HedgeappleFruit.com - Guestbook

Thanks to all who have contributed stories and knowledge about Hedgeapples and the Osage Orange tree to this Guestbook. We consider our Guestbook to be one of the most popular areas of our site. It truly is fun to read people's experience with Hedgeapples.

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Name: Melody
State: TN
Date: August 16 2016
Comments:

I can't wait to buy these each year. They are always in wonderful shape and the containers provided help with any mess that might be made. They truly work on spiders and any other little leggy things. We live in the country and have a basement so we are always fighting spiders. Once I put these out the fight is over.

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Name: Lynn Marie Ballard_ Magill
State: TX
Date: June 18 2016
Comments:

We are living in Burnet, Texas and my fiance grew up with these apples but we cannot find any and due to flooding this yearls, fleas are so horrible!! The pups are being eaten alive! Especially Eli..who is white! Currently live in RV park..all outdoors,all the . please send any info you have, if you have catelogue, would even be better as I have MS and Keith is computer illeriterate. My gmailbis ballardlynnmarie@gmail.com and home address is 6161. West State Hwy 29, Burnet TX 78611. Thank you for your time and effort.

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Name: Jerry Billlington
State: TX
Date: January 18 2016
Comments:

I just came across this website and it has some good information on the Osage Orange tree. I planted around 25 back in 2000 just seedlings and now their about 16 feet tall. I am going to try to reproduce some more this spring already got my hedgapple's in a bucket ! Last year I had around 400 of them all over the place ! I have not tried placing them in the house to repel insects but I will give it a try! I wonder if I place in a row and not prune them will they just make a wall of hedges or continue to grow up as a tall tree ? Please let me know if anyone has done that ! Thank you !!

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Name: Fred Glasco
State: TX
Date: January 16 2016
Comments:

Love the page. My dad was telling me about using bodark tree to repair fence rows. Thanks for the info.

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Name: Leora Hunsaker
State: NM
Date: December 11 2015
Comments:

My friend and were out looking for century plant stalks to make a "desert Christmas tree" when we discovered these odd looking green balls at the side of a dirt road. It was out in the middle if nowhere at a junction of dirt roads. There were several trees clustered together. We had never seen anything like it and that prompted research. Of course we collected some green balls and I have them clusteredat my back door area in a bucket with pine boughs. Now I am happy to learn they repell insects.

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Name: MJ
State: OH
Date: November 23 2015
Comments:

i want to save the hedge apple tree but can't risk the apples hitting someone or damaging cars in the parking lot. Can I stop the tree from fruiting?

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Name: Lea
State: TN
Date: November 15 2015
Comments:

Here in Tennessee, they are everywhere! Amazing to me that Tennessee in not listed as one of the home states of hedge apples!

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Name: Chris
State: OH
Date: November 13 2015
Comments:

I grew up in rural SW Pa where we had a hedgerow of osage orange trees on a field left from my great grandfather's farm. Every few years my grandfather, father, and mother would prune the hedge. I don't know how they surived the thorns. I grew my own osage trees serendipitously. Wondering if the oranges would have an effect on slugs, I placed the oranges around a perennial border; I don't think they repelled slugs. But I left them there over winter. Next spring I had clumps of baby seedlings that grew large enough to separate and plant. I now have several trees, both male and female.

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Name: Amira, Leah, and Aleese Fakir
State: IL
Date: November 8 2015
Comments:

We have one of these trees in our school playground. We call the Hedge Apples, 'monkey brains'! We use them as balls and other fun things to do during recess! Our mom saw them during a run today, so we looked them up on the Internet and found your site! When we saw our mom's picture of the hedge apple, we told her they were called 'monkey brains'!

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Name: Jeff
State: IN
Date: October 27 2015
Comments:

Does anyone know where I can find hedge apples around the Indianapolis area?

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Name: MissE
State: TX
Date: October 24 2015
Comments:

I was driving along a country road about 30 miles from Houston when I saw some seed balls in a ditch. I gathered several and threw them in a flowerpot in the corner of my yard and forgot about them. I came back 5 months later, the flesh had rotted, and some of the seeds were sprouting. Four seedlings are now apx. a foot tall, and they already have mean thorns.

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Name: Jamie
State: MO
Date: October 23 2015
Comments:

Please tell me are we suppose to cut the hedge apple in half to help get rid of fleas amd spiders if so how long do we keep them in the house once they are cut in half?

