Q: I have tried, unsuccessfully, for the past two years, to germinate and grow an osage orange tree. Can you shed any light on what I should be doing? We once had such a tree growing on the banks of small creek, but it is no longer. I have access to one in a vulnerable location in town, and would like to reestablish it on our farm.

A: Collect the fruit and put them in a drained bucket outdoors until spring. The fruit will partially decompose in the bucket and will be soft enough to
sift through and remove the seed in April.

Plant the small seed a half-inch deep in a sunny spot. You’ll get approximately 60 percent germination but that should be enough to start a plantation of trees.