grow your own trees?

sort of an out of the blue project for me. and i have to apologise for the longish post. things came to me while i was typing.

each year i see the kind of cheap trees at walmart and think where i'd like a couple in my yard. i finaly thought of where i'd like at least two, but i guess i missed the selling season for them. the regular nurseries want so much more, but i was wandering around the yard and thought to pull a few of the maple saplings (i'm not even sure if they're big enough to be called saplings) and an oak one and stuck them in pots. there's some kind of berry tree (mulberry?) that springs up that i'm tring to get one or two of also.

anyway, the question is, the smallish ones i see at like walmart or home depot are about 4-6' tall when you get them. anyone know about how fast little trees grow? like if i tried to nurture them till next spring (i should wait til then, right?), how tall i might expect them to be?

and since i've started playing this game, could i plant a couple apple or other seeds and do the same? i already some leftover little peat starter things from starting some flowers. could i just plant the seeds out of the next apple i eat? do i need to make sure the type of apple can grow where i am? or it just occured to me maybe look for some saplings again from a tree at my brother's old house (i don't think anyones in it yet) if i can recognise the right plant.

anyone done any of this stuff? thanks

A lot of trees can be easily started with cuttings, dipped in a rooting compound and placed in a pot kept moist. I'm sure that 6' of growth is at least 4 or 5 years of strong growth. The expensive ones get trimmed early in life to have a straight, single leader stem and shaped branches.

thanks. i actually found a couple of trees at a place i didn't know sold them, but i may try the rooting compound on a branch from the berry tree i mentioned.

think i'll still keep the onse i've tried potting too, just to see what happens.

A tree that easily roots is a corkscrew willow. It's a lovely addition to landscaping and you can take some cuttings of newer branches, set them in water, and plant when you have roots established. Since it's a willow, it grows quickly. I've grown them in clay soil...just tending to them to give them enough water during hot Missouri Augusts. So easy to do, we received a flower arrangement that had three pieces of corkscrew willow for decorative effect. It's used a lot by florists. I kept the arrangement watered well for about a month. Just the other day, I gently pulled them from the arrangements and found great roots. My grandaughter and I planted the three starters in the backyard. We'll keep them watered and see how they do.