OK I'm impressed.
Great Job.
Hope you have a BIG!!!!! plot of land to plant them all.
Ron

These are your tree seedlings from last year or new sprouts from this year or did you just sow them? I know you did a gazillion trees last year! Are you having a tree sale?

Vera

Wow, you have your own mini forest. What ARE you planning to do with them?

Karen

Its a combination of maybe 10 3 year old trees probably 120 2 year old trees all the rest are sprouting this year. I am hoping to get a BIG plot of land soon. haha. It rocks to get to grow all these trees at 18 years old because I have a long time to watch them grow once I find the right land! When im 40 I will be feasting on pawpaws, persimmons, hickory nuts, walnuts, maple syrup, and all the chestnuts i can eat. along with every native berry and other wild edibles known to man.

You are quite something, philmont (as cute as ever!)

Photos of your tree seedlings, please -

Carrie :)

That is fantastic! Okay - here's a rare native Eastern tree - Cladrastis kentuckea - American Yellowwood. Do you have that one? :)

yep! I have several!

philmont, I have to ask. Which sprout the best (fastest-easiest) for you. I would love to try my hand at more trees. I have japanese maple and redbud seeds planted in the fridge right now. But would like something that is a pretty fast grower. Darn, I'm not 18 and don't have as long to enjoy the fruits of my labor. haha. Thanks and great job!!!
Stacy

ahhh, to be 18 again ... sigh ... you are an inspiration, kiddo! keep up the good work & the very best of luck to you! phyl

Philmont, wow what a project you're working on! My step-son just finished his eagle scout work (by the hair of his teeth - read that as by 1 day). I winter sowed granny smith apple seeds and had great luck with them. I second the thought that it would be great to be 18 again. Ann

stacy, some of the easiest tree seeds to me would be acorns. you can float test them in the fall, and if they sink, stick em in some soil outside somewhere and leave them there over winter (and make sure no squirrels can get to them! they will kill every single one!) in march they usually sprout and then you can either leave them where they are sprouting, or move them around at this time. around right now, they already have their roots set and are sending up stems and leaves. if the nut is good in the fall, it will almost germinate for sure. this method will work for just about any tree you find around here. all nuts (hickory nuts, acorns, walnuts, buckeyes and chestnuts (if you manage to acquire them)) ash, maples, etc.
heres a list of easy/fast growing tree seedling from my experience:

American Chestnut: Very Easy to sprout fast growing (very hard to get)
Green Ash: Easy, fast
White Ash: Easy, fast
Black Ash:Hard, (not sure yet. took 2 years of stratification to sprout)
American Beech: Medium, medium (I find viable seeds very hard to) come by, slower
Boxelder Maple: Easy, fast
Sugar Maple: Easy, fast
Ohio Buckeye: Easy, medium
Black Walnut: Medium, fast
Butternut: Hard, fast, very rare.
Northern Catalpa: Easy, fast
Kentucky Coffeetree: Easy, fast
Honey Locust: Easy, fast
Black Locust: Easy, fast
Flowering Dogwood: Medium, medium
Hackberry: Easy, fast
Bitternut Hickory: Hard, (not sure yet, squirrels reamed me)
Shagbark Hickory: Hard, (havent had much luck with them)
American Hophornbeam: Hard, medium
American Hornbeam: Hard, (only sprouts killed by squirrels)
Persimmon: Easy, medium/fast
Osage Orange: Easy, medium (let seeds stay in rotting fruit then plant seeds in winter)
Pawpaw: Medium, medium
Bur Oak: Easy, fast (sprouts in fall)
Chestnut Oak: Easy fast (sprouts in fall)
Northern Red Oak: Easy, fast
Pin Oak: Easy, fast
White Oak: Easy, (sprouts in fall)
Eastern Redbud: Easy, medium
Sassafras: Medium, medium
Spicebush: Easy, medium
Sweetgum: Easy, Fast
Carolina Silverbell: Hard, (Don't know yet also took 2 years of stratification to sprout)
Sycamore: Medium, fast (Its easy to sprout, but hard to keep the tiny seedlings alive)
Tuliptree: Hard, Fast (only 2 sprouts I ever had fried when went on vacation)
Sourwood: Medium, medium (tiny sprouts hard to raise)
Ginko: Easy, medium

I heard of a story from this garden shop guy, he said there was an older man that owned several acres of land and planted a ton of japanese maples and grew them to a good selling size, had someone come in and buy all he had for a fortune. He had made enough to retire on.
Jill

Philmont, you may have foremost in your mind the benefit to you of growing trees now, but look at the legacy you are creating! As our dear Mother Earth is ravaged more and more by our greed, you are replenishing resources with your focus on trees. I am so impressed.

As a piano teacher and mentor of young people, I get seriously irritated when people talk down teenagers. My experience has been that overall, today's teens & 20s are a whole lot more together than I was at that age. Kudos to you!

APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!! ENCORE!! ENCORE!!

What Drippy said repeated many times over!! I am in awe. I read your post when you first placed it and was just dumbfounded. Couldn't figure out what to say, but turned and told my DH, "Do you realize that there's this 18 year old growing over 400 trees via wsing??? Amazing!!"

Yep, KUDOS to you and a pat on the back! Our earth will breath much better just because of you. :O)

That's truly something to be proud of. You've already made the world a better place.
You can save enough money to make a down payment on some land so don't give up. It can be done. When we built our house 20 years ago, our ten acres out in the country cost no more than a nice subdivision lot in town. You just have to be willing to drive a little further to get to work and depending on what city it is, sometimes it isn't very far from city limits at all.
If you want to plant some, check with your city parks department, or state conservation/forestry department. They might "give" you some space to plant your trees so you could watch them mature. You could also keep some that you think would be easy to sell and keep adding to your savings account for that land.

I think it's just wonderful what you're doing Philmont. How lucky you are to have such a passion for trees, nature, and horticulture at a young age!

Even for us older folks (MUCH older hehe), it is very satisfying. We may not have as many years to watch the trees we plant grow, but we leave a legacy for others to enjoy too (includng the wildlife)!

ooh what joy! I just found a shagbark hickory and a tulip tree sprout! both of which i put on my hard list!

philmont, Thanks so much for the list. I am going to print it out and see what kind of seeds I can come up with. I live on a little of 16 acres of land. Most of it full sun. We have been wanting to buy some trees for the front yard anyway. I know I wont have shade trees by next summer haha. but it would still be fun to try some different kinds. Thanks again for you detailed list. Be sure to keep us posted. I would love to see pictures of your last year trees. I remember you haveing some beauty's then too. Or did the squirrels get then all?

I hope to have access to seeds of Hamamelis Virginiana Common Witchhazel again this year, if I visit the camp we used to stay at. Let me know if you are interested. It will be late August early September when the trees start to release their seeds.

Mary