How to Grow Great Hickory and Pecan Trees in Your Back Yard

Hickory and pecan trees are prized as shade trees. They have lovely fall colors and both can grow to 100 feet or more. Both types of trees usually have interesting, shaggy bark. Here are some tips to help you grow beautiful and healthy hickory and pecan trees in your yard.

There are some varieties of hickory trees that will produce delicious nuts to temperature Zone 4. Unfortunately, pecan trees require a warmer climate. These trees need a climate that is frost-free and has warm days 180 to 220 days of the year. Hickories will need about 5 to 10 years before they will begin producing nuts. And, pecan trees will need 10 years before they will bear nuts.

Plant your hickory and pecan trees 30 to 50 feet apart. The holes you dig for your trees should be big enough to hold 3-foot-long tap roods without bending them. The trees need to be planted at least 3 inches deeper than it was growing in the nursery. As you fill in the hole, after placing the tree, water the soil to help it settle. Your tree will do better if you cut it back about one-third. This is to make up for the loss of roots from transplanting.

Hickory trees will not need much more care after you plant them. Pecan trees should not be pruned until the top can shade the trunk. Then, the lower limbs should be removed. You need to remove one limb each year. Pecan and hickory trees need more than one variety to be assured of successful pollination.

The nuts should be gathered as they fall from the tree to the ground. It is acceptable to shake the tree gently to help them fall. The pecans will keep better if they are shelled. They should be refrigerated and used soon after harvest. If you dry the hickory nuts and pecans they will keep for several weeks at room temperature. If they are stored in a cool and dry place, they will keep for several months. Put them in the freezer and they will keep for more than a year.

Growing hickory nuts and pecans in your own back yard will save you money. These nuts can be very expensive if you buy them in the grocery store. Hopefully, these tips will help you have wonderful hickory and pecan trees growing in your back yard.

SOURCE

Editors "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine. "New Garden Book". 1990. Better Homes and Gardens Books. Des Moines, Iowa.