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Name: The Neb. Farmer's Wife
State: NE
Date: October 18 2015
Comments:

Went out and filled 2 5-gal buckets this evening. We used them around the outside of our home to deter the crickets and spiders. I also use them in Autumn decorating. We have 4 large trees around our farm pond. The squirrels love to eat them.

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Name: Dean
State: OH
Date: October 13 2015
Comments:

I have several producing hedge apple trees on my Country Place. I give them to my friends every year. Some just like the shade of green and decorate for fall with them. Some swear by the hedge apple as a spider repellant. I have a new friend that wants to grow their own trees. I like the feeling I get from helping others.

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Name: Alex Futch
State: MS
Date: October 10 2015
Comments:

I live in south MS and I'd Never seen them until I started working around the Columbus/Macon area. I'm wondering if they would do good down here in Tylertown. I'm quite intrigued by these things

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Name: Peggy Massey
State: WV
Date: October 1 2015
Comments:

I had never seen a Hedge Apple before yesterday. At first I thought it was just a big walnut because it dark. This morning I stopped and picked up six and brought them home to figure out what they were. It took a couple hours but I found it. First time I have ever seen Hedge Apple.

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Name: Andy
State: KS
Date: September 26 2015
Comments:

I have been to all the lower 48 states and none have has many OO than Kansas. Ours may not be tall because of the wind, but I have one that's 19' diameter at its base and 60' tall.Best Firewood in the world and no it don't repel bugs just a mess in the yard.

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Name: Shirley
State: OH
Date: September 19 2015
Comments:

Wondering if Osage Oranges fruit every year? after a bumper crop last year we found only one fruit in the whole hedge row this year.

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Name: Judith Warren-Wright
State: MI
Date: September 4 2015
Comments:

I have been a regular user of the Osage Orange (Hedge Apple) for many years. I would go out to the Romeo, Armada area and pick them up off the ground. With the development of new housing subdivisions, that part of nature has disappeared. They are a great insect repellent resource and cause no harm. Please tell me if there are still some Osage trees left in South East Michigan.

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Name: Amy
State: MO
Date: August 22 2015
Comments:

I never knew or realized hegdeapples were so useful or even sought after! Heck, I've got 3 giant trees in my front yard! I will try them inside the house!

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Name: Linda
State: TX
Date: August 20 2015
Comments:

I believe the French name is Bois d'arc. I have heard that founds of the trunks about 1 foot long were used to pave some streets in east Texas. My young sons used to get into horse apple fights. Got some nice bruises from them.

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Name: Fred Hatcher
State: OK
Date: June 3 2015
Comments:

I just recently learned of the hedgeapple usefulness as far as spiders, fleas and tics. I would like to know where in Sand Springs or Tulsa they are available for sale. thx in advance

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Name: John Morlock
State: MO
Date: May 30 2015
Comments:

While I grew up with hedge apples all over our farm, I never really found a use for them. Now, a retired soldier who enjoys woodworking, I'm now starting a project working with hedge apple wood. I'll let you know how it turns out.

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Name: sunnie campos
State: MI
Date: April 4 2015
Comments:

I bought 8 apples last year at the farmers market and put them throughout the house. There are many spiders usually This year only 2. Loving these and I want to plant some.

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Name: Andy Ferm
State: MO
Date: March 29 2015
Comments:

I live on the old family farm in Cass county Missouri.i have a huge old hedge tree that is about 60ft tall and very old.it keeps the house cool in the summer as the diameter of the limbs is very large.

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Name: david william maybury
State: KY
Date: February 11 2015
Comments:

hi i'm from England a colleague has been growing Osage Orange saplings over our winter and he's asked i f he can plant then on a half acre of land i own he got about 12 so i agreed it's lucky your grey squrril is over here make them feel at home look forward to them maturing and i'll start growing them for hedges many thanks to the Osage Orange Trees and to all you cousins best wishes David

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Name: Dave
State: TN
Date: December 29 2014
Comments:

Here in Tennessee we call them Bodock, (Bodark). And they are everywhere. I am told they were used for single-tree and double-tree hitches (what is used for hitching up horses to wagons). I also have been told that the ones bearing the fruit are the female species and the ones with the thorns are the males. I was on a subdivision preparation job years back and took some of the wood home for firewood..Like the story says, burns very hot, in fact if to much in put in a stove at one time will melt the sides. Also when left to season before it is cut into firewood, with a chainsaw, will throw sparks off the chain and dulls the teeth almost instantly. Grows in a tangle style fashion. Kinda what I would call a dirty tree. I have some seasoned that I am going to "TRY" to make a set of pistol grips out of..very pretty yellow-gold color. Myself I wouldn't want to have to eat the fruit.

