arrows grow on trees

[carpenter374]

hey all. i was wondering, if i have the room and good soil what sould plant to grow a steady supply of arrow shoots? i considered red osier. im not sure how fast a plant could produce a few arrow shoots. let me know what you guys think.

[Pat B]

Red osier would be a good choice.  Depending on where you live silky dogwood, gray dogwood, arrow wood viburnum and black haw viburnum, mock orange, and probably any of a bunch of multi stemmed shrub type plants will work as arrow shafts. With most shoot and cane you will need to allow at least 2 years of growth for the stems to mature before harvest for arrows. With only 6 or 8 plants, you could have enough shoots each year for your own arrows plus enough to trade.     Pat

[markinengland]

Japanese arrow bamboo may grow OK. Takes a few years to establish.

[Hillbilly]

Switch cane, silky or redosier dogwood, hazlenut, arrow wood viburnum, or Japanese arrow boo are all easy to grow and yield a lot of shoots. Like Pat said, it takes a few years to get them established and mature, but once you do, you can harvest them every year.

[markinengland]

It is quite possible that there are arrow fields in your areas. Where the power companies clear trees under powerlines is a good palce to look as lots of straight shoots come up. A small area can yeild 50 or so shafts.
Mark in England.

[DanaM]

Red Osier would need moist almost wet ground to do well. Wonder if any of the arrow boos would grow up here?

[Hillbilly]

Dana, red osier is planted a lot as an ornamental down here. It grows naturally in swampy areas, but when planted it will grow well in any decent soil that isn't bone dry.

[carpenter374]

i live in western oklahoma. the soil here is loam, fairly moist, grows vegetables and wheat well. the power companies dont have to clear many trees here as they only grow in sheltered creek bottoms. the storms here will kill trees that arent in low lying areas.

[markinengland]

Carpenter,
That sounds good soil conditions for arrow bamboo. May be planted as a hedge and give you some shelter!
Mark in England

[Cromm]

Hi, Any idea if any of these things will grow in the UK? Thanks for your time.