Growing Osage

[darinputman]

In spring of 2015 I planted a lot of seeds, what I wound up with was 73 osage, 76 persimmon, 76 saw tooth oak about a dozen american chestnut which I realize will succumb to the blight but will enjoy watching them, and over 20 pawpaw seedlings. I also recently acquired a few american plum. I didn't start them alone as my daughter Jacey 16 and my sons Briar 14, Ledge 11 and Creek 7 all helped me with this and hopefully will see the benefits of them one day. I have now started setting them out in pasture and my real question is for anyone with experience with raising Osage I started out with 20 ft. spacing and have thought about keeping them pruned to try and get at least a 6-7 ft. section of clean osage for future use. I may also plant a few closer together and watch them grow also.  I'm 46 and unsure if I will ever be able to use but if not I hope one of my kids will one day. If not they can bulldoze them and do as they wish, but maybe someone will get a few staves. The only person I've discussed growing them with so far is my friend and teacher Eric Krewson. So any advice is appreciated especially if it is backed up by experience.

[darinputman]

Picture of them last summer

[Lumberman]

That is just awesome man! I love that you are doing the paw paw seedlings, what variety did you pick or just winging it?

[Chippintuff]

You can order blight resistant American Chestnuts from dealers associated with the National Chestnut Foundation. The only hitch is that you have to put your order in almost a year in advance (haven't checked lately) and pay for them. They have bred blight resistance into them.

If osage is on open ground, it tries to bush up in numerous trunks starting at or near the ground. The problem with pruning it is that it is loaded with wicked thorns. That is why they are also called hedge apples. In years gone by, seed were sold to formers with the claim that if they were planted thick along a fence, there would never be another need to repair the fence, because nothing will attempt to go through it.

I bought a house almost two years ago and was glad to see a nice osage about 10 feet tall in a garden fence row. After clearing everything away from it, it stood alone. I had cleaned the thorns off the lower 4 or 5 feet. One day I went by it and saw that a deer(s) had horned ALL the bark off the lower 3 feet. I cut it down to a stump and drove two steel T posts beside it to discourage the deer. Last fall the deer didn't mess with it. That may be because it was too little to give them any satisfaction or because the several small flimsy trunks that had grown up were literally loaded with wicked thorns. I am about ready to prune all the growth except the biggest shoot and tie it to the steel posts. There are a lot of osage trees in this area.

WA

[darinputman]

Paw Paw (Asimina Triloba) That's about all I can tell you about the pawpaw trees but I know there's not a lot of them that I know of in this area. Although Eric mention one on the river and has planted a couple behind his house. I checked into some of the blight resistant and plan on trying to get some one day. I was thinking of trying to keep it to one or two trunks and figured if I started young maybe I could keep them pruned as they grew as long as I keep it cleaned up around them. Hoping anyway.

[Eric Krewson]

Since I found that first paw paw tree on the TVA walking trail I have found dozens more on one of the hiking trails that go around one of the civil war cannon redouts.

They cut a huge osage tree a few weeks ago on the hiking trail that goes down along the river. I had marked it with "cut here" saw marks and shown a care taker how I wanted them to cut it so I could salvage the trunk.

They didn't mess with the trunk part I wanted but once it was on the ground and after I got a good look at the rings I didn't want the trunk.  The tree had been uprooted by a storm many years ago but was still alive lying on its side.

The top and bottom of the trunk had chaseable rings but the sides were at least 30 rings to the inch. The whole tunk's early wood/late wood ratio was poor as well.

Anyway, there is a big osage tree with a fairly straight 10ft trunk section on the river near the old railroad bridge. If someone would want it now would be the time to get it. I am sure a little calling around would secure permission to salvage it.

Crews are working in the area putting up elaborate hiking trail signs and they have a Bobcat with a front end grapple. I bet if one were to show the workers a bow they they would carry the trunk to the parking lot with the Bobcat as a favor.

[darinputman]

Eric I've never been on the walking trail but sounds like I need to pay a visit sometime. That sounds like a great way to get some Osage, I know I cut split and hauled wood out by hand from behind the house on my first failed attempts at bow making only to throw in burn pile later after you gave me a little instruction.

[joachimM]

Just like with black locust, there are thornless varieties of Osage orange.

[crooketarrow]

  I have but cut them for arrows.

  I've helped my granddad plant couple 100 chestnuts. But to the tee as soon as they get old enough to bear seeds . The die from the blight.

  Every fall I gathered and every spring plant seeds from honeysuckle,persimmons, paw paws wild grapes, flowering dog woods and alternet dog woods.

The flowering dog woods produce 1000's of red seeds each fall.

  I also plant alternet dog woods. There a under growth bush. Also produce red seeds both are a all fall and winter turkey food (all birds).

  Each spring I planted these on the farms I hunt, lease or manage and have for over 20 years.  More food your land produces the more deer and turkeys use it.

  I do it a little different'lly. I don't start any of mind in cups. I just plant them each spring in the earth where I want them. Let nature do  the rest. Alot easer and time saveing.

  How much land do you have. As soon as I acquire some land to hunt. I set up a management plan and stick with it.

   You should add dog wood seeds.

  Cool that you get your kids involed.

 

[darinputman]

I guess all I'm planting are of the thorn bearing variety, but had a man tell me he gave away some Osage one time because of no thorns only to come back later and see it had some on the secondary growth coming from the stump. I have 18 acres, 5 behind house is what I'm planting now. We are covered up with oak, hickory, privet, honeysuckle, muskidimes, dogwoods and many others around here I just thought I'd plant a little Osage and some things we don't have or are fewer than they use to be. When I was a kid we always used persimmon for a backstop shooting rifles, dad didn't worry about those trees. I got my seeds from the last female tree on his property.

[Eric Krewson]

It was me, I have cut two osage trees that were completely without thorns. The first was one of the finest osage I ever cut, I gave most of it away thinking it was mulberry because of the lack of thorns.

Here is thornless tree #2;



No question on what kind of wood it is;

[Badger]

  I have played around with growing osage for several years. I don't have any land to plant it on but wanted to become familiar with how it grew just in case. I would grow it in pots until it reached about 8ft which can happen in about 2 years. Then I would plant it no more than 6 feet apart once I had it started straight. If an osage tree gets off to a crooked start you can always just cut it down and let the suckers come back straight.

[darinputman]

6 feet apart, are you still watching them grow? I started mine at 20 feet, but I'm not done planting osage yet.I got about 50 trees in the ground and had thought about planting a few between in some rows for 10 feet spacing that way I would have some closer and see how they grow both ways.  I plan on keeping  them pruned and see what happens. I will probably put some seeds in my mature hardwoods I have and see how they do there also. Really hope to hear from someone who has pruned a few and watch them grow, but appreciate all the replies so far. I realize that there's a good chance most may not be good bow wood but hoping I can influence part of that. 

[crooketarrow]

   SWEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT logs.

  Now the fun part.

   I'd split and add reflex while green. Not hard to do. Beats heating in reflex later.

[sieddy]

God bless you and all of your plants! We all owe growers a debt (especially tree growers!