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Name: David
State: OK
Date: December 17 2014
Comments:

I may have a hedge apple tree bigger than 54 feet, I'll measure it in a day or so when it quits sleeting, it's still alive although it split years ago, but even split Id guess it at 70 plus feet, would have been over 100 feet had it not split

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Name: Cap
State: NY
Date: December 1 2014
Comments:

Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of central park had a farm on Staten Island with many exotic trees. The farm dates back to the revolution and has a large field ringed with Osage trees that could surely rival Viginias so called record tree

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Name: Linda Watson
State: AL
Date: November 29 2014
Comments:

I have about 20 hedgeapple trees. Think I'm going to sell them at farmers market next year.

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Name: Lynne R
State: NY
Date: November 28 2014
Comments:

Recently introduced to this odd fruit when I was walking on a beach yesterday (thanksgiving day) in Hamburg NY on Lake Erie. How it ended up there I do not know, but I am glad I did...I love to learn especially about odd things nature has to offer.

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Name: Dee
State: MO
Date: November 11 2014
Comments:

Really enjoy reading this site. I put osage oranges in the corners of basement rooms and bedroom closets each on a small paper plate to keep from staining carpet and saw NO spiders and very few other crawling insects in my newly built home. Used them again when I moved to a basement apartment and again now in a 135 yr old building that I now live in and have an antique store with nooks and crannies. I feel like they repel insects and they find someplace else, hopefully outside. thanks for all the info.

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Name: kk
State: MI
Date: November 8 2014
Comments:

We were driving out in the country by Jackson, Michigan and came across a little copse of trees bearing that odd fruit, those things were all over the side of the road. Just in one little spot, maybe an eighth of a mile, all told. We'd never seen anything quite like that fruit. When we got home, I googled "fruit that looks like a brain." Guess what popped up? :) We were lucky, I think. I cut it open and left the halves out back for the squirrels. Hope they enjoy the treat.

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Name: Dale and Angie
State: WV
Date: November 4 2014
Comments:

We don't know anything about them, except what we just learned from your site a few others this morning. My husband is a truck driver and came upon them this morning alongside the road. He called me to ask what they were and I had no idea. So the search commenced. Thanks for your website. It is very informative and humorous.

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Name: Frisby
State: AR
Date: November 2 2014
Comments:

I had never seen one before today and I had to found out more. Thanks for all the information

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Name: Teri
State: MI
Date: October 30 2014
Comments:

Someone gave me one years ago and my husband and I have had fun hunting for trees in our area and when we go for rides. I have one in my basement and I tell you the truth...we have not had any spiders or webs or ear wicks or ants ever since. I can hardly wait for fall each year because sometimes they don't last a full year! I love them!

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Name: Marie
State: CT
Date: October 21 2014
Comments:

I found these ugly fruit in the parking lot at the Darien train station. Now I'm reading that their native range is Texas and other southern states. Is this a sign of climate change? I'll try them for pest control. Do they just frighten the bugs out of sheer ugliness? Funny thought.

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Name: Bobbie Watson
State: TX
Date: October 19 2014
Comments:

I so enjoyed your website about Osage Oranges. They have always facinated me. I waited and watched all summer for an osage orange to fall from tree that we pass by so that I could get it. The tree is well over 20 ft high next to a chain link fence but the fruit fell on the outside where I could pick it up. Yay! Now, with the info I have found on your site, maybe I can be rid of whatever bites me every night on my neck (only). I'm convinced it is a spider and I've tried everything I can think of without success. I've developed a permanent crick in my neck and now pain has started in my upper arms which I suspect is caused by the bites which I get one or two new bites a night. I will place the fruit near my pillow and see what happens. If the bites stop I will let you know. Thanks so much for your thorough information.

