growing your own trees for sticks\canes

stickman · #1 02-12-2007, 06:56 PM

Has anybody tried to plant their own trees to grow and carve later .I live in Pa. and this summer I bought a bag full of chestnuts and planted them in hopes of having some deluxe walking sticks to carve in a few year's .I even thought of wrapping them around something to make them grow in a spiral. Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences. Thanks, Mike

wade clark · #2 02-12-2007, 07:41 PM

Mike,
Maple seeds sprout like weeds. You could plant them 6" apart and they should grow very strait fighting each other for the light.
Rather than twist the tree, you might plant some sort of vine amongst them. I've found some beautiful staffs that vines had wrapped around, constricting the sapling and causing it to grow around the coiling vine. Gives it an incredible twist! If you were tobend the sapling, it might grow into too big of an arc, unless you do it very young. Try it though. I'd suggest finding a type tree that grows really fast and is hard when it matures.
Wade

stickman · #3 02-12-2007, 08:29 PM

Thanks Wade ,I agree that a fast growing tree that is hard when it matures would be the ticket.I was hoping that if I babied them they would grow faster and I could wrap them around something (while very young) 0

stickman · #4 02-12-2007, 08:32 PM

sorry,wade I just posted in the middle of writing it . Anyway any other sugestions are welcome

Claude · #5 02-12-2007, 08:50 PM

How about some of that paulownia wood that Goody uses? http://www.paulownia.org/

Claude

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #6 02-12-2007, 09:08 PM

Yep, if I was going to grow some for wood, it would be paulownia.....

stickman · #7 02-12-2007, 09:22 PM

Wow ,I ck'd the link you posted and It sounds to good to be true.Have you ever carved in it?Was it any good? The only other thought I had was ,I wonder if it could be something that would take over your whole yard ,or worse yet take over the woods near my yard? thanks for the link I have to research it

Mike

wade clark · #8 02-12-2007, 11:50 PM

It's pretty soft and pulpy...would it work for walking sticks?
W

stickman · #9 02-14-2007, 04:59 PM

If it soft and pulpy then I would say its not so good. Mike

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #10 02-14-2007, 05:38 PM

The only piece of it I have seen , Goody sent me, so I don't know how it would be for a walking stick....carves good, different than basswood but good...there was a site for a tree called I think a "Twisty" tree, a big round clump of a tree with all these twisty limbs coming out of it, would make great walking sticks I would think.