Why I Oughta...

A few days ago, I posted photos of the latest trees that I planted via acorns (and Chestnuts) in my annual backyard tree nursery project to grow trees from seeds.  I've been at this a few years now and started with Kentucky Coffee Tree seeds in 2021 .  In 2022, I cultivated some Catalpa trees from seed .  And tried to root some Hydrangea cuttings .  By 2023, I had a number of small seedlings of different varieties that all needed to be potted-up .  And, most-recently, last Fall, I opted to go for just ONE species: Regal Prince Oak trees.  And, a couple of Chinese Chestnuts .  With those potted up (at least some of them), I thought it was time to dig-up the inventory and see how things are going with the existing seedlings. As I've done the past few years, I buried the nursery pots in the ground in hopes that they'd handle the cold Zone 6a/5b winter a little better in the ground.   Here's how things are looking now - but most haven't leaf'd out yet, so I'm n

Last Fall, I collected a few dozen acorns off off a small stand of upright, columnar Oak trees that are planted in a parkway near our downtown.  On many of my early morning walks, I'd stop by, see if the acorns were 'loose' and then grab a few before they fell to the ground.  Our Oaks in our yard last year threw off A HUGE amount of acorns - a mast year.  These columnar oaks were simliar. I identified these as Regal Prince Oak trees and here's a look at some of the acorns as I collected them in September 2023 .   In November, I water-tested them (if they floated, I tossed them), then buried them in wet sand for a long Winter's nap via cold stratification .  I also grabbed three large Chinese Chestnuts and did the same - tested, then tucked-in the fridge for four+ months.   In 2022, I collected a wide variety of acorns, but didn't label them.  This year, I went with JUST ONE species - the Regal Prince Oak. Earlier this month, I took the container out of the fridg

For the past few months, I've been collecting acorns for a set of columnar oak trees and have been planning on trying to get them ready to plant up in the Spring.  Last Fall, I collected a wide variety of nuts, so when Spring came, I wasn't totally sure what was what.  This year, I know I only have one variety. Here's the pile of Regal Prince Oak (columnar) acorns that I started with: I put them in a bucket of water to test which were viable.    You can see all the floaters below: I also had three Chestnuts that I tossed in, too. After 12 hours, I fished all the floaters out - below are the number of non-viable acorns.  I'd say that's probably half (or more). I went back after 24 hours and found a couple more floating.  I fished those out and tossed them for the critters to enjoy: And here, below, is what I was left with:  enough acorns to pack away in wet sand and stick in the fridge for Winter: Next Spring, I'll pot them up and see if we can grow our own colu

I recently posted an update on the grown-from-seed tree seedlings that I've been nurturing for the past few years and included the oak trees that are from acorns that I collected last Fall .  Last year, I collected a variety of tree species - various oaks, chestnuts and even an Illinois Pecan and stashed them in the fridge to cold stratify.    That lead me to what I'd describe as 'mixed' results.  I have had quite a few seeds turn into seedlings, but because it was a mixed-bag, I am (somewhat) guessing on the variety of the tree and where I picked it from (a park?  Our block? Up in Wisconsin?) when I took the acorns.   But, I've enjoyed that seedling-growing process.  So, this year, I'm simplifying things.  I'm only going to keep ONE variety of acorns over winter.  What tree is that, you might be asking?  The answer is:  I'm not sure.   But, I do, indeed, know that it is a columnar oak tree that is planted along Maple Avenue near downtown Downers Grove.

There are big portions of our back lawn that currently look like this photo below - littered in white, tropical-looking blooms that are falling from a pair of mature Northern Catalpa trees that we inherited in our Zone 5B, Northern Illinois backyard: Below is a look at the mid-yard Northern Catalpa tree that is fully-leaf'd out and full of white blooms: Both Nat and I have grown to really like the Catalpa trees - and their large leaves, white blooms and layered limbs.   I've posted about the Catalpas before - here's one from Fall 2021 .  And from 2019 when I posted about it for the first time .  And, I've been growing some seedlings in containers , too.  More on these in a future post.  

