blackthorn hedge ?

bnear

If I plant the berries from hawthorn and blackthorn hedges will they grow ?? Call me cheap but there's a recession on !!! Any advice appreciated as I live in a windy area where some smart farmer has cut most of the hedges so I want to do my bit to restore some but cheaply...:D

Foghladh

They may do but whether or not it'll be in time for this recession I don't know! My return in growing trees from seed is sporadic at best. Most of them will require pre-treatment to get them to germinate anytime soon. I know that with hawthorns, the flesh of the berry contains a germination inhibitor enzyme so it can help to pulp them and wash the seeds. After that it depends on how you want to grow them. If it's outside it could take a year or even two for them to germinate depending on the winters. Failing that you can plant them in pots and stratify them by putting them in the fridge and artificially convince them winter has been and gone a few times. I'll see if I can find the site I referred to the last time I tried this.

Bear in mid that I've found it very hit and miss but I'm sure others have had more success. Three years ago I planted ****loads of acorns and conkers and did everything right, scarifying the seed and then stratifying in the fridge. The kids saw me planting and decided to take the pips from the apples they were eating at the time and planted them in pots which they put down the end of the garden. After 2 savage winters in which the pots were blocks of ice I now have 15 fecking apple saplings and not a sign of an oak or chesnut

Foghladh

http://www.communitytreetrust.co.uk/docs/Blackthorn.pdf

Hope this helps you and good luck!

who the fug

bnear wrote: »

If I plant the berries from hawthorn and blackthorn hedges will they grow ?? Call me cheap but there's a recession on !!! Any advice appreciated as I live in a windy area where some smart farmer has cut most of the hedges so I want to do my bit to restore some but cheaply...:D

Can you not just cut and splice into the ground so they will take root , that is how we use to plant box hedges and blacktorn is a bigger weed than that

bnear

This seems to be the least complicated way, call me stupid but what do you mean by "splice"

Colonialboy

Foghladh wrote: »

Bear in mid that I've found it very hit and miss but I'm sure others have had more success. Three years ago I planted ****loads of acorns and conkers and did everything right, scarifying the seed and then stratifying in the fridge. The kids saw me planting and decided to take the pips from the apples they were eating at the time and planted them in pots which they put down the end of the garden. After 2 savage winters in which the pots were blocks of ice I now have 15 fecking apple saplings and not a sign of an oak or chesnut

I managed to get some chestnut saplings to take. I waited until the fallen chestnuts around some trees had started to crack and produce their own root, picked them up with the kids and put them in single pots (I heard once they wont take if they have to share a pot) and they came on grand .


Im also trying some seeds picked from wild hawthorn and balckthorn, just going to wash them, put into some builders sand over winter (sand should be cooked medium heat in the over to kill bacteria) then plant in pots under cover .

Foghladh

bnear wrote: »

This seems to be the least complicated way, call me stupid but what do you mean by "splice"

I'd take some cuttings about 2 foot long and about the thickness of your finger and remove the leaves from the bottom half or so. Make a diagonal cut at the bottom and strip a little bit of the bark off. Dip it in some rooting hormone and stick it in the ground up to the half way point. Depending on how compact the soil is you may want to loosen up the ground with a spade.

bbam

One point about blackthorn..
Once it's established it will start to spread out into the lawn/garden and can become a real nuisance...

bnear

Thanks for that Fogladh, I;ll try it and see how it goes... Thanks for the warning about it spreading Bbam but it won't be near my garden so it'll be ok.:)