Does any one know if this specie will grow in the upper peninsula of MI? If so, what are its soil requirments, growth rates, etc.?
osage orange (aka hedge)
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Why the rec to plant only males?(didnt know there where male and female trees)
My spelling is really bad since I spend more time with a chainsaw and less behind books. My understanding is they are diecious (sp?) being male and female. My experience has been that the females are messy. They have these fruits that resemble a brain. The males seem to have more thorns.
There is a huge one in the town where O. Wilt lives. Quite a specimen towering over a cafe.
When I was in college we would cut them for wood and quarter split them for bow staves. You can easily make a good self bow out of them.
try seaching bois d'arc or Maclura pomifera online. They are in the mulberry family. A very historically interesting tree. The original barbed wire. Superior bow wood. Indians were found to have osage bows from mexico to northern Canada - showing evidence of trade routes.
In my bowmaking days I was obsessed with Maclura pomifera but I have no experience with growing them. The half dead one on my back porch is evidence of that.
There is a huge one in the town where O. Wilt lives. Quite a specimen towering over a cafe.
When I was in college we would cut them for wood and quarter split them for bow staves. You can easily make a good self bow out of them.
try seaching bois d'arc or Maclura pomifera online. They are in the mulberry family. A very historically interesting tree. The original barbed wire. Superior bow wood. Indians were found to have osage bows from mexico to northern Canada - showing evidence of trade routes.
In my bowmaking days I was obsessed with Maclura pomifera but I have no experience with growing them. The half dead one on my back porch is evidence of that.
There are both males and females....they seem to bear fruit at a young age so they're easy to tell apart. The fruit is VERY messy, and dangerous to livestock at times (they eat it and some get it wedged in their digestive system...they can breathe ok, but nothing can get past the osage fruit)
They can be a very scrubby tree...they're covered with thorns, the wood is very strong...breaking even a small branch is difficult, and these thorns are the same...your flesh will rip very deeply before the thorn would even think of breaking.
The wood is very good for inserts or stoves, but inappropriate for fireplaces (IMHO) because of the amount of sparks this wood will throw off. Some of the hottest burning wood, up there with locust...actually, a bit hotter I think.
If you grow females, be prepared for many 'volunteers'....the 'critters' eat them as scatter the seeds everywhere. Not good for truck tires, as even the small seedling trees have thorns.
We have many hundreds of hedge trees on our farm...I'm trying to cull the females as I go...some are very old, with a diameter of over 24".
This website is interesting, check out the link 'osage orange profiles', from what I read quickly it describes the tree very well.
www.osageorange.com
They can be a very scrubby tree...they're covered with thorns, the wood is very strong...breaking even a small branch is difficult, and these thorns are the same...your flesh will rip very deeply before the thorn would even think of breaking.
The wood is very good for inserts or stoves, but inappropriate for fireplaces (IMHO) because of the amount of sparks this wood will throw off. Some of the hottest burning wood, up there with locust...actually, a bit hotter I think.
If you grow females, be prepared for many 'volunteers'....the 'critters' eat them as scatter the seeds everywhere. Not good for truck tires, as even the small seedling trees have thorns.
We have many hundreds of hedge trees on our farm...I'm trying to cull the females as I go...some are very old, with a diameter of over 24".
This website is interesting, check out the link 'osage orange profiles', from what I read quickly it describes the tree very well.
www.osageorange.com
I want the females then(wildlife love the fruit I am told). Will they survive MI winters is my main concern.
Stumper
One Man Band
I have no experience in the UP but there are some thriving in Northern Indiana-I've seen them.
Treetx, thanks for the links. Looks like I am in zone 5 so they should do fine.
I want the females then(wildlife love the fruit I am told).
Are you sure??? They can get pretty messy. Remember, what the 'wildlife' doesn't carry off turns to squishy, black mush....kinda scary out in the woods today...they were dropping like bombs.
<img src="http://www.maysacres.com/images/nature/hedge_apples.jpg">
Are you sure??? They can get pretty messy. Remember, what the 'wildlife' doesn't carry off turns to squishy, black mush....kinda scary out in the woods today...they were dropping like bombs.
<img src="http://www.maysacres.com/images/nature/hedge_apples.jpg">
Che, Thats what i would love to see. They wont be near my house.
TheMDTreeman
ArboristSite Lurker
why would anyone want this tree, it is not attractive, messy, and those nasty thorns, OUCH!.. I have taken down a few and they are no fun, plus we had to replace a bucket truck tire thanks to a 6 inch thorn protruding from the sidewall.
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
I'm told they make great living fences, hence the coloquial names; hedge apple, post apple and horse appple
I'm sure that's why we have so many on our farm. We have 190 +/- acres on the one farm...it's pretty much in a square. I'd say at least half of the west perimeter is all planted osage orange. They planted the trees fairly close, so they grew into each other in places. The limbs curl down so I'm sure when they were younger, it would have been hard to get close to the trunks....quite effective as a boundary, I would think. On rest of the farm they're all through the woods but obviously not planted as hedges. (Many paw-paws, also.)
They're fun to cut in the winter.....the chips are bright orange, almost brilliant on the white snow.
(I'm originally from Minnesota, so these trees are fascinating to me....love 'em and hate 'em at the same time.)
Che
They're fun to cut in the winter.....the chips are bright orange, almost brilliant on the white snow.
(I'm originally from Minnesota, so these trees are fascinating to me....love 'em and hate 'em at the same time.)
Che
osage
Why would anyone want them? To get rid of bugs in the basement of your house, cut the fruit in half sit it in your basement on a plate or aluminium pan to kill bugs. Least that is what people around here used the fruit for. They get black and smelly and bugs like that. The juice is more than an upset stomach for the bugs.
Why would anyone want them? To get rid of bugs in the basement of your house, cut the fruit in half sit it in your basement on a plate or aluminium pan to kill bugs. Least that is what people around here used the fruit for. They get black and smelly and bugs like that. The juice is more than an upset stomach for the bugs.
Jay Banks
ArboristSite Operative
MDman,
I want the tree for what it can do-survive! If the trials show a thornless, fruitless, variety I have some tough sites that I'd like to have trees in.
This tree may be the ticket. Don't pooh-pooh something without trying.
I want the tree for what it can do-survive! If the trials show a thornless, fruitless, variety I have some tough sites that I'd like to have trees in.
This tree may be the ticket. Don't pooh-pooh something without trying.
TheMDTreeman
ArboristSite Lurker
Go For It
subject says it all.
subject says it all.
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