Welcome to undercover_owl's Member Page

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Ive learned so much from experienced, informative GardenWeb members, and I hope that others can learn from me. I enjoy growing trees & shrubs from seed, and propagating cuttings.

My #1 hobby is growing trees and shrubs in containers, to be planted later. Some of them I grew from seed, and some of them I gently yanked from unfortunate volunteer locations, or were propagated from cuttings.
When I propagate cuttings, I dip the end in Root-Tone and stick it in a pot with soil, for best survival rate. TONS of shrub species can be grown easily from cuttings. Oh yeah, and I get my shrub-cuttings from parking lots, too!

I love after-holidays-clearance table-top-trees. (You may or may not be aware that those little conifers are hardy to zone 6, sometimes even zone 5, and they grow tall.) Nice little Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana "Elwoodii" & "Columnaris", or Pinus Pinea (Italian Stone Pine).Now that I have approx. 1000 seedlings of various ages, what do I do with them?
Ive already planted 3 in public places...thats a real commitment because I have to go pour water on them in summertime, but, its rewarding to see them accepted into their public/semi-public locations. Ive given several to friends and family. One of these days, Im going to have to sell some.

Ive been re-planting orphan volunteer tree/shrub seedlings found growing in unfortunate locations, such as overgrown parking lots or ditches, starting at age 13, starting with Douglas Fir seedlings from the railroad tracks. I pulled them up with my hands and planted them directly into the ground, on a piece of land my parents owned. About 70% died while I was learning, but they werent exactly going to thrive on a railroad track either, and there were always more Douglas fir seedlings to be found. The survivors are now adult trees that wouldnt be there if I hadnt planted them all those years ago. Money spent: $0. The only expense was time, and occasionally hauling a water jug over there, to keep them alive in the summer. Now that Im older, its pretty cool to see that most of them are still there, and huge.

I live in: United States

My zone is: 8 Pac.NW

My favorite forum 1 is Pacific Northwest Garden Exchange.

My favorite forum 2 is Seed Exchange.

First registered on December 19,2002.