Tree Watertown volunteers planting bare root trees in
the fall of 2020. Photo Courtesy Tree Watertown
Osage orange (Maclura pomifera 'White Shield') readily
plants bare root and in the fall and is thriving in Watertown.
Photo Courtesy Cornell Woody Plants Database
oak (a hybrid of Q. robur × Q. alba), chinkapin oak (Q.
muehlenbergii), Regal Prince oak (a hybrid of Q. robur
f. fastigiata and Q. bicolor), and shingle oak (Quercus
imbricaria). All are planted bare root at 1.25 (32 mm)
or 1.5-inch (38 mm) caliper, and many of these are suit-
able for fall planting. DeMarco notes that chinkapin oaks
really must have a drier site. "In wetter areas, they don't
withstand transplanting shock, we have found," he says.
One of the selections DeMarco has been particularly
excited about is the fruitless osage orange (Maclura
pomifera) cultivar 'White Shield', which tolerates dry,
windy, hot sites; high soil pH; occasional wet con-
ditions; and salt spray. It has no serious pests or
diseases. "It does well bare root and in fall," he says.
"I find it fascinating that a tree native to Oklahoma
like osage orange is doing so well here in the most
challenging sites," DeMarco says. "It's also very vig-
orous—for us, up to 36 inches (91 cm) a year of
shoot growth— which means you do need to have
a young tree pruning program or plan in place."
Other trees that Tree Watertown plants successfully
bare root and in fall include baldcypress (Taxodium dis-
tichum), dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides),
paperbark maple (Acer griseum), eastern redbud (Cercis
canadensis), and katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum).
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