Hickory

Hickory (carya) BARE ROOT TREES WILL BEGIN SHIPPING OCT/NOV. 

Hickory is one of my favorite trees to find in the landscape. Their fall color is a stunning yellow and they support many species of insect and animals. The nuts are a valuable food source in the fall and early winter. The main hickory species we work with are yellowbud aka bitternut, shagbark, shellbark, and to a lesser extent pignut and mockernut. Each species has its own pros and cons but I feel that they are all well worth growing. 

Mockernut and pignut are incredibly drought adapted but have shells that are difficult to crack. Shagbark and shell bark can be easier to crack but depending on the genetics can still be tricky. Some modern breeding efforts have worked to select and breed varieties of hickory with thinner shells that crack similar to pecans, a hickory relative. The genetics we have available today are only here because of thousands of years of selection and relationship between hickory and the indigenous peoples of this land. Much of their work was lost to colonization but what remains are the improved genetics we have today. 

Yellowbud hickory is not often thought of as a food because its nuts are high in tannins making them inedible when raw. That is not the end of the story however. Yellowbud may be my favorite of all the hickories because of its potential as an oil crop. There are several factors that make yellowbud the ideal oil crop. Those tannins are not oil soluble so when the nuts are pressed the resulting oil is completely free of tannins. Additionally it is hypothesized that these tannins protect the nuts from insect issues. In years where the other hickories experience high insect pressure the yellowbud often has little issue producing nuts. The nuts contain upwards of 70% oil which is a higher yield than olives at roughly 15%. The trees are incredibly productive and resilient. Anther big advantage is the shell of yellowbud which is thin like a pecan. They are the only hickory you can crack with just your hands. This means that they can be pressed for oil without removing the shell. The hickory oil tastes like liquid pecan and can be used as a high heat cooking oil. It is suitable for any role olive oil may be used for. We are really fired up about hickory oil if you can't tell. 

In their first year of life hickory will devote most of their energy into forming a strong taproot. The result is often a tree that is hardly 6 inches tall with a root stretching down over a foot. This is normal behavior for this species and is one reason why they can be hard to find in the nursery trade. Hickory do not like having their tap root damaged. 

2024 selections 

Blacksburg Yellowbud - BARE ROOT

Seeds for these trees came from a singular mother tree at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg VA. This tree is very mature and makes a huge crop of nuts. We gave Justin at the Ashville nuttery some of these nuts to press into oil in 2023. Justin claimed that these nuts pressed easily and seemed to have a higher oil content than the average wild yellowbud nuts he receives. 

These trees are roughly 1 foot or taller

Chapel Hill yellowbud (POTTED LOCAL PICKUP ONLY)

In fall 2022 we gathered yellowbud seed from a wild tree in Chapel Hill NC and grew out the seedlings in air pruning beds. We distributed and planted some of these seedlings in fall 2023 but the remainder we potted up into fabric pots for the 2024 growing season. They are happily growing in their pots and ready to find new homes!

Hillsborough Mockernut - BARE ROOT

In fall of 2023 there was a bumper crop of mockernut hickory at a friends house in Hillsborough NC. There is a large grove of hickory in this back yard and we gathered many seeds. Some we planted and others we happily snacked on (they were work to crack but worth it!). We started the seeds in air pruning beds and the resulting trees are ready to find new homes. 

These trees are under 1 foot tall

Potted option for local pickup only, bare root option can ship anytime October-March

Once you order a potted plant we will reach out to coordinate a pick up time. We can offer pickups in Bassett VA, Blacksburg VA, and Hillsborough NC. Reach out if you have questions about potted plant delivery.