How to Start an Osage Orange Living Fence 1. Collect “oranges” in fall and store them in buckets exposed to freeze-thaw cycles — and even rain and snow — all winter. 2. During the same fall, plow a furrow where you want the hedge. Leave it open and let the soil mellow over winter. 3. The following spring, at about corn planting time, add a bit of water to the buckets and mash the fermented oranges into a thick slurry. 4. Dribble the slurry along the furrow. 5. Partially backfill the furrow with some soil to cover the seeds. 6. If it seems prudent (i.e., the tree seedlings are consistently crowded), thin the seedlings to about 18 inches. 7. In fall, lay the seedlings over in the trench, weaving them together. Backfill the trench, but don’t cover the entire stem of any tree. 8. The second year, the trees will sprout a mess of lateral branches that will grow straight up. 9. In the second fall, weave the new vertical stems together so you get a horizontal stem barrier about 2 feet from the ground. 10. In the third year, prune the hedge’s shoots to the final height you desire (4 to 5 feet works well for most purposes). Pruning the rapidly growing verticals several times over the summer will stimulate the lower buds and branches to produce more (and more vigorous) growth. Read more: motherearthnews/homesteading-and-livestock/living-fences-z10m0sto.aspx?PageId=4#ixzz2Xz590RUM
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:17:34 +0000
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