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Where to purchase Osage Orange and Honey Locust Saplings?

Posts: 10

Location: Michigan

posted 11 years ago

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I live in Michigan in the US (right near Canada zone 5b) and I'm interested in using both Osage Orange and Spiney Honey Locust in a living hedge. I'm running into difficulty with my planning however, as I cannot find a nursery that sells either locally and a onlien search only turns up the non-spiney honey Locusts for yard candy. Any suggestions for a reputable national nurseries that someone could offer?

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Michael Cox

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Posts: 3842

Location: Kent, UK - Zone 8

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posted 11 years ago

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Osage Orange is supposed to grow really well from seed. One fruit contains hundreds of seeds so if you crush the fruit into a slurry you can pour the slurry in a trench along the line of your new hedge. Enough will supposedly sprout that your hedge will be established in one go.

It would be massively cheaper to get 1000 or so seed than 1000 or so rooted plants to transplant (both plant costs and labour costs getting them established). I've seen them for sale on ebay for example.

Regarding the locust - if you have suitable groves near you you could go and transplant a few suckers. They frequently send up new stems from their roots many 10s of meters from the original trunk. They are especially prone to this where the ground has been disturbed and the roots cut and damaged. To take this approach to the next level, you could try digging up a few meters of root cutting it into foot long sections and planting it in the ground. These root cuttings may well shoot for you. (I've not tested this - but it wouldn't cost you more than an hour of your time).

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John Elliott

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Posts: 2392

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posted 11 years ago

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Purchase?!? This is the time of year to be taking cuttings. Whenever you go out, take your pruning shears with you and be ready to snip. When you see a good candidate, give it a trim. Here a propagation protocol on how to do it.

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 11 years ago

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If you want to buy them look at lawyer nursery. You have to buy in bulk.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Lina Ackerman

Posts: 10

Location: Michigan

posted 11 years ago

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John Elliott wrote:Purchase?!? This is the time of year to be taking cuttings. Whenever you go out, take your pruning shears with you and be ready to snip. When you see a good candidate, give it a trim. Here a propagation protocol on how to do it.

He he he, well all the Honey Lucust I come across up here is thornless! I don't have any I could trim up for anyone.

Adam Moore

Posts: 125

Location: Mansfield, Ohio Zone 5b percip 44"

posted 11 years ago

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I have grown Osage Orange from seed. The secret is to let the grapefruit sized fruit that looks like a brain sit out in a tray all winter. By spring it will look like a shrunken black gooey brain. You will need to soak it in water to help seperate the seeds. The seeds grow really well. The Osage is very thorny when young. If you let it grow into a full size tree then not so thorny anymore. I have several huge ones in the area that never seem to have fruit. I have had luck at old cemeteries that have some with fruit. Look for where there might have been an old hedge row a hundred years ago. I have two young saplings growing right now. I wanted to grow them because I wanted to see how thorny they are when young. They exceeded expectations. Oikios Tree crops have honey locusts with thorns. And they are in Michigan! http://www.oikostreecrops.com/product.asp?strParents=0&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=746&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1

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R Scott

pollinator

Posts: 4020

Location: Kansas Zone 6a

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posted 11 years ago

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I believe osage have male and female trees, so you will get some w/o fruit.

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Rick O'Grady

Posts: 3

Location: ohio

posted 11 years ago

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It just so happens that today I was picking up hedge apples (osage) and honey locust pods (thorny) so i could spread these to other locations on my new pre-permaprop. id be willing to do some swappin for some nuts to propagate or pretty much consider anything. Just tell me how many.

R Scott

pollinator

Posts: 4020

Location: Kansas Zone 6a

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posted 11 years ago

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We should start a pod exchange. Swap flat-rate boxes of various varieties.

I am saving hedge apples this year, but am reluctant to share until I am confident they will propagate. I still need to go and collect honey locust and Kentucky coffee pods.

Rick O'Grady

Posts: 3

Location: ohio

posted 11 years ago

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I agree, we should. If you want some honey locust let me know. I'll have to go out to the site before they get buried in snow or the deer eat them. I just got some organic apples from Azure Standard and I'll try to plant those. I figure it can't hurt to try.

