Tree Seeds Update

 Okay, so back in late October, I gathered a bunch of seeds to try my hand at germinating and growing native trees and shrubs.  Here's where we are right now...

The dogwood seeds that have been in the fridge after being soaked in boiling water are germinating.  Yesterday, I started putting them in pots.  I didn't count how many I planted, but I ran out of small pots and gumption, so there are at least 3 more in the bag, which I put back in the fridge.

The redbud seeds that I put directly into pots after soaking have spent the winter in the garage.  I may have forgotten to water them regularly and of course, Woodstock the Garage Wren may have been playing in their dirt.  I watered them all yesterday and left them outside on the deck.  Fingers crossed some of them live.

The spicebush seeds spent the winter in pots on the deck.  Those also didn't see much watering. We'll see.

The buckthorn seeds are still in the fridge in a bag.  I didn't notice any germination yet.  As soon as I acquire more little pots, I'll try planting them and see what happens.

Like the spicebush seeds, the acorns I planted spent the winter outside in a pot.  If they don't germinate, I'll give that up and find some volunteer seedlings.  We're always getting at least one or two acorns growing in our flower beds.  I wanted to grow them from acorns so I knew what variety I was planting.  Getting a seedlings out of the garden is a crap shoot.

Speaking of volunteers, I dug up and potted another cedar tree.  I named this one Clyde.  He's kinda funky and didn't start his life out straight, but he's about 6" tall.  We'll see if I got enough of his root base to keep him alive.  He couldn't stay where he was, growing under the deck, so he would've died anyway.  This way at least he gets a chance.  We have several other volunteer cedars I may try to grow.  The problem with cedars is they are slow growing.  Cecil is about 4 years old, I think, and he's only about 2' tall.  Of course, he's been growing in a pot.  Maybe he'd be taller if I put him in the ground.  

Anyway, the idea here is put all of these in the ground at some point.  Hubs will build cages around them to keep the deer from doing what they did to poor Elmer (i.e. munching them to the ground).  That's a long way off, though.  Fingers crossed we get at least a few of each of the varieties to grow large enough to have to worry about it.  If we get more than a few, I may need to find homes for them.  We'll see.

Next fall, I may try germinating persimmons.  We have a big persimmon tree that drops loads of fruit.  I just have to snag some fruits before the critters get to them.  

What about you?  Have you ever tried growing trees?