the focus of these green hands and thumbs continues to shift …
less gardens, less fruit tree propagation, and more native tree propagation.
these in the photo are baby Ashes propagated this spring …

over the last year have had immense success with propagating of Ash, Bay Laurel, and Sycamore trees … from baby trees gently dug out of creekside areas where they sprout from seeds or water-carried branches.
this year I am expanding my experiment to include Sycamore cuttings … cuttings with no root systems at all. stuck in a pot of water, filled with Willow tree cuttings that dissolve copious amounts of root hormone into the water.

['before photo', of 10 Sycamore cuttings, 4 to 14 foot tall.]
in addition to the thousands of acorns we are putting into the ground each year now, we are also planting a couple hundred small to large Ashes, Peppers, Bay Laurels, Cottonwoods, and Sycamores.
anyone suggest any other local ‘native’ favorites for returning the forests, the aquafir, and the wildlife?
or propagating tips?

['after photo', sitting in bucket of water full of Willow branches.]
note that you should take cuttings from ‘upright’ vertical-growing stock, rather than side-growing branches, unless you are looking to create the beautiful lateral/horizontal tending Sycamores. and take cuttings from suckers or vertical risers near the base of older trees, if you take cuttings from older trees. cuttings, or relocatings, from young trees are said to be the easiest to propagate.
these ten cuttings, 4 to 14 feet tall, were from deep in a glade of poison Oak, and were coming up next to very mature or even fallen old Sycamore mothers. I left the tall volunteer offspring, and took cuttings of the stragglers that likely weren’t going to make it, and would have offered competition, in the dimly lit grove.
I know it is a very TALL order, to expect 10 or 15 foot cuttings to root — but I feel some confidence, having had a hundred percent success rate with 2-4 foot Sycamore’s with very little rootstock, dug out of rocks.
so here I am, posting this potentially embarrassing experiment for all to see the results in a few weeks time …
~~~
this, from the usda database, on the California (Fremont) Cottonwood (Populus) tree:
The sweet and starchy sap can be consumed raw or cooked. The bark is bitter, but edible. It can be scraped off and eaten, cooked in strips like soup noodles, or dried and powdered as a flour substitute. The inner bark of cottonwoods and aspens were used for man and horse in hard times. Some Indians preferred it because of its sweetness. The active biochemical constituents are salicin and populin, the precursors of aspirin that are useful wherever a fever needs reducing or an anti-inflammatory is appropriate (Moore 1979). The bark is the most effective part for tea but is rather bitter; for this reason the leaves are often preferred. Leaf buds make an excellent ointment for burns and skin irritations. A wash of the bark is applied externally for cuts, bruises, abrasions, burns and fetid perspiration, as well as healing chafing sores on horses. A poultice can be used for sprains, muscle pain, and swollen joints. A salve can be made that cleanses and conditions the skin when used regularly. Taken internally, it is an anti-inflammatory agent, reduces fever, indigestion, aids coughs from colds, expels worms and intestinal parasites, is effective against scurvy, heart troubles, back pain, excessive menses, urinary tract infections, is a diuretic, and is used to prevent premature birth.
The Hopi Indians of Arizona consider the cottonwood tree sacred and carve Kachina dolls from the roots of the tree. They believe the rustle of the wind through the quaking leaves to be the gods speaking to people.
Several California tribes used Populus roots to make loosely twined baskets. The Hupa, from Northern California, use cottonwood roots to begin making twined baskets. The Maidu and Yokuts Indians use cottonwood twigs in their basketry.
Chumash skirts were made of fibers of Populus inner bark. Cordage, made from the inner bark of cottonwood or milkweed, held the rest of the fibers hanging freely. Sometimes small teardrop-shaped pieces of asphaltum, shell beads or Pinus seeds were used as weights to make the fibers hang properly. Wintun also used Populus fibers for skirts and for padding baby cradles.
Other uses include Ecological diversity, bank and sediment stabilization, maintenance of channel morphology, water quality improvement, ground-water recharge, flood abatement, fish and wildlife habitat.