When it comes to managing your land for game, no other long-term method is as effective as food plot trees. They improve habitat and increase the carrying capacity of your land, and they act as magnets for deer and other game animals. The folks at Realtree Nursery understand the vital role food plot trees play in increasing habitat productivity and have dedicated time and research into selecting and producing only the most productive and long-lived species.
Realtree Property’s most prized tree, the Dunstan Chestnut, is the most widely planted chestnut in America. These blight-resistant trees have produced the best quality nuts by commercial orchardists all over the U.S. for the past 30 years. They bear in only two to four years and produce more high quality nutrition per acre than any oak species or hybrid. In fact, one tree will bear 10 to 20 lbs of nuts by the time it is 10 years old, before most oaks even start to bear. The sweet-tasting nuts are high in carbohydrates and protein, and have no bitter-tasting tannin like oaks, which make them irresistible to deer. They are the best food plot tree, period.
Oak trees are popular simply because acorns are a large part of the diet for deer, turkey and other game animals in the fall. Realtree Nursery offers a variety of oak trees including live oak, Sawtooth oak, Shumard oak, swamp chestnut oak and white oak. Oaks will grow in a wide variety of habitats, from southern Canada to south Florida and south Texas. Oaks usually bear annually, but often cycle between heavy and light crops, sometimes with a couple of years between heavy crops.
Realtree Nursery offers an extensive assortment of fruit trees and berries, such as apples, mulberries, peaches, pears, grapes, figs and blackberries, which deer and other wildlife love and will actively seek out. By planting a variety of plants that will bear fruit throughout the entire season, you can habituate them to come back regularly to a plot.
Realtree Nursery persimmon trees are also a great deer and wildlife attractant. Deer actively seek out persimmon trees and eat every fruit that is within reach or when it hits the ground. The fruit has a rich, nutty, amaretto flavor, but is astringent until completely ripe. Its black corrugated bark looks like alligator hide and its foliage is orange-red in the fall. Persimmons are easy to grow, and will bear in just a few years. For more information on Realtree Nursery food plot trees, tips for planting trees and testimonials, visit www.realtreenursery.com