I've long been fascinated by the idea of a backyard tree nursery.  On a small scale, of course.  But, something that I could tend-to in terms of planting and growing trees from seed over the course of a number of seasons.  I've made no secret of trying to coax myself into accomplishing some 'seasonal projects' like compost, dividing plants and even planting native trees.  And, I've had a VERY limited look at success when it comes to nursing trees to life from seed:  a tray of Kentucky Coffee Tree seedlings from 2021 .  I also have seemingly grown some Catalpa trees from seed in a wine barrel planter.   Over the past few weeks, I've begun to think about (and watch YouTube videos) about collecting tree seeds with the goal of storing, stratifying and eventually germinating and planting in containers to grow.  During one of my walks around town, I started to look at which trees were throwing off acorns and nuts and started to pick some up off the ground.  My thoug

Last week, I posted some photos of the process of late-season Catalpa tree seed sowing in a few seed cells that we had on hand and talked about how I hoped they'd germinate and we would (maybe) get a few seedlings to harden off before the frost hits in the next six to eight weeks.  I started the Catalpa tree seed project back last last year when I harvested a few Catalpa seed pods and tried to get them going two ways:  first by putting them in the fridge for the Winter to get that cold stratification.  And, by also popping open some brown seed pods and direct sowing some of them in a couple of spots.  I covered that Catalpa tree seed sowing here in a post on Christmas Day .    Back late last year, I planted these seeds in two spots:  along the fence.  And in a large wine barrel planter.  Both, frankly...on a total whim.   The ones along the fence have never amounted to anything. Between laying on a thick layer of mulch and seasonal weeding, these things didn't have a chance.

Ten days ago, I shared a photo of the (now) going-on=two-year-old Kentucky Coffee tree seedlings that I've kept in small 1-quart nursery container since they germinated.  In that post, I talked about how each of the small containers contained multiple small seedlings and it was time to both separate them and upgrade them to larger containers.  With the planting of a few new items in the garden, I found myself having a few 1# nursery pots that I could re-use.   I got started by pulling the seedlings out of their current homes (14 months since germination) and began to split them up by tearing the root masses apart.  Below, you can see one of the seedlings root system after I divided the clump: I started with just ONE set of the trees to ensure that they can handle the division of roots.  I figured there were two routes here:  divide the clumps.  Or, simply transplant the double seedling and cut off/prune down the weaker of the two.   Here, below, is the first of those two divided

Back in September, I showed off a partial flat of some viable Kentucky Coffee Tree Seedlings that I had collected and germinated from seed this Spring.   In that post, I talked about how to overwinter them and explored various methods.  With our climate (Zone 5b), it seemed that the best way was to dig them into the ground to provide insulation over the harsh Winter.  So...that's what I did.  I found a fairly sunny, but protected spot in one of our beds and dug a trench.  I put the flat in the ground, covered the seedlings up with dirt and then put a layer of mulch over the top.   Then I went in for the night.  What happened next?  The damn rabbits ate a bunch of them.  Now, these Kentucky Coffee Trees have - for a long time - a bare trunk and leaflets off of them, so I can't tell if the rabbits ate down the trunks or just the leaflets.   When I figured out what was going on, I grabbed some chicken wire and made a little perimeter fence.  Below, you can see the seedlings (or w

Back in February, I posted about a tree that I came across that had a lot of the features that I desired in a tree: the Diana Weeping Japanese Larch .  It is a narrow tree (columnar), is contorted, has a weeping habit and is a deciduous conifer.  I have yet to see a  Diana Weeping Larch, but I did come across a similar tree from an online nursery named Kigi Nursery called: The Horstmann's Recurved Contorted Larch Tree . I read the description and thought this was a good fit for our yard: LARIX DECIDUA 'HORSTMANN'S RECURVED' CONTORTED LARCH IS AN UPRIGHT DECIDUOUS CONIFER WITH TWISTING, TURNING BRANCHLETS. NEEDLES ARE GREEN IN SUMMER AND GOLDEN IN AUTUMN BEFORE FALLING. PREFERS ORGANIC RICH WELL DRAINED SOIL. Sounds perfect, right?  I went on the site and they were offering only a 0-1 year old tree for $40 .  I don't know what I thought it was going to look like when it arrived, but when I opened the package, I felt surprised.  Here's a look at the tree