Recent content by brushpile

Someone told me that lots of my old friends were over here. Good to see you again Bill!

Looking good Bill. Those hybrid willows and hybrid poplar will really take off with the rain Missouri had this year. Thin to a 5-6 foot spacing this Fall/Winter, and then 8-10 feet for the next thinning. I'm glad to see you having success!

Hybrid Poplar attracts bucks like a magnet. HP is so attractive to bucks that it can be planted to form a scrape line, and no amount of rubbing will kill the trees. Nice project John, I enjoyed seeing the process on film that I've observed for several years since planting HP cuttings for deer...

Yup, the WI DNR used to cut down Poplars to feed the deer about this time of year, when it was a hard Winter.

Watch Obeyme pour good money after bad in Ferguson. The rioters will be rewarded for their effort. Obeyme even stated that he hoped they achieved their goal.

Obama wants police reform... how about criminal reform? How about compliance with police orders? How about demonstrators getting a job and becoming useful citizens? My heart goes out to Darren Wilson who has had his life ruined. Police officers should be honored for the job they do, and it's...

I have never seen HW sucker, while HP will sucker. Yes they're just sticks in Winter, but they're have utility. They're the instant first stage of re-forestation or screening, while bare root seedlings inch along. I see them as temporary trees that I can hinge cut or remove when mast bearing...

To keep plastic down, lay it before it snows, and by Spring it will be stuck to the mud.... depending on the soil. In sandy soil or areas with high wind I use rocks, small logs, T-posts, etc., to weight the plastic down. I also pin it down with high tensile electric fence wire, I cut to length...

Moisture moves in the soil. If you water one square foot for a few minutes, the moisture will spread through osmosis and gravity, so rain will get under the plastic. But rain isn't where Black plastic and Lumite collects most of it's moisture. In the subsoil and way down deep, moisture is...

There too many types of willow to mention. A Hybrid Willow is to willow as Hybrid Poplar is to poplar. For starters, HP and HW are clones from a male tree, so they can't reproduce, #2 they grow like Jack's Magic Beans. A HW doesn't weep, it grows upright wide and high. I planted some from...

I planted Red Osier Dogwoods that Stuart sent me from WI. They aren't even in my range down here in the Ozarks, but they grew just fine. The key is planting through a moisture barrier like black plastic or Lumite. I did mean NOT all plants can grow through black plastic.... it must have been...

I usually take my cuttings and plant them the same day, with no muss no fuss. Make sure to plant them right side up. Every year I'll find one or two planted upside down so I just pul them up and turn them around.

Hardwood cuttings are made from the budded branches of last years growth. So the new growth from this growing season is what you'll make cuttings from next year. You'll see the buds, they're very easy to see. Cut lengths, the longer the better, but when planted 2/3rds go into the ground. I...

It's pretty hard to get grow a fruit tree from a cutting, but I've done it. A fruit tree grown from a cutting will be a "Standard tree", which will take about 10 years to produce fruit; the same as planting a seed. A grafted tree is two trees.... the tree from below the graft..........and the...

Where is John from Big Rock Trees, who I believe started this forum? John is from your neck of the woods and sells cuttings. I few years ago Stuart Smith sent me some Hybrid Poplar and Wisconsin Weeping Willow cuttings, which I didn't think much about because they don't produce anything, but I...