Spring Greetings from Illinois

flowerbug

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Hi, all! I've been doing a combination of native plant, edible landscape, permaculture on my little plot of clay for a long time with mixed results. I'm trying not to get discouraged, so I thought I'd join for some inspiration.

welcome to SS! :)

fences, it is a waste of time and $ to do other things.

now if you want to try growing some living fences i have been able to do that so far as an experiment but i have not done it for real.

it takes 2-3yrs to get apple tree seeds to grow 5+ft tall. they have rather thorny habits when grown from seeds and you won't know the quality of the fruit until they do have some but most likely it will be edible for cider making purposes and here or there you may find a real winner. that was what i was hoping to do with them.

apple seeds are easy to get, just go buy different bags of different apples. plant them in the fall about an inch down and about six inches apart. keep it moist through the winter if your area doesn't get enough snow/rain.

spring magic happens, keep the bunnies and deer from eating them (temporary fence). within a few years you should be able to notice which ones are resistant to fungi and bugs, remove the ones that seem too weak, don't grow straight enough or you just don't like 'em. put some new apple seeds in if the gap between plants is too big.

once they get tall enough that deer can't jump over them you can then trim and shape them as you'd like.

they sure do grow well here in our clay. i cut them off at ground level repeatedly and they still would not die. some eventually gave up, but more than half of them kept right on going. i only managed to get rid of them at last by digging them up. a lot of work. and no i won't be trying this experiment again in that garden any time soon...
 

flowerbug

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I didn't know about the "thorny habit" Of course, they ARE related to roses, and hawthorns... both of which are "enthusiastically" thorny.

not active thorns apart from their growth, but their initial stems are sharp. i'd stepped on a few when trimming.
 

YourRabbitGirl

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Welcome fellow bread basket member. Where abouts are you located in Illinois? I'm in Southern Illinois
Hello and welcome to the forums! Nice to meet you. Im here in the Philippines. I hope to hear from you more. Have a great day!
 

YourRabbitGirl

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welcome to SS! :)

fences, it is a waste of time and $ to do other things.

now if you want to try growing some living fences i have been able to do that so far as an experiment but i have not done it for real.

it takes 2-3yrs to get apple tree seeds to grow 5+ft tall. they have rather thorny habits when grown from seeds and you won't know the quality of the fruit until they do have some but most likely it will be edible for cider making purposes and here or there you may find a real winner. that was what i was hoping to do with them.

apple seeds are easy to get, just go buy different bags of different apples. plant them in the fall about an inch down and about six inches apart. keep it moist through the winter if your area doesn't get enough snow/rain.

spring magic happens, keep the bunnies and deer from eating them (temporary fence). within a few years you should be able to notice which ones are resistant to fungi and bugs, remove the ones that seem too weak, don't grow straight enough or you just don't like 'em. put some new apple seeds in if the gap between plants is too big.

once they get tall enough that deer can't jump over them you can then trim and shape them as you'd like.

they sure do grow well here in our clay. i cut them off at ground level repeatedly and they still would not die. some eventually gave up, but more than half of them kept right on going. i only managed to get rid of them at last by digging them up. a lot of work. and no i won't be trying this experiment again in that garden any time soon...
Hello and welcome to the forums. I always love to have an apple tree. Just one would be enough. I hope I can really have a plant to be transferred here.
 

flowerbug

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Hello and welcome to the forums. I always love to have an apple tree. Just one would be enough. I hope I can really have a plant to be transferred here.

here is some information for you, it may be a challenge to find varieties that can be shipped to you from overseas as there are various import restrictions for each country as to what they may allow to be brought in:

 

YourRabbitGirl

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here is some information for you, it may be a challenge to find varieties that can be shipped to you from overseas as there are various import restrictions for each country as to what they may allow to be brought in:

Yeah! the restrictions. I hope they are not that tight on that. I should have had a more beautiful garden if they are not too strict. :D:D:D
 
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