Arborists: What trees should I plant in this situation?

[Doctari]

The youngest tree I have that I will hang from is a Plum tree, was around 20 years old when I started hanging. I could have hung from it MAYBE 5 years earlier, but it may have damaged the tree. Most fruit trees I have seen are soft wood, spending their energy getting big enough to produce fruit, then all of their energy producing that fruit, & not much energy producing strong wood.
I have a ancient apple tree, at least 50 years old, and a pretty young Blue spruce the same age. The spruce produced it's first cones 4 years ago. The apple stopped producing fruit about the same time. My 28 year old Oak has produced nuts for 3 years.

So, as mentioned above: Plant the fruit trees, & put up a few hammock stands among them.

[tight-wad]

The spacing for fruit trees may be a problem for hanging. I'd definitely plant a fruit orchard for the fruit and the beauty. You don't have to hang in the middle of it.

Plant some "new" chestnuts around the perimeter for hanging and to help get the chestnuts restarted.

And... don't know how they would do in your climate... at the top of my list would be a couple of pecans

[attrezzo]

Your local horticulturalist may be more use here than an arborist somewhere in the US.

They can tell you what species are best for the area, what pests/insects they attract, what kinds of fruit they bear and when, and what kind of care you need to give them.

I don't know about NC but in Oklahoma a good tree to try is a pecan or pear. Pecans mature in the early fall-winter and pears in the late spring-summer.

If they're going to be in your backyard where you can keep an eye on them and actually care for them insects and dead limbs/falling fruit won't be any issue. You'll know when it's safe to hang and when it's not. You can also prune them in such a way as to prevent stuff from falling on the hammock. Perhaps install a permanent roof between them?

Call up your county courthouse and see if they have an extension agent who can advise you on a good person to talk to about fruit trees. I'm certain they'll give you a whole list.

[oldgringo]

^^^Best advice you've gotten. Take it, and run.

Also. Fruit trees are a labor of love...dang near a career choice. You can't just stick 'em in the ground and expect them to take care of themselves, like you would a pine seedling. You prolly already knew this, but it still needed sayin'.

[Bluenose Climbers]

HMMMM How do I respond?

I have been a hanger for 12 years and an Arborist for over a quarter century. I am unformiliar with your climate zone and regional species. I could look it up but local experts would be your best resourse.

What I would recomend is to avoid a monoculture. Don't plant just one type of tree. Trees are a long term investment. They will be around when we are long gone. If we have a blight, infestation, desease, ect. you could loose your investment. When we transplant trees from a nursery we are buying cultivated, hybred purebreds. It's like buying a purebred dog. The purebreds are prone to more problems than mutts. Especially if we have them in a grove of only one species. Dutch Elm desease, Chestnut Blight, Emerald Ash Borer all come to mind.

Plant several species. You can look at different fall colours, different textures, and different shapes. Look at mature trees of the species you might like and get an idea of what your grove would look like in time.

As for a hanging grove, I would make several if you have the land. Sometimes you will want to sleep in the back yard and sometimes a short hike makes all the difference.

As for a fruit grove I love the idea. I have slept in old orchards several times and really enjoyed it. It was a little difficult to find the right spot to hang the hammock because the orchards had been pruned for fruit production but was do able. When the blossums were out it was magical and the smell from the campfire burning the apple deadwood had such a nice smell. As for a nut grove, I have slept in a beech grove that was great in the rain. Being under beech trees in full folage I didn't really need a tarp.

I am in Canada and like to winter camp so evergreens are great for diverting cold winter winds. I avoid them for hanging because of sap on my slings but like to have them on the windward side of my campsite.

If you plan on planting trees do like mother nature. Plant 50 times more trees than you need and remove some every year or two until you have what you want. We have all seen this in the woods. A tree falls down and mother nature fills the void with thousands of seedlings. As they grow they choke each other out. Survival of the fittest. The fittest trees survive and the weeker die out. This gives you a strong forest instead of the cultivated hybrid mono forests prone to problems. If this works for you, you can collect seedlings from your own land and transplant them. These species already grow in your area and are hardy healthy trees to start with. If some don't survive the transplant you are only out a little exercise. As they take and begin to grow and compete for space moisture and nutrients you can cut out the ones you feel should go. Don't be afraid to cut. Mother nature does it every day!

Good luck with your grove. I hope to come see it some day, in maybe 20 years or so. I hope my great great grand children get to enjoy it in about 200 years.

[oldgringo]

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.- Greek Proverb.

[attrezzo]

^^^Best advice you've gotten. Take it, and run.

Also. Fruit trees are a labor of love...dang near a career choice. You can't just stick 'em in the ground and expect them to take care of themselves, like you would a pine seedling. You prolly already knew this, but it still needed sayin'.

I disagree on the last part. If you want them to make a meaningful amount of fruit (sell it) they're a labor of love. They put out what's put in. That's a literal statement. But generally speaking one or two mature fruit trees will produce enough fruit to fill up snack coffers for a year without much pestering. There are some pesky trees that have to be closely watched, peach is one, but as long as you get a tree that's more or less native for your area you're not going to have to bother it too much to get enough to make it worth your while.

[Wags]

whatever you do, plant something that is native to your area. please don't bring in some fruit tree that doesn't grow around there naturally. too many landscapers/home owners do this and it F's up the surrounding ecosystem, albiet on a miniature scale

[Cannibal]

Another one voting for Pecan trees. That's pronounced Peecan BTW.

Wonderfully solid trees and they provide snacks, what more could you ask for. Yes, they do 'shed'. Growing up in the Texas Hill Country, I spent much of my youth picking up twigs from the two Pecan trees in the backyard. Never saw any really big branches, mostly just a lot of twigs.

[Scottybdiving]

Another one voting for Pecan trees. That's pronounced Peecan BTW.

Wonderfully solid trees and they provide snacks, what more could you ask for. Yes, they do 'shed'. Growing up in the Texas Hill Country, I spent much of my youth picking up twigs from the two Pecan trees in the backyard. Never saw any really big branches, mostly just a lot of twigs.

I will be having one of those snacks stomorrow in the form of a "Whitehouse Pecan Pie". It's the recipe from Mrs Zephyr White, Lyndon B Johnson's personal cook.

The only problem with pecan trees is they have to be planted so far apart. Mine are 35', too far for a hammock. They don't do well in a crowd.