Some may be partially self-pollenizing, but not reliably so. You're likely to be disappointed with nut crops if you're counting on that...

While pecan may only be 'native' to southern IN, they are present in other areas - I know a number of folks who are NNGA/InNGA/KyNGA members around the state who grow them, in places like Indianapolis, Terre Haute, etc.

Got any neighbors/friends close by who'd let you plant an appropriate pollenizing variety on their property so that you'd both benefit? Or, any 'wild' lands nearby where you could surreptitiously plant a few seedlings or direct-seed some seednuts? A 'guerilla gardening' tactic, of sorts....

The two Stark's varieties you've mentioned are OK, but there are better pecans for the northern/midwestern pecan belt than those two.

Check out Dr. Bill Reid's Northern Pecan Blogspot for more info.

Northern pecans

I just wanted to share my pecan tree experience. :-) I grew up with a pecan tree in the yard. You probably remember some of this, if you grew up in pecan territory. It's a beautiful tree, but... Ours seemed to grow quickly enough, and it became very (!) large. They seem to drop limbs easily in storms, or just sometimes in the summer. Large trees drop massive amounts of stuff (catkins, pollen and sap). Fortunately, they don't drop this stuff year-round, but, when they are dropping stuff, it's a large amount. Cleaning the mess is a lot of work. Of course, they have a lot of leaves that drop off for the winter, but the leaves are to be expected with a large, deciduous, tree. It's not really a tree to plant, if you're going to mind the mess it makes or if you don't have the time or inclination to keep the droppings cleaned up (or if you have allergies to its pollen). Your neighbors will not like it, if it's planted where it drops stuff into their yard. It's also such a large tree that it could easily cast a huge shadow in a neighbor's yard, depending on sun orientation, where it's planted, etc. Some people like shade, but other people might be pretty upset about having their sunny yard turned shady by a tree a neighbor plants. Having these trees in a neighborhood is probably a whole different ballgame vs having them out in a more rural setting. I really think they are too big to be put into most suburban yards, unless you have a pretty large yard.

Yeah, due to the unique way that pecans are pollinated I find myself pretty skeptical of the self pollinating pecan. I had considered some of those techniques of inserting some other pecans in to the surrounding wooded areas. I was also thinking the hickan might be a possible option too. There's shag bark hickory everywhere around here so a pollinator wouldn't be a problem. I'm just not at all familiar with those and if they would have desirable traits.

In regard to some of the less desirable trains of pecan as a yard tree I grew up with three of four pecans in the yard. So I'm familiar with the goo and some of that mess. Thanks for the reminder though. The place I have in mind for it is pretty far from the house and drive way so we wouldn't have to worry about it gooing the cars it would just be the fallen limbs to deal with. Another option I've considered for this site is the bur oak. It wouldn't make the nice nuts but it would be a nice large shade tree for the long haul with some flood tolerance.

If the pecan won't work out I'm also thinking of going with a couple little hazel nuts in a different part of the landscape.

You might be able to plant one tree but graft a different variety onto in to insure pollination. I think this can be done with pecans...

You know that's a pretty good idea. I'm pretty sure my Dad did quite a bit of grafting with pecans. I'd have to find some scions somewhere and pick a branch that wouldn't get pruned later so that could be interesting. Definitely a good thought though that might be worth looking into.