Plants will ship Mid-March 🙂
Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) Tree, Organic
$11.00 – $30.50
Family: Mulberry (Moraceae)
Hardy to Zones 4 to 10
(Bow Wood, Hedgeapple, Orange, Osage) Deciduous, dioecious tree to 60 feet. Perfectly cold hardy. Native to south-central North America, now widely spread, although most trees in the western United States are very old. Tree is not self-fertile, it is dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant). Both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. We cannot sex our seedlings until they become adults, which may take years, so its pot luck as far as sexual identity is concerned. We normally plant things of this nature in 3s. The brainlike, bright green fruit of this dense and thorny tree has a long-lived reputation of repelling spiders and other insects. Avoid getting white sap in eyes. Wood extremely flexible and durable for bow-making and fenceposts. Major hedgerow component, wildlife shelter–strange and oddly beautiful. Personal favorite. Tree withstands wide range of soil types and rainfall.
Potted tree, Certified Organically Grown
Question
Cheryl (verified owner) –
I live in zone 4 and am creating a hedgerow fence and was wondering if i should purchase my osage orange trees now and get them in the ground or would i have to overwinter in a greenhouse or is it best to wait until spring? By the way your growing medicinals vol 1 has become an invaluable reference as we create our homestead. Thank you so very much
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Richo Cech –
Hi Cheryl, First off thanks for acknowledging “Growing Plant Medicine Vol 1” and i’m really glad if its been helpful in some way. Right now (August 8, 2023) I’m on page 175 in the “Trees” section of Vol 2 and i can use all the prodding i can get to finish it to the end… Regarding the osage orange, zone 4 just sounds really cold and i think it would be better to spring plant them and let them establish for an entire summer before they get hit with the winter. Tell me how many you need, I’ll set them aside for you and do my best to sword fight anybody who tries to move (or sell) them. Richo
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krickette brotherton (verified owner) –
I ordered 3 of these Osage Orange trees and they arrived Very quickly and were extremely well packaged. The paper collars were still slightly moist and the branches/leaves were in perfect shape. When I placed the order I figured I’d get some tiny little tree. Boy was I wrong! From the bottom of the pot to the top of the branches, my trees measured at 14 inches. I highly recommend purchasing from this company, especially if you like receiving a product that is better then you think it will be.
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Question
melinda.fox13 (verified owner) –
Can these trimmed to stay shorter?
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Richo Cech –
Hi Melinda, Yes, as long as you follow the rules of good pruning and don’t cut too far back to the trunk. If you scar the trunk, they make a hundred water sprouts. Want a suggestion for a good short tree? Try mimosa (Albizzia julibrissin). Nice. richo
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adolphhernandez –
Do these self pollinate?
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Richo Cech –
hello adolph, no, these are dioecious–male trees and female trees–at least one of each is required for fruit–we suggest getting 3 to be sure of sexual dimorphism. richo
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adolphhernandez –
Got it! Good to know. Ill get 3 soon to add to my yard. Thanks for your quick response.
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Irene –
In these times of increasing heat and drought how well do Osage Orange tolerate hot and dry summers? I’m in western WA at 1400’ where summers are getting longer and drier.
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Richo Cech –
Hello Irene,
Once established, these are among the most drought-tolerant of all hardwoods. They are filled with viscid sap that keeps the tree turgid in drought. Our stock is already nicely sized-up. You would have to give supplemental water the first 2 years.
Richo
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