West Louisville Tree Planting

KY-TACF and the Louisville Restoration Branch will be participating in the Brightside Community Tree Planting effort on November 7 in West Louisville.  Along with all of the other tree planting activities, several backcrossed American Chestnut trees will be planted at the Shawnee Branch Public Library.  Planting day details are below:

 

Hope to see you there with shovel in hand!

KY-TACF Annual Meeting, 2015

The Kentucky State Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation will be holding their annual meeting on August 15, 2015, at the Pine Mountain State Resort Park.  Make your plans to attend, as this is open to both members and non-members!

There will be a silent auction taking place as a fundraiser for the chapter, as well as an array of presentations concerning what is going on with the American chestnut in Kentucky at this time!

As additional information becomes available, I will update this posting to include it.

UPDATE:  The meeting will be taking place in the Ray Harm Room, beginning at 9:30 AM (Eastern Time) and should finish up around 3:30 PM.  Agenda can be found below.

Hope to see you there!

 

Annual Meeting

KENTUCKY CHAPTER

 

 Pine Mountain State Resort Park

Ray Harm Room

Saturday, August 15, 2015

9:30 AM to 3:30 PM

 

 

9:30 – 10:00			Snacks and Getting to Know Each Other	Ray Harm Room
10:00 - 10:15 AM			Introduction   Lynn Garrison, President of Kentucky Chapter	Ray Harm Room
10:15 - 10:30 AM			Election Officers and Board   Rex Mann	Ray Harm Room
10:30 - 11:00 AM			A National TACF Overview Thomas Saielli	Ray Harm Room
11:00 – 11:15 AM			Financial Report	Ray Harm Room
11:15 – 11:45			American Chestnut Breeding Program   Scott Friedhoff	Ray Harm Room
11:45 – 12:45 PM			Lunch
12:45– 1:00 PM			American Chestnut Programs in the Louisville Area Keith Chasteen	Ray Harm Room
1:00 – 1:15 PM                      Outreach                                                                                 Ray Harm Room
1:15 - 1:30 PM			Restoration plan for the American Chestnut   Rex Mann	Ray Harm Room
Collaborative Programs
1:30 – 1:45 PM			U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Keith Chasteen	Ray Harm Room
1:45 – 2:45 PM			Kentucky Army National Guard Orchard Kentucky Division of Forestry Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative Green Forest Work The Parklands of Floyd’s Fork Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Eastern Kentucky University Ceremonial Planting Owsley County Schools Planting Pike County Schools Planting Home Place Planting Meades Landing Lisa Davis	Ray Harm Room
2:45			Silent Auction Ends	Ray Harm Room
3:00 PM			Adjourn
3:00 – 3:30 PM			Board Meeting	Ray Harm Room

We will have a silent auction which will include various items with many relating to the American chestnut. Included in the auction are two Restoration Chestnut Trees.

 

Note: We planned to have a field trip to Hensley Settlement in cooperation with the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park but unfortunately the road washed out during the heavy July rains and is closed for the rest of the year. We are looking for other field trip possibilities and if we successful we will tighten up the schedule to allow for the field trip.

                

 

Flowering

Chestnut trees are showing signs of flowering.  Is your tree getting ready to bloom?  Pollinating season is quickly coming!

 

Flowering Chinese chestnut tree.



I Can Dig It! - Transplanting Pure American Chestnut Sprouts

Although chestnut blight killed many (most) American chestnut trees throughout the historic range - from Maine to Mississippi - it did not kill the root systems of the trees.  This started the cycle of root sprouts coming up from these living root systems, growing to a certain point, then succumbing to the blight.  Occasionally, these sprouts will get large enough to produce nuts prior to getting and dying from the blight.

In 2013, some native American chestnut sprouts were found at Ft. Knox, KY, following some light thinning within a forested stand.  This thinning activity was done to improve habitat for threatened and endangered bats.  With the thinner tree canopy, more sunlight was allowed to hit the forest floor.  This light is what spurred these sprouts to quickly take off after many years of being suppressed.

The Kentucky Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation has partnered with Ft. Knox and the US Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, at Green River Lake near Campbellsville, KY, to establish a location where stump sprouts can be relocated to in order to provide them full sunlight, water, nutrients and some limited blight prevention (fungicides, mud packing of cankers, etc).  The goal of this "Germplasm Conservation Orchard" is to grow this chestnut genetic source from Ft. Knox to the point of successful flowering where either pollen can be collected from these trees or pollen can be brought to these trees for controlled pollination.  The goal is to develop a new genetic line for the Chapter's backcross breeding program.

Earlier this month, TACF volunteers, KY State Forestry folks, Bernheim Forest folks and US Army Corps of Engineers employees converged on Ft. Knox in order to dig the known sprouts for transfer to Green River Lake.

 

On the same day that the sprouts were dug they were hauled to the orchard site and replanted there.

This photo by Sarah Mattingly, US Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District.

The newly planted trees quickly had protective fencing placed around them to keep deer from nibbling on the twigs.  In all, eight planting spots were filled within the orchard with stump sprouts.  Additional planting will occur as additional sprouts are found from within the "Knobs" physiographic region that either need to be relocated in order to protect or utilize them.  As well, found sprouts or trees may be able to be grafted and placed into the Green River Lake orchard.

It is anticipated that for many years even after a new genetic line is developed from these trees the orchard will produce a plethora of pure American chestnut nuts!  These can be used for test planting future orchard sites, can be stratified and grown or can be utilized for roasting on an open fire!

Tree Spacing

The Louisville Restoration Branch of the Kentucky Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation works with local governments and other entities to do American chestnut demonstration plantings, as well as other plantings.  Some examples in the Louisville area include the new planting with Metro Parks and Recreation in Des Pres Park.  Also, the first planting with Metro Parks is at the entry of the Louisville Nature Center in Joe Creason Park.  Within Jefferson Memorial Forest, there is a habitat planting that includes advanced American chestnut trees.  There is also a display planting at the Louisville Zoo.  Often, when a new planting opportunity comes along, one thing that is discussed is tree spacing.

American chestnut trees are best known for being a forest tree.  As such, they compete for light among the other trees growing around them and reach upward towards the light.  This competition encourages them to develop high reaching and limb free trunks or boles.

When doing our display, demonstration and restoration plantings, we like to keep the chestnut trees at a fairly tight spacing, say 15' to 20' apart.  These trees should get large, so this seems like very tight spacing.  However, this will encourage them to compete for light and grow upright, tall and somewhat "natural" looking like chestnut trees in our Kentucky forests 80+ years ago.

This historic photo shows the close proximity of American chestnut trees growing in the forest.

 

When grown in the open, not that this doesn't work, but it will lead the tree to develop more of a spreading crown.  Not that this is bad - actually, it creates a beautiful shade tree - but it won't show the tall, straight growth that chestnut trees are known for.

 



This open grown American chestnut shows its wide spreading crown.

 

Within Kentucky, we have a somewhat famous large surviving American chestnut tree known as the Adair tree.  This tree, found in Adair County, is growing in somewhat of a fence row between open pastures.  It exhibits an open crown form.

 

When I am asked about tree spacing for a new planting, I usually suggest 18' between trees.  Some folks suggest closer spacing, such as 15', with the thought that if a tree dies, the remaining trees are still at 30' spacing.  If a tree dies at 18' spacing, I'll do my best to get another one established in that spot before the others get so large that they overtop the spot.

 

Interested in planting chestnut trees on your property?  If so, please contact me by commenting on this blog.  Be sure to leave contact info, such as your email address.

 

Think spring!