Growing Conifers From Seed

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By Richard Schmidt

Whether you plant a single tree or a mighty forest, you'll find pleasure and satisfaction in..

WE'VE ALL HEARD THE OLD SAW "MIGHTY oaks from tiny acorns grow." Well, those sighing, whispering conifer forests that still cover much of North America sprang from humble beginnings, too-the beautiful and useful trees, however, have a hard time getting started on their own.

That doesn't mean that evergreens are necessarily difficult to grow. With a little patience and a dollop of knowledge, there's no reason why you can't have the pleasure and satisfaction of raising your own trees from seed.

The trick to growing conifers (a group including pine, spruce, fir, and other narrow-leaved evergreens) lies in understanding how best to work in harmony with nature to first sprout the seeds and then to protect the delicate young plants from disease. As you likely know, conifer seeds (some of which are as large as a quarter inch in diameter, while others are minute) are tucked between the scales of cones. The best time to gather them is in the fall, when the fibrous "petals" at the base of the woody husks have begun to open, indicating ripeness. Simply pick or clip off some cones and place them in a dish. As they dry, the seeds should loosen and drop out, though occasionally a stubborn piece of "fruit" will have to be dismantled in order to get at the nuggets within.

At this point, your chances of success will be much improved if you take the time to understand how Mother Nature goes about reproducing conifers. The seeds of evergreens don't sprout as readily as, say, garden-variety marigolds. Nature, you see, must protect her future forests from such catastrophes as fire, drought, and disease-and does so by means of stratagems that prevent an entire crop of seeds from coming up (and thus being vulnerable) all at one time. Some of the cone-borne kernels begin to grow immediately, white others may lie dormant for a very long time.