Question
QUESTION: I HAVE 2 QUESTIONS. 1. ARE ASPEN TREES EASY TO GROW FROM SEEDS, AND IS THERE A RESOURCE EXPLAING THE PROPER PLANTING AND GROWING PROCEDURES?  2. WHAT MAKES AN ASPEN TREE GROW OTHER ASPEN TREES FROM ITS ROOTS (SUCKERS).

THANK YOU

DE WAYNE

ANSWER: Hi De Wayne,
Thanx for your question.  This question is really for the Tree Man on our site, Jim Hyland but I think I can go ahead and answer this for you.  Here is a great site that describes an easy method for propagating aspen by seed.  The dome they talk about is a clear, plastic lid you can buy where you buy your flat.  The flat is a 20X10 inch tray that is used to propagate seedlings.  You can get these at Walmart and the Big Box DIYs or your local nursery.


http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~nhilliar/Work_CSS/Data%20Files/Protocols_MTPL/Propaga

Aspens sucker easily if cut or sheared.  They sucker if there is open space as they come up from the roots of the mother tree.  This is the normal way for the tree to multiply itself rather than from seed, even though it produces a lot of seed.

I hope this helps.
Tom



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Tom.  Your comments are very much appreciated.  Is there any literature available as to the gathering, cleaning and when to plant the Aspen seeds?  Any and all information you might point me to would be very helpful.  This will be the first time growing trees from seeds so I dont want to do the wrong thing.

Answer
Hi DeWayne,
Thanx for your question.  One of the things I noted in my research is that aspen seldom grow from seed but most of them time reproduce from suckering.  Here is a link to the Forest Service that discusses aspens in depth.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_2/populus/tremuloides.htm

You can contact Jim Hyland, our Allexperts, tree expert under the Trees forum for more information.  He has worked with the U.S. Forestry Service and is much more knowledgeable about trees than I am.

I hope this helps.
Tom