Adam Baker

Posts: 18

posted 11 years ago

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Ive got tons of osage orange... 60 or so gallons collected at the moment.

If somebody wants some shoot me a PM.
you want to trade something ill pay shipping. Just want some? shipping is on you.

allen lumley

pollinator

Posts: 4154

Location: Northern New York Zone4-5 the OUTER 'RONDACs percip 36''

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posted 11 years ago

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John Elliot : Thanks for the link to the Propagation protocol, while originally native in New York Osage orange was merely considered a superior boxwood as near as I can Tell !
Almost impossible to find, and all I can find appear to have been planted ! Big AL!

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Allen Herod

Posts: 18

posted 11 years ago

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I bet it would be VERY easy to propogate Osage cuttings. My land is covered with them, big and small. If you cut it down it grows back like a weed unless the stump is dug up or burned... Different topic I know but has anyone ever used the Osage wood in any kind of timber framing? If so, I would love to see pics. I have some that are HUGE and have surprisingly straight sections. Many of the big ones don't seem to be producing fruit anymore but younger trees near them are.

One more thing, my old redneck neighbor calls it a "M. F.'er Tree" (ok a little more french than that).... Cause "It don't matter how ya grab it, that mother F 'er is gonna stick ya!" haha

Daniel McGinnis

Posts: 18

Location: Kansas City Kansas

posted 11 years ago

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I can box up and send honey locust seed pods to whoever needs them as well I know I'm looking to put in a osage orange hedge myself this spring

Mike Cantrell

Posts: 567

Location: Mid-Michigan

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posted 11 years ago

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Allen Herod wrote:I bet it would be VERY easy to propogate Osage cuttings. My land is covered with them, big and small. .... I have some that are HUGE and have surprisingly straight sections.

I don't know about timber framing, but bowyers will pay through the nose for straight-grained osage. (For example, at Trad Gang (tradgang.com) and Paleo Planet (http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/forums/).)

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C. Letellier

pollinator

Posts: 968

Location: Greybull WY north central WY zone 4 bordering on 3

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posted 11 years ago

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Check with your local soil conservation service. In WY at least there is a yearly order for wind break trees that is cheaper than most nurseries. They are fall ordered and spring delivered. The catch is most require a minimum order of at least 50 trees and prepayment. But they are nearly always cheaper than commercial nurseries on price per tree. I know osage orange was on the list but don't remember if honey locust was or not.

Otherwise my preferred commercial online source for trees is Musser Forests

The have a huge variety of trees and have been really good to deal with through the years. And their prices have mostly been competitive with any other source I have found. I just looked and they list honeylocust(theirs is thorn less which might be a problem) and osage orange. It has been a few years since I ordered from them but their service was good and reliable and the plants packed well when they arrived.

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Peter Smith

Posts: 83

Location: NEPA

posted 11 years ago

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Post by: Jordan Lowery, volunteer
on Nov 20, 2013 15:42:39
If you want to buy them look at lawyer nursery. You have to buy in bulk.

Jordan, have you ordered from them? Will they sell to an individual, or just businesses?

Grant Schultz

Posts: 216

Location: Asheville, NC

posted 11 years ago

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Hi Lina,

My nursery and farm are in Iowa (zone 5b). We have thousands of Osage Orange, Chinese Chestnut, Hawthorne, Black Locust, and other trees for living fences and hedges.

http://www.versaland.com/

Check out our in-stock. We ship bare root in Spring.

here's the inventory spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjiQ8ND-k60TdFNYZWhRT2JxN3VQNTh3LVdJY2xCZGc#gid=0

Grant

J Canine

Posts: 1

posted 2 years ago

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Honey locust is easily grown from seed by boiling water, removing from heat, then putting the seeds in until they swell about 24 hours later. Osage saplings are cheap (from $.50 to $1.25 per) from either the Missouri dept of conservation nursery, or the Kansas forestry service nursery.

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