Mrs ERJ and I planted some seed-nuts this afternoon

Burning the galvanizing off of 1/2" square hardware cloth

Making sure I get as much zinc burned off as possible.

Stretched over, and stapled to frames made from wood salvaged from pallets with 2-by-2 corner braces.

Protecting 12 pecans that were planted about 2" deep.

Squirrels are not just destructive to nut crops, they can be devastating to seed-nuts that are planted in-the-wild.

Most people who plant seed nuts have some system to protect them.

Sometimes called a "Droste can".

One important part of the process is to take steps to ensure that the can or hardware cloth rusts away before it strangles the roots/new shoot. Hence burning the galvanizing.

Seeds are cheap. It is pretty easy to plant 10 or 12 seed-nuts and select for the most vigorously growing stems that do not show any winter die-back. Cull the weak sisters. Move the "extra" plants that are in excess of one-or-two most promising ones you want at that site.

Some nut species seem to do best as seedlings planted where you want them. They do not appreciated being transplanted and will sulk for a few years before showing good annual growth.

Another reason to plant nuts on-site is that some states (Michigan is one of them) prohibits the moving of non-inspected nursery materials from one parcel to another. The stated intention is to limit the spread of plant diseases and pests. By planting seed-nuts and grafting over them (if so desired) those prohibitions are avoided. This is not exploiting a loophole. Many of the disease/pest issues are carried in the soil/roots of the nursery material. If you are not transporting dirt then you are probably not transporting pests/diseases.

Visualize Whirled Peas

Observed at a local Subway franchise