Spreading cedar berries in areas to grow cedar thickets

[dreambig@84]

Whats everyone's take on the effectiveness for spreading cedar berries in areas you want it thick with cedars especially along fencelines?

I know transplanting cedars works good but just have been wondering if just gathering cedar berries and disking ground and spreading in spring and packing would work?

 

[Nrharris]

I could be wrong, but I thought cedar berries needed to be heated up to germinate. Like going through the digestive system of a critter. Someone correct me if I'm giving false information.

 

[Butch973]

Yup another learn the hard way moment for me. Need to be stratified.

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

You would have to feed them to a pet bird and then spread their scat.

 

[JNRBRONC]

"Scarification is necessary for many native plants and wildflowers, and it can also help seeds germinate faster. In nature, seeds can be scarified when they pass through an animal's digestive tract."

 

[Daver]

OK guys, hear me out, I think I have a plan...

1. Harvest a bunch of these berries.
2. Scatter them out where you want them to grow.
3. ALSO put out a bunch of bread crumbs for the birds to eat mixed in with the berries. (You may need to repeat this step on a daily basis for the whole plan to come together. )
4. The birds come for the bread crumbs, but also think, "Hey, look at these berries, I think I will have dessert too.". Birds are predictable like that. The unwitting birds also consume a lot of berries.
5. (Here's the secret sauce ) Now then, the birds come back for more bread crumbs AND they also crap out the scarified berries...right where you want them.
6. Boom...cedar grove coming your way.

You're welcome!

 

[newfarmer]

I’ve heard you can boil them- I’ve heard that works for Cedars. Never tried it- I have chickens

 

[Butch973]

I just bought the plugs and banged out a few hundred in a few hours! I’ve also planted a bunch with the dibble bar, but they’re a pain in the butt because their roots are so long.

 

[Hardwood11]

I plant cedar plugs and seedlings. They almost always survive ! In Minnesota they are not as invasive ! Iowa (Loess Hills) I don’t need to plant any .. they are everywhere !

If done right, they are a great screen, bedding block or a nice mix of cover with other trees !

 

[theDoorman]

We always just mixed in the seeds with some bird seed and put out in a feeder for the birds in areas we wanted cedars.

 

[Snail3496]

Look up the "Transplant" thread. All about pulling and spading cedars for thickets &screens.

If doing by seed, a bird needs to digest them before they'll be viable