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Name: Anne
State: AL
Date: October 15 2014
Comments:

See, as I thought, my source was wrong. Bois d' arc means wood of the bow. That makes much more sense.because it makes a really nice bow for archery. But the spelling of your 'bodark' can be improved

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Name: Anne
State: AL
Date: October 15 2014
Comments:

French name seems to be Bois d'Arc = ark wood. It certainly does not grow here in Southern Alberta, but I am intrigued.

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Name: Danielle
State: KS
Date: October 13 2014
Comments:

I hate to break it to everyone, but I have a picture that disproves the "hedgeapple repels spiders" theory. I had a spider weave it's web around, and hide behind a hedgeapple. It doesn't bother spiders at all!!!

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Name: 2snow
State: CT
Date: October 7 2014
Comments:

I bought 6. My house is set back surrounded by trees and my house is a spider heaven. I believe the Hedgeapples deterred the majority of them but certainly "Not" the fruit flies. Wow is all I can say. There are still some flies left after 2 weeks of removing the fruit and the spiders were back in a heart beat. I'd say unless you can grow these and replace them often before they start to turn black - I wouldn't buy them again. Maybe I'll get lucky and they seed themselves where I tossed them and have that opportunity.

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Name: Mogi
State: WI
Date: October 7 2014
Comments:

Going to try and plant hedge apples to grow a grove of Hedge Trees. All I can say is wish me luck. Thank you.

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Name: Bobbie
State: OH
Date: October 5 2014
Comments:

Mitchell Forest near Cincinnati has hedge apples. One fell a week ago, just missing our heads. My son thought it could kill you by hitting you on the head. Is he right?

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Name: Bob
State: CA
Date: September 22 2014
Comments:

When I was a kid growing up outside of Springfield, IL (a little postage stamp called Chatham), there were dozens of hedgeapple trees along a creek behind the neighborhood houses. we used to have hedgeapple wars. Man those things HURT when they hit you - and they left a white sticky goo all over your hands! I can't attest to hedgeapples keeping spiders and ants away, but I will say they did a dandy job of keeping the un-cool neighborhood kids out of our tree fort.

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Name: Lynda
State: MD
Date: September 17 2014
Comments:

I love to use hedge apples in my fall decorating. My husband is a landscaper and brings me a big bag of them every fall. I would like to plant my own tree so I am hoping to find out more about their use and care on this site.

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Name: Melodie Mangers
State: NE
Date: September 14 2014
Comments:

Came upon 4 Osage Orange trees today. Been looking for some in our county for nearly a year. Very excited when we found these trees only about a mile from us. The "hedgeapples" varied in size from 4 inches in diameter to 6". We picked them from the tree and they immediately started oozing the milky white sticky stuff. We were wondering if we should rinse them off of leave them and just put them on the plastic plates as is?

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Name: Patrick
State: KY
Date: August 23 2014
Comments:

If you go to Bellevue, KY (right across the ohio river) and head to the south hills in late September or October you'll find all kinds near the street curbs.

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Name: Rich Metzger
State: TX
Date: August 21 2014
Comments:

"Bodark" is the sound, but, bois d'arc is the spelling. Literally "tree of archery", because it's a good wood for bow-making.

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Name: Jenn
State: MI
Date: August 10 2014
Comments:

Just discovered my parents have a hedge apple tree at their new house. Enjoyed all of the info from your website. Strange looking fruit I must say.

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Name: Moon
State: KS
Date: August 2 2014
Comments:

Have really enjoyed this site over the years and have learned loads about hedge apples. I'm going to use the hedge apple in this years skit, as garnishment for our roasted pig. Will let all know how it works out.

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Name: Ginger
State: IA
Date: June 27 2014
Comments:

I want to use Hedge balls (sorry, that's what we call 'em here) for decorations at my daughter's wedding this September. I ended up at this site because I want to know if mid-September is too early to pick them; It seems that I should be able to do that, although I worry about the sticky stuff oozing out on the tables. Any suggestions?

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Name: Jerry
State: NY
Date: June 14 2014
Comments:

I recently commissioned a native american craftsman and bow maker from the oneida nation to make me a bow. Of course it was made from Osage Orange and it is a most wonderful piece of art. The color and the grain of the wood are amazing.It will be passes down from generation to generation.

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Name: E
State: NY
Date: June 12 2014
Comments:

They repel cockaroaches? Sounds good to me.

