Sowing into a bed of thorns

An idea I had…

Dig a shallow trench, mix soil with compost and set aside;
Gently fork soil underneath;
Lay a thick layer of thorny branches of two or three different species in the bottom;
Add a little bit of soil and some more thorns;
spread peach pits/hickory/walnut/acorn or whatever seeds you don’t want to be eaten;
Add a few more inches of soil and thorns;
And finally, cover with soil to cover the thorns and  mulch thickly with leaves.

The idea is that the thorns are so densely packed that rodents cannot easily nose their way in, but the thorns don’t obstruct the tree roots and act sort of like a hugelkultur.

I am hoping to try it. Though I am not sure what kind of thorns to use. Multiflora rose is abundant, but something with smaller, more abundant prickers would be ideal, like some other kinds of rose, or maybe raspberry cane. What species do you think might work near you?

I think the trick will be getting the gaps between the thorns small enough that the nibblers can't get in.... I could try blackthorn (sloe) that has lots of nasty prickles and is very durable but thin branches. Make a thick layer and really compress it down.

interesting! i’d be just a little concerned about nitrogen sequestration from the branches for those little seedlings…i do think they’d have to be packed pretty dense if it’s really going to discourage rodents.

my active compost pile has been regularly getting spread by raccoons (and possibly a young black bear), so i recently added a ‘crown of thorns’ (after pruning dead lower branches off my friendly honey locust tree) and that has helped greatly.

Your idea of using thorny branches as a protective layer for seeds is interesting! For your area, multiflora rose is a great choice, but you could also consider using blackberry or hawthorn. These plants have dense thorns that can discourage rodents, and their roots won't compete much with tree roots. Raspberry canes, as you mentioned, would also work well because they have fine thorns and grow densely.

It's important to ensure that the thorns don’t obstruct root growth, so be mindful of the thickness of the layers. I hope your experiment goes well!

greg mosser wrote:interesting! i’d be just a little concerned about nitrogen sequestration from the branches for those little seedlings…i do think they’d have to be packed pretty dense if it’s really going to discourage rodents.

my active compost pile has been regularly getting spread by raccoons (and possibly a young black bear), so i recently added a ‘crown of thorns’ (after pruning dead lower branches off my friendly honey locust tree) and that has helped greatly.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

I am thinking the nitrogen sequestration could be a good thing depending on the species. Ones like oak would likely love it because they prefer to grow slowly in harsh conditions and don’t like a lot of competition. But peaches might like some nitrogen feeding.

Also it might be worth letting the canes die back before using them, in case they sprout and all we get is a bed of thorn…bushes.

I've heard of a fruit orchard doing something similar with broken glass. More of a long term solution and might be easy to get piles of glass for free. I like your more natural alternative better to be honest. Id feel weird putting loads of broken glass in my soil.
I use little cylindrical cages made from 1/4" hardware cloth around all my trees buried so they are about 1" in the ground and as much above ground for winter protection when they tunnel the snow on the surface. I've got lots of voles and all of my cages trees have been fine for years.

Just curious, what is the plan when it comes time to thin the saplings?

Anne Miller wrote:Just curious, what is the plan when it comes time to thin the saplings?

The thorns will probably be broken down in the soil—at least enough so that by that time and so it will be possible to loosen with a spade to pull up/transplant/thin.