Now that I finally have room to plant as many trees as I can possibly wish to, I'm pondering starting a nursery for tree seeds, to supply seedlings for the farm. I do a lot of straw bale/deep mulch gardening for my veggies, and I'm contemplating doing something similar to start oaks and other trees/shrubs. Here's what I'm thinking so far: Digging a long narrow trench in a well drained location, filling with straw, old hay, leaves, etc. . I'm considering lining the bottom with hardware cloth, and perhaps a permeable weed barrier before filling. Along the sides of the trench I would install some 1X6 lumber I have laying around, both to provide an edge to prevent weed/turf encroachment, as well as giving me something to secure a hardware cloth cover to, keeping rodents at bay. I'd like to remove and plant the seedlings before they get too tall, but maybe I should consider a hoop cover of some type so that I could let them get a little bigger for fall transplanting. Whatever I use for a growing medium needs to be composted enough to allow easy root removal, I'm hoping to drop acorns/seeds into the bed in the fall, transplant young seedlings 10 months or so later. Thoughts? I'm sure someone here has done something like this before.
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Thoughts on building a tree nursery
- Thread starter KDdid
- Start date
Fish
Well-Known Member
Ive not done it that way. Ive basically just planted acorns in the garden bed in April, and dug them for planting out the following February/March. With mulch, water, and fertilizer, they can flat grow some roots. But its fun pushing them to see what i can accomplish.
I would be afraid that hardware cloth in the bottom of the trench would have roots growing through it eventually. Honestly, i dont think you need go through all that trouble. Weeds are our biggest problem to large, robust seedlings.
I would be afraid that hardware cloth in the bottom of the trench would have roots growing through it eventually. Honestly, i dont think you need go through all that trouble. Weeds are our biggest problem to large, robust seedlings.
In my mind the hardware cloth was going to be a line of defense against my ever increasing fox squirrel population- I planted some acorns last fall only to see everyone of them dug up within a week. I could just put a strip of it down the sides of the trench to keep it out of the root zone.
Fish
Well-Known Member
Oh ok. For some reason i thought it was going in the bottom of the trench
.Probably would have, if you hadn't got me thinking...Oh ok. For some reason i thought it was going in the bottom of the trench
Bottomland
Active Member
My backyards has basically turned into a nursery the past few years as I've gotten obsessed with wildlife trees. I collect seed, buy seed, trade for seed, and sprout trees in trays. I let them grow for a year then I either plant them on my farm, or I move them to a larger container to continue growing. Right now I've got fruit, nut, or oak trees of numerous species and several age classes growing at my house. I also have grafted trees growing on rootstock. I use my farm as my "parent nursery" where I collect from and my house serves as the growing nursery. Luckily I have a large backyard. I love to watch things grow.
you guys are giving me ideas for more projects I don't have time for!!!!!Just Sunday I found a few clumps of hazelnut growing in the right-of-way about a mile from my house. Definitely going to be watching these for nuts late summer. Perfect choice for my nursery bed!
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Weasel
Well-Known Member
I have done my fair share of growing trees from seed/cuttings. You have to really be in it for the enjoyment. I figured out quickly that I was time and money ahead by just investing in older/larger stock from a reputable nursery. That's not to say I still don't mess around with growing my own, just throwing that out there for any newbies that are looking for faster results on their land.
mattpatt
Well-Known Member
I thought about doing this at one time back when I was growing 300-400 chestnuts he first couple of years. I quickly learned the amount of time and effort required much more exceeded what I had left in a day after having worked eight hours at my full time job. Now if I were retired and that's all I had to do then it might be a different story. Now I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's just easier to buy bare root stock from someone else.
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Charlieyca
Active Member
It is definitely quicker and more reliable. But the satisfaction that comes from picking up an acorn, taking care of it, transplanting it, and watching it grow is definitely worth it. With that said, I ordered 200 bare roots and have 100 seedlings growing.
I'm sure that I'm going to lose out in the efficiency department, but that's the story of my life! I spend about 3-4 hours a day in the garden anyway (working 2nd shift), what's another bed going to hurt?
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I'm familiar with the watering needs of grow bags- I used them for several years growing a variety of vegetables in them. The best results I've had with growing bags has been to set them into a couple of inches of water with a float valve connected to a water source. Next time you feel like spending a hour in an online rabbit hole, Google "Self Watering Rain Gutter Gardening ".
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Yup. Glad my income doesn't depend on it! When dad gave up farming and sold off the small cattle herd he had for 20-some years, I saw him go through a grieving process that lasted for a decade or more. Funny thing was, he wasn't really gifted for farming, and would rationalize failure after failure, finally giving up to keep from losing everything he worked for his whole life. I wish I could have gotten him to take up hunting, where the failures aren't quite as costly. Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum
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