MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I have a massive horse chestnut tree at the bottom of my garden, too big. After the windy Saturday it has dumped a prodigious crop of conkers on the lawn, which I swept up today. Seemed a shame to chuck them, you can't eat them, so I thought I'd put a few in my pockets when I popped out for a quick blast on the bike and try to plant a few. Long story short, I'm hooked, and I'm going to try to plant / throw all the conkers (big bucket full) around in woodland clearings, hedges etc whenever I'm out on my bike this autumn, it would be nice if a few managed to take root. Am I bonkers or do you think this is worthwhile? Might try it with a few acorns too....
haha sounds like a great idea. I wonder how much one may grow in a year.
Not sure - a few have popped up in our garden before now, they get to about 6 inches high pretty quickly in spring. I suppose a lot will get eaten by rabbits once they start to grow, but I reckon I've got a couple of hundred in my bucket so some might make it!
soak them in vinegar for a couple of days
put them in the airing cupboard
work your way up to the position of Akela at the local cub scout troop
train them in conker warfare
take over the world
Ha ha yes keeping a few back for my lad...
You're carrying on an honourable tradition.
There was an old sea captain from about Nelson's time who used to go round with pockets full of acorns and plant them in likely spots.
I throw apple cores out of the car if there's a nice verge, I can't be the only one, its surprising how many apple trees you see growing on motorway banks.
Am I bonkers ...
Not at all, I think it's a really sane idea.
You could change your name to 'William' (if you're not already called that) and all the local kiddies would love you, and point each time they see you, saying, "Look, there's William the Conkerer planting conkers again"
Great idea imo 8)
Anyone got any good tips on what a "likely spot" is then? I'm thinking ground that isn't often disturbed, mainly in woods, where there is light tree cover only or in clearings. Ground is very hard in most places at the moment so quite hard to find good spots...
It's a great idea, with the bonus that it'll keep your pockets free from spiders.
that's nuts....
great idea, you are looking at a very high failure rate though, perhaps 1:20-30 will survive.
I'm not surprised by that failure rate, thought it could be higher. I reckon I've got at least 200 conkers, so that could mean I get 5 to 10 trees, that would be ace! I might even be around to see them!
Must admit the spiders in pockets solution is lacking a problem...
When I was a lad, I grew up with a nice large garden, and 5 acres of field at the back of the house. My mother had planted various birch trees in a line, whioh, when they moved out 18 months ago, were up to around 40 feet high.
Behind the birch trees, my friend, his brother and I planted a line of conkers, about 6-8 feet apart. Though slower growing than the birches (naturally), these had grown to a good 15-20 feet high last time I saw them.
I often wonder whether they will be left in place by the current owners, and enjoyed by kids for generations to come.
so your garden must have been 1824 feet along its longest axis, at least, assuming two trees does not make a line of trees......
I come back from my rides with pockets full of Chestnuts... yum.
🙂
Some are sure to make it as a tree, nice idea.
Er, I corrected my erroneous distances.
There are probably half a dozen trees there. I moved out 15 years ago, and didn't really make proper measurements when, as an 8 year old, we dug small holes and planted them.
Kinda miss seing those trees, really. I don't blame my parents - they had to move - but it's sad not to have the chance to see something that grew with me.
Just so you know, swallowed apple pips do NOT grow into trees in your stomach
My Dad in the past, was arrested and prosecuted for planting Trees on large roundabouts & council land!
He had a reputation for being a bit of a maverick.
He used to collect conkers/acorns or any seeds for that matter, pot them up, then when they were a foot tall go out in the middle of the night ant plant them, mostly near hedgerows or where trees had come down in the past.
Our back garden as a kid, was just one mass of pots, until he got caught and gave it all up.
Always makes me smile and remember him, when I pass a 30 year old Tree on a local roundabout, or see two horse chestnut planted within 10 yards of each other!
😉
Guerrilla tree planting, I like it. Sounds like a great way to break the law! Clearly the law sucks. Although I can see why its best not to plant trees where someone is just going to remove it if it grows... lets all fight THE MAN by planting trees!
[i]Just so you know, swallowed apple pips do NOT grow into trees in your stomach [/i]
but swallowed tomato seeds do grow into tomato plants at the sewage plant. FACT.
you could mod a seed spreader to fit to the back of a bike?
or just put some seeds in an open pot taped to your seat post, so every time you go over a bump some jolt out?
Given the shonky way I ride I think my hopper would empty after about two minutes when I bunny hop a kerb near my house and the conkers would go all over the road.... I can see actually that I'm going to have to get quite adventurous to keep finding good places for all the conkers, should lead to some good ride and quite a few not so good I should think.
ddmonkey, chapeau. 😀
finding good places for all the conkers, should lead to some good ride and quite a few not so good I should think.
.........and also remarkably "squirrel-like" behaviour. I should imagine.
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Conkers on a bonfire is the thing to do. Great fun in a things exploding quite dangerously kind of way.
Joe
I'm not going to start nibbling conkers but I might look a round nervously before I quickly bury them and them forget where... maybe more like Scrat in ice age... 😀
Always makes me smile and remember him, when I pass a 30 year old Tree on a local roundabout, or see two horse chestnut planted within 10 yards of each other!
Now, that is a great story to tell your kids: "Your grandad planted that."
Fantastic stories.
Next autumn I'm getting a load of pots and collecting conkers and acorns with my kids.
ddmonkey - if you want to dish out any spare conkers, feel free to post some out, and I'll try to find "homes" for them...
🙂
Oh! Is [i]this[/i] it?
Here's me thinking you were pleased to see me.... 😉
Sorry MikeT-23, you want the Bananas in my pocket thread, its 3 threads down on the left..
Conker distribution? GET YER OWN!!! 😉
An update for anyone who cares, which I doubt is anyone but not to worry. I think I've now spread about a two hundred of these. It must be spring because may of them have started to sprout, so had a conkers in my plastic bags session yesterday as pockets not up to the job. Got told off on a few occasions so that makes me an eco warrior like Dave Angel I reckon.
Fingers crossed one of then makes it!
excellent.
Nice one!!
Told off for what exactly?
putting his conkers in inappropriate places
lol, i like this. very inspiring.
It seems my conkers offend some people! 😆
I planted some conkers in pots at home about 3 years ago, now have 4 conker trees about 2 feet high! Dont know what Im going to do with them, I dont have a garden.
Anyone want a baby conker tree?
We planted some acorns in pots about 15 years ago.
We still have one with us, even though we've moved a few times since then.
One day, when we are old, we will plant it somewhere out in the wild.
I caught part of a lovely documentary a while back featuring a really old bloke in an old folks home in the western isles, it turns out he owns the island and bought it sight-unseen in his wayward youth on the strength of an advert in the paper and has lived there ever since. He was on first name terms with most of the worlds monarchs and other greats and goods and was talking about his various international gliteratti adventures.
He was asked will all the privilege and wealth and adventure whether he had any regrets now that he was old and he said "I wish I'd planted trees when I was young"
Yep...we'd be in a bit of a mess without our trees!
Hmm still a few left so putting some in pots is a good idea, I'll pot some up now and the I can see how quickly they grow. Can then search out some really good spots to put them once they get older 🙂