If the land is maintained they just end up getting cut, if it’s not maintained then nature will do its thing or taking saplings from a nearby forest works great, they risk dying unless the bigger trees die first so it gives them space to grow instead.
Baby trees rely on the shade of their parents (or rather older established trees. It takes a village…) to regulate growth. If they get too much sun and grow too fast, they grow up weak.
You could try but generally this isn’t the best way to establish trees. Type would be something well adapted to your climate that germinates easily. Can you provide any climate or regional information? In much of North America acorns would probably be the best choice but keep in mind they are perishable so you need to store them in a moist, cool environment until you can distribute them.
I’ve been trying to brainstorm a way to help get trees established from seed actually. Maybe installing some kind of little stick cage to protect them and create a more moist, shady environment might help.
Normally I grow them in my backyard in pots first, then plant them. Much higher rate of success this way but nothing wrong with experimenting with seeds.
I generally have a few volunteer trees of an unknown variety grow in my garden each year that I move elsewhere come gardening time. The local squirrels are very reliable at planting a wide variety of plants in my garden that I don’t actually want there…
So oaks are great in the Midwest. You could try collecting acorns from nearby trees in the fall and tossing them over a fence to see if they grow.
However, if you live in a naturally forested area, it’s often more important to remove invasive species and prevent people from killing young trees than to plant new ones. If you see a lot or park that seems promising, see if you can connect with the manager of the space to see if they would allow you to clear out some weeds and give baby trees space to grow. You’ll need to learn to recognize the desirable and undesirable species to do this.
In more manicured, urban spaces, it’s often necessary to plant larger trees since smaller ones will simply get mowed over. Sometimes there are local orgs that give them away for free, or you can collect seeds and put them in pots to grow them out, though that does take an extra level of knowledge to do correctly.
What trees can I plant seeds for to become trees without permission? Are there wildflower seed bombs but for trees?
If the land is maintained they just end up getting cut, if it’s not maintained then nature will do its thing or taking saplings from a nearby forest works great, they risk dying unless the bigger trees die first so it gives them space to grow instead.
Baby trees rely on the shade of their parents (or rather older established trees. It takes a village…) to regulate growth. If they get too much sun and grow too fast, they grow up weak.
You could try but generally this isn’t the best way to establish trees. Type would be something well adapted to your climate that germinates easily. Can you provide any climate or regional information? In much of North America acorns would probably be the best choice but keep in mind they are perishable so you need to store them in a moist, cool environment until you can distribute them.
I’ve been trying to brainstorm a way to help get trees established from seed actually. Maybe installing some kind of little stick cage to protect them and create a more moist, shady environment might help.
Normally I grow them in my backyard in pots first, then plant them. Much higher rate of success this way but nothing wrong with experimenting with seeds.
7a/6b Midwest USA.
I generally have a few volunteer trees of an unknown variety grow in my garden each year that I move elsewhere come gardening time. The local squirrels are very reliable at planting a wide variety of plants in my garden that I don’t actually want there…
So oaks are great in the Midwest. You could try collecting acorns from nearby trees in the fall and tossing them over a fence to see if they grow.
However, if you live in a naturally forested area, it’s often more important to remove invasive species and prevent people from killing young trees than to plant new ones. If you see a lot or park that seems promising, see if you can connect with the manager of the space to see if they would allow you to clear out some weeds and give baby trees space to grow. You’ll need to learn to recognize the desirable and undesirable species to do this.
In more manicured, urban spaces, it’s often necessary to plant larger trees since smaller ones will simply get mowed over. Sometimes there are local orgs that give them away for free, or you can collect seeds and put them in pots to grow them out, though that does take an extra level of knowledge to do correctly.