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Name: Kathleen
State: DE
Date: April 14 2014
Comments:

April 2014 We have a rental property that had spiders and bugs all the time it backed to the woods. We tried all the different bug guys and their sprays and nothing seemed to help. Until I put the hedgeapples out inside and outside the house. They worked better than any spray we tried. Can't wait to get more. I would highly recommend this compared to any spray.

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Name: Mary H
State: NC
Date: March 9 2014
Comments:

I was happily surprised to find several mature osage trees on the 13 acres we bought last year. Here in northern NC the fruit is orange and won't last a day where deer and livestock and reach them. We are planning to make tight hedgerows with them, and will begin hardwood propagation this month. I'll Let you know how it goes! Thanks.

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Name: Sandy Casey
State: MN
Date: February 17 2014
Comments:

I have use these Hedgeapples for years. I told the Orkin Man he will be put out of business with these. In Minnesota in the winter time we have mice and the Hedgeapples take care of them GREAT!!! I can't say enough good about them I LOVE them and so does everybody else I have told about them.

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Name: Leah
State: MI
Date: January 18 2014
Comments:

My mom gave me one "monkey ball" more than three months ago and said she had gotten it from the market. She said the lady selling it told her it repels critters. My mom knows how much I hate spiders and other crawling things so I took it. I put it in my half bath and now it's starting to shrink. I don't what I'm going to do since it's January and they're out of season. Looking forward to getting a bunch in Sept. (They smell really good--like oranges--who needs glade! Haha!)

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Name: Lynn
State: IN
Date: January 11 2014
Comments:

There is a row of Osage Orange trees on 21st St between Speedway and Indianapolis, bordering some apartments...the thorns are HUGE and the hedge apples sure litter the ditches and street. I like the fresh way they smell and nice for decor. I brought a bunch to my current home in Seattle! Gave them to my friends who loved them. I once saw them in a Martha Stewart magazine issue, decor of course...

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Name: Debbie
State: TX
Date: December 11 2013
Comments:

In Texas, yes...they are also called bois d'ark. In Texas dialect come out... bo' dark Bois d'ark is French

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Name: leticia
State: TX
Date: November 16 2013
Comments:

I thought they were apples! Pull over and picked some..shocked at first..great as ornaments...

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Name: Charles Garrett
State: VA
Date: November 15 2013
Comments:

I found 11 osage Oranges along the road side. I knew what they were when I spotted them several weeks earlier but missed the only place I had to pull over until recently when I passed the same location. I gave one away and still have 10. Love the info on this web site how to harvest the seeds and plant them in secluded places I like to walk. I am looking forward to planting seedlings and will need tips on pruning a few of these trees to be tall and strait.

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Name: Brian
State: PA
Date: November 10 2013
Comments:

Here in Western PA we always called them monkey balls. I now own what is left of a few mile ling "row" of osage orange .they line a steep hillside which is also the property line. Crazy looking trees and real hard on the chainsaw blade I think I have 4 boys and 3 girls, the smallest tree is about 2 ft around at the base the largest must be closer to three. Very cool to see these things are everywhere !

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Name: No spiders
State: PA
Date: November 6 2013
Comments:

These do work for a bug deterrent. However you must cut them in half to expose the milky inside. I have a spider problem I'm my house every fall. After putting a few of these in my basement, I don't see spiders for months.

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Name: Terry
State: NY
Date: November 5 2013
Comments:

Not from New York. Welland On. Canada We have hedgeapple trees growing just down the road, looks to be the remnant of an old hedge planting.

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Name: Joette
State: IL
Date: November 4 2013
Comments:

Just picked up about 20 hedgeapples that fell off the tree down the road where I live in Will County. I'm going to place them around the basement of our house that's being built. We'll see how they work to keep the bugs away. I remember as a kid (same location), my Mother placed them about 10 feet apart at the perimeter of the basement. She was petrified of those "many legged" bugs that we couldn't even say the word and guess what, it worked. So now I'll keep the tradition going.

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Name: Debi Morrison
State: MI
Date: November 2 2013
Comments:

I have used these for many years. We could get them from a tree out in a field. They do work and have also worked for many other bugs as well. I am so allergic to spiders not to mention scared to death of them and these are the only things that has kept them out of our house and garage. We have spent alot of money on exterminators, and other sprays and nothing has worked as well as these hedgeapples. I swear by them and have shared them with all my neighbors as well and they are glad to have them for the same reasons. This web site will explain to you what they are and what they can do, but believe me they do work.

