Shagbark Hickory Seedling Update - September 2021
Back on Earth Day this Spring, the kids and I went over to Benet Academy and picked up a free native tree seedling from their Environmental Club. The tree was very small - a little trunk - and a lot of roots. It was a Shagbark Hickory and I planted it in the backyard . I then, promptly, forgot about the tree. I figured it was dead. Or never alive. There were a couple of buds on the tree seedling, but I wasn't positive it had any life in it to begin with when I planted it in May. The tree has done nothing. The buds didn't open. The tree didn't leaf out at all. Here is a look at the tree in the photo below: The photo isn't great because it is hard to get my phone to focus on the tiny, thin trunk. Here's an annotated photo (below) with a red line showing the trunk and a few branches up top. Again...no leaves at all on this tree. It is dead, right? At least, that's what I assumed. But, when I did the whole 'fingernail trick' on the trunk of the