Trusted sites for seeds/seedlings, also when should I begin?

9 years ago

Do you folks have preferred sites you like for buying seedling/seeds? I've done a little searching around, and one of the trees I want is pretty tough to find, and some are just darn expensive. I'm leaning towards starting from seed just to save the money and have the pride of knowing I grew the whole thing.

I bought a new house this past fall, on 2 acres, and I plan to put 3-4 Autumn Blaze Maples across the back edge of the property, full sun, no other trees within 100 yards in any direction.

Then the one I'm most excited about, I will be cutting down a small Willow in my side yard and replacing it with a Copper Beech. I can only find those as seeds, but it would be a very impressive tree and would have a ton of wide open full sun space.

Then a Crimson King, these I can find a little easier locally, so I might get a seedling

Then one of my personal favorites, an Eastern Redbud that I plan to put outside my Kitchen window where I can landscape around it

I plan to use Tree Tubes/stakes for all of them.

If I buy seeds now and do the cold stratify process and get them germinated in the spring would the timing work out or do I need to wait and start in the fall?

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Comments (9)

treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
9 years ago
For the mentioned trees in your post, with the exception of the redbud, you cannot start them from seed and expect them to look like the parent tree. The trees you listed are cultivars and as such need to be propagated through grafting, cuttings, or other asexual methods in order to get a tree identical to the parents. You can start seeds from an 'Autumn Blaze' maple but the seedlings will not be 'Autumn Blaze'. Some will be similar to the parents and others will be similar ro the straight species that the variety was selected from. The same thing holds true with the copper beech and 'Crimson King' Norway maple. Seedlings from a named variety of copper beech will come up anywhere from completely green to purple-ish. If you want one of these named selections you will have to find a grafted plant or one started from a cutting for sale. There are a whole bunch of mail order nurseries that sell smaller grafts or cutting grown size plants if buying a larger plant is cost prohibitive. A smaller tree will also establish quicker and often out perform larger transplants that require longer to establish themselves post-planting.

The redbud, if you do not want a selected variety/cultivar, can be started from seed. I actually have seed pods still hanging on my trees and can send you some if you'd like.

When I have purchased seed, I have bought from both F.W. Schumacher and Scheffields with great germination results. Depending on which species you start from seed, you will have to treat the seed differently to allow germination. Some species require a couple months cold stratification (damp and cold but not frozen), some require warm followed by cold stratification, some require scarification where the seed coat needs to be weakened, and some can be sown without pretreatment. Schumacher's online catalog has species specific germination requirements listed on the details page for almost all the seeds they sell.

Hope this helps!
SBUBandit
Original Author
9 years ago
Good info, thanks. Any nurseries you'd recommend for those types of trees? As far as online places I've found very few seem to have the Copper Beech
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longtee81 (Zone 5a)
9 years ago
It looks you are located in Michigan. I am also and have had really good luck finding these trees in small 1 to 3 gallon containers at Lowes with very good roots. if you can time it well when they get their Spring shipment you will have no trouble finding them in a small size and probably for much less than what it would cost to ship from out of state.

I have two autumn blaze maples and they are beautiful trees. If you are going to plant them small (which is best), I wold highly recommend you learn a few things about structural pruning as they grow really fast and can develop multiple leaders very quickly if you dont keep up with their growth.

Good luck!
treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
9 years ago
Believe it or not, I have also bought some nice 3-4 foot trees with good roots at Lowes stores. Make sure to check the roots before purchase though!

As far as mail order for the beech, try Greer Gardens or Forestfarm. Both have a decent selection of beech trees.
jqpublic
9 years ago
Oikos is in MI. I've had good luck with them. Not sure on your trees but take a look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oikos Tree Crops
rusty_blackhaw
9 years ago
I'd second the vote for Oikos, especially for trees native to Michigan. There's quite a variety available in seedling/sapling sizes, reasonably priced.

Musser Forests in Pennsylvania is another choice.
treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
9 years ago
Oikos and Musser are both good, I've had good luck with their stock too.

This post was edited by treeguy_ny on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 13:22
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
contact you COUNTY soil conservation district office ... i just got the mailer earlier this week ...

cant get cheaper than these ...

see link

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: an e.g. ... since they are hand delivered.. find out where it is done in your county
treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
9 years ago
If you (or anyone else) wants some of the redbud seeds, just email me at fishmanejr @yahoo.com.

Trusted sites for seeds/seedlings, also when should I begin?

Comments (9)

treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY

SBUBandit
Original Author

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Trusted sites for seeds/seedlings, also when should I begin?

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SBUBanditOriginal Author

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SBUBandit
Original Author