Trees?

[Esmae]

Berries laid out where you want them to grow could work. It's interesting: the flesh of a fruit protects the seed, and the seed helps to protect the flesh. So if we store pumpkin in the fridge for instance, it is better to leave the seeds inside.

But back to your hedge. I think I would try both things. Remove the flesh from some of the berries, and leave the flesh on others. Scrape berries against a sieve to do this, if you have one big enough. We had large sieves for this where I worked. (A kitchen sieve would be a bit annoying I would think.) Then plant some of the seed and some on the berries where you want them to grow. And cover. And press down. Not sure about the compost. Perhaps a little soil and a little compost on top of that.
And then cross fingers

I have learned that hawthorn whips prefer poor soil to anything enriched (been there done that) I also find random hawthorn popping up that can only have come from berries on nearby trees/hedges, so that must be the way they transplant themselves. They don't appear to use runners like blackthorn does (b**tard stuff) Will have a go with this over the winter I think.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Haven't been able to get back on here for a while to properly answer this thread. I am meant to be cutting down (in fact, not even reading here, oops, for... reasons. Anyhow...)

Acorns are easy to germinate with one proviso: they have never been allowed to dry out. IOW, you can't store them for long periods, dry. They will not look dried out, shrivelled, but they will be. If you hold them in your hand you will feel how light they now are. They will be non-viable.

I hadn't thought about that; thanks for the tip.

I gathered these acorns within a few weeks of them falling from the trees and our then in leaf litter gathered at the same time, so mostly oak leaves mixed with hornbeam and chestnut leaves.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Remove the flesh from some of the berries, and leave the flesh on others. Scrape berries against a sieve to do this, if you have one big enough. We had large sieves for this where I worked. (A kitchen sieve would be a bit annoying I would think.) Then plant some of the seed and some on the berries where you want them to grow.

The berry around a seed is to encourage an animal (usually a bird) to eat it. The flesh of the berry gets digested and the seed passes through and eventually gets pooped out at some distance from the tree or bush that produced it.

Some berry seeds germinate more reliably if you soak them in a weak solution of vinegar that simulates the passage through the digestive system

 

[HollyWoozle]

Another vote for willow trees - ours are pretty mature and actually on other side of a fence to the horses, but they provide great shade and shelter and the horses love to crop them at head height.

 

[Lois Lame]

Yes, I think willows too. Love them. Also, apparently they don't burn awfully well, which is rather good when you think about bushfire which is becoming more and more a problem. Plus, they taste good.

 

[Lois Lame]

I have learned that hawthorn whips prefer poor soil to anything enriched (been there done that) I also find random hawthorn popping up that can only have come from berries on nearby trees/hedges, so that must be the way they transplant themselves. They don't appear to use runners like blackthorn does (b**tard stuff) Will have a go with this over the winter I think.

Did they prefer the poor soil or did they not quite like what was done? Some people will put compost in the bottom of the hole, instead of on the top. Or they will put the good, richest, part of the soil into the bottom of the hole and the other soil on the top part of the hole. It's best to put back in the order that it came out, so that one doesn't upset the apple cart. Different layers of soil belong in their respective 'compartments' so as to not interfere with drainage.

Another thing about compost (I do have a thing for compost and compost making) is that it can dry out easily, so not very good when you want that area to be moist, for instance, if you are wanting seed to germinate.

Anyhow, must dash.

 

[cauda equina]

Willow trees are dead easy to grow too - a branch stuck in the ground can take root and turn into a tree

 

[Esmae]

Did they prefer the poor soil or did they not quite like what was done? Some people will put compost in the bottom of the hole, instead of on the top. Or they will put the good, richest, part of the soil into the bottom of the hole and the other soil on the top part of the hole. It's best to put back in the order that it came out, so that one doesn't upset the apple cart. Different layers of soil belong in their respective 'compartments' so as to not interfere with drainage.

Another thing about compost (I do have a thing for compost and compost making) is that it can dry out easily, so not very good when you want that area to be moist, for instance, if you are wanting seed to germinate.

Anyhow, must dash.

We have the most rubbish land in all creation to start with, due to corporate vandalism before I purchased it 20 odd years ago. It will never ever be wonderful land, it just isn't possible for it. We have made enormous improvements with it as far as we can, but there is no getting away from the fact that it grows things fairly badly. When we planted a big main hedge we had to use a big kango type drill and bit in order to get into the ground with the first 4500 whips. All of those, in that awful ground have come through okay. Some really well and some are still playing catch up. We then had one corner to deal with which was full of rubbish of varying kinds, so having cleared it all and uprooted some rather scabby elder, we decided, since it was so poor to dig in compost (a mix of bought stuff and some we had made previously in the garden. ) We watered it well before we put the whips in and did the necessary and waited. We over planted so there were plenty to form a hedge and would allow for losses. This corner has been replanted in various places 3 times and has only now started to come on and it really didn't look good for a while. Whereas the 4500 on the rubbish ground were much faster in growth. Go figure. It will be okay in the fullness of time but it seemed to us that if you help hawthorn it really doesn't like it much.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I did mean blackthorn sorry folks .

Agree it takes over and just ends up everywhere and it's horrible to cut and handle.