuts/offspring from it.  Rather than having 1 or a few trees, we can create multiple trees with the identical genetics via grafting.

This is the same process used for much of our commercially nut bearing trees, as well as fruit trees.  I'm sure you have heard of a particular apple strain or pear strain.  These are produced by grafting, for the most part, and not from cross-breeding with other varieties.

Same with wine.  In order to produce a particular flavor in wine, it is important to have consistency in the grapes.  This is done by grafting.

Okay, I might have the technique down.  Now, I need to find some stump sprouts, gather scion wood and graft them onto nuts so that I can provide some new genetic sources to the KY-TACF breeding program!  Shoot, if the weather would ever cooperate, maybe I could do this, but things are not looking good for this winter!  I might have to practice on bud grafting this summer!

Happy March!