Saving the best for last is an old trick, but growing shrubs from seeds is really the best way to do large or small numbers of most species. You can select from local, reliable parents - vigorous plants with heavy crops of seed - and grow hundreds of seedlings for transplanting at almost no cost.

There are a few things you should to be aware of when growing native shrubs from seed. Most seed has some kind of dormancy - this stops it from germinating in the fall during a warm spell and freezing to death over the winter. Dormancy can be quite complex - a hard seed coat that needs to break down over a winter, an embryo that is not fully developed, chemicals within the fruit that inhibit germination, or any combination of the above. Fortunately, you do not have to worry about dormancy, as long as you follow the recommendations on growing each species of shrub. Few shrub seeds will germinate in the spring after fall planting (one reason commercial nurseries do not grow them). If you are growing some species that will germinate in the first growing season and some that do not sprout until the second spring, separate these two groups. It makes weeding and mulching much easier and efficiently uses available nursery space.

Seed preparation also differs between species - serviceberry fruits contain multiple seeds, while wild raisin has a single seed. Some seed-coats need to be removed or crushed, while others are fine to plant just as they come off the shrub. You don't need to worry about all the differences, just follow the recommendations for each species. Seeds should be planted as soon as possible after collecting, to prevent molds from forming on the fruit or the seed from drying out. A general rule of thumb for planting depth is twice the diameter of the seed - plant small seeds such as roses about 1/8 inch (3 mm) deep and larger seeds like hawthorn about 1/4 inch (6 mm) deep. Place a 2-3 inch (5-7.5 cm) layer of mulch (eelgrass works best, but any easily-removed mulch will work) over the beds in the fall and remove most of this in the spring. If the seeds need two winters before germinating, mulch again the second winter.

A good soil is light, with lots of organic matter. It is rich, but without high levels of nitrogen that can cause too rapid and spindly growth. A mix of old manure, topsoil and any of the following works well: potato compost (available from some farm composting operations); other compost; rotting leaves or leaf mold, chopped up with a lawnmower; and peat moss. We also use various types of seaweed, fish fertilizer, mussel mud and small amounts of mussel shell in our nursery with great success.