About four years ago a friend was pressing apple cider at a party, and I came home with the leftover apple mash. I didn't compost it or haul it away. I dumped it in rows out in a field and walked off.
That's the whole technique. It's a lazy version of Mark Shepard's idea of Sheer, Total, Utter Neglect, or STUN: put the seed where you want trees, then leave it alone and see what survives.
This is what came up. One apple tree, about four years old, standing in a row where the mash went. I never dug a hole, bought a sapling, or watered it.
I do the same thing with black walnuts. I throw the seeds out by the handful, and some make it and some don't. It takes very little of my time, and the ones that survive have already proven they can handle that spot.
Seeds from a cider apple don't grow into the same apples. Each seedling is its own surprise, so I'll find out what this one makes when it fruits.
I'm not saying you should skip planting named varieties. But when your time is limited, this is a cheap experiment. What's the laziest thing you've tried in your garden or orchard that actually worked?
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