Sticks

 

This looks like a bunch of sticks stuck in pots of soil.

And that's exactly what it is.

But they aren't just any old sticks. They are cuttings from two hazelnut (filbert) trees that I hope will develop roots and eventually become nut-producing trees.

The two original trees were planted below the dam at the bottom of our hill. However, they were planted too far apart to pollinate each other properly, so no nuts. I found two nuts on one of the trees one year, but otherwise, none. 

That could be because hazelnuts fall to the ground when they're ripe. The trees are surrounded by tall grass, so even if they produced nuts, unless I happened to see them on the trees (not real likely because I don't visit them often) there isn't any way I would have known nuts were produced. Plus, squirrels and other critters would have scavenged them before I could get to them. 

So I'm going to try rooting these cuttings and growing the trees/large shrubs in the cultivated areas around our house. I took some cuttings last year, but in late March, I think. No luck with those, so I'm trying again. I covered the cuttings with a plastic bag to maintain humidity and left them in our attached garage to acclimate more slowly to a warmer environment. In a few days I'll move them indoors.

After reading a couple of things on rooting cuttings from woody plants, I might shove these a little deeper into the soil, and make up some homemade rooting solution to pour onto the soil in a few days. Rather than buying a rooting hormone I can place one-inch pieces of fresh willow growth in a jar and pour boiling water over them and let them soak in a sunny spot for 24 hours. Pour that into the soil. 

You also can use honey as a rooting solution: 1 tablespoon honey in 2 cups of boiling water. Stir well and let cool. Pour into the soil around your cuttings within two weeks.

Or, apple cider vinegar and cinnamon. Before sticking the cuttings into soil, dip the ends into a solution of 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) of cider vinegar in one gallon of water, then dip into ground cinnamon and poke into the soil.

I cannot vouch for these methods, but I do know that fresh cuttings from the ends of willow branches contain root-stimulating properties. I will probably try the honey solution, because the willows are still dormant and I've already put my sticks -- excuse me -- cuttings in soil.

I am hopeful. A year ago this past fall I took cuttings from the fig trees my husband was preparing to dig out. I think I took a dozen cuttings and one took hold, even though it was the wrong time of year to do it. That same year, but in the early spring, I took a cutting or two of the elderberries when I pruned them and just stuck them in the ground. They took root and grew leaves. 

So I'm hopeful. I guess that's what my gardening adventures are all about... Hope.

Before I go, here is a link to a Web site with instructions on how to propagate trees from hardwood cuttings. It doesn't mention hazels, but still, I'm hopeful.