Planting pecan trees
Living the Country Life Radio Program with Betsy Freese
Radio interview source: Lenny Wells, horticulture pecan specialist, University of Georgia
My mom's pecan pie is famous. She's won many awards for it. I think one of her secrets is the fresh pecans. My brother went to college in Georgia and he still goes there on a regular basis. When he returns, he brings Mom bags of pecans.
Georgia ranks number one in the U.S. for pecan production, but the trees flourish as far south as Mexico to as far north as Illinois. Southern areas of the U.S. grow the most varieties, although researchers are coming up with more high-yielding cultivars for areas with shorter growing seasons. It's important that you get a variety that's resistant to scab. It's a disease that causes premature nut drop and can prevent nuts from fully expanding to their full size.
If you'd like to grow your own pecans, University of Georgia pecan specialist Lenny Wells says home gardeners find the most success with a 4- to 5-foot tree propagated from a nursery. But you can't buy just one.
"You do need more than one variety when you plant pecans because they're wind pollinated," Wells says. "And you need one fairly close by that is a different variety and will release pollen at the same time that the female flowers would be receptive on the other variety."