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Name: Angel
State: KY
Date: November 2 2013
Comments:

While I realize spiders can be valuable little creatures (devouring “other” little unwanted creatures), I am highly allergic to their bites. For as long as I can remember (40+ years now—lol) my family has been using hedgeapples to keep the arachnids at bay. My Pop always says that hedgeapple hoodoo is “just an old wives tale”; but I always tell him, “I’ve known some very WISE old wives!” “Reduction rate”? If you see a spider—it’s simply time to replace your hedgeapples! Over the years, I’ve almost developed a “system”. The formula: hedgeapples (fresh or frozen—lol), brown paper lunch sacks, bay leaves, and cornmeal! In the Fall, I gather several dozen hedgeapples that have fallen to the ground, avoiding those with brown areas and/or oozing white sap. I hose them off, then set them in the sun for an afternoon. When they’re nice and dry, I place them in brown paper lunch sacks with the tops rolled down about halfway, then set them out—in every room of the house. It doesn’t matter where. I put them in cabinets under sinks, closet corners, and use several in our crawl space. The lunch sacks help absorb moisture (to extend their life), and also make for easier/less messy removal/disposal. The other dozen or so, I freeze. This site says their average life is 2-3 months, but I usually only change mine about twice a year—in the Spring (when ALL things seem to come to life again—lol), and again come Autumn. If they get a little “moosh-y”, the paper sack contains the mess; and their consistency doesn’t seem to affect their…consistency. Neither does the deep freeze. I dig out the frozen batch, place them in fresh paper sacks, and do it all over again. I can’t attest to their ability to repel any other unwanted houseguests, but I can tell you we RARELY see even a cobweb. I also like to add a bay leaf to each “apple sack”, as they are purported to offend myriad other peskies—roaches, weevils, even house flies! (We tend to see tiny black weevils after toting in food boxes from the wholesale store; and roaches just love a good cardboard box.) Just for good measure, I throw in a little cornmeal or farina (cream of wheat). Ants will carry these back to their nest, but die when they eat it. (This is great for our crawl space and out-buildings!) I think my post is a little longer than most, but if you were looking for DECADES of testing and testimonial—this was the one to read. 

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Name: Kathy
State: KY
Date: October 31 2013
Comments:

My husband has been eating hedgeapples for about 2 years now for Cancer. He had a recurrence (salivary gland) 2-1/2 years ago and was given few month to live and surgery was not an option. We heard about hedgeapples in fighting Cancer and he thought why not give it a try! We get them off the tree after the first front, freeze them whole and then take one out of the freezer wash it - let it thaw. Cut about 1" in to the seed layer and cut into chunks, freeze the chunks on a cookie sheet and then put in a baggie. My husband eats one a day. He has cyberknife radiation and long with eating the hedgeapples, he is still here with us!

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Name: The Wandercrones
State: ID
Date: October 26 2013
Comments:

We've been relying on hedge apples for years. We use them in our house in Mexico, in our RV, and in our place in Idaho. A definite reduction in spiders...and, we think it repels mice from our RV, too. But, no scientific evidence for the mice...just personal observation. This year seems to have been particularly a bad one for spiders ------- and, they are all headed indoors now! So, we are particularly anxious to get re-stocked up with our annual supply. The folks at hedge apple.com are the best at getting the freshest apples right to your door just when you need them!

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Name: Debi
State: MI
Date: October 26 2013
Comments:

I have used these for years, but could not find them for the past three years. They worked wonderful for getting rid of spiders. I am allergic to them so this helps me out a lot, and I don't have the high cost of hiring someone to come in and spray for them with all those chemicals. Thank God I found this site. I will be sharing this with all my family and friends.

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Name: Beverly
State: OK
Date: October 20 2013
Comments:

just got the book natural solutions to bugs and they talk about hedgeapples as a repelant to roaches is this for real! If this works why havn't they come up with this before. I have roaches in the kitchen and bath to a point where I see them even when the house is clean. HELP!! I feel like even when I spray they are not gone. Would like to try them but don't need 4 only have a small house can I get less? Will 1 work on whole house!

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Name: Judy Bishop
State: MO
Date: October 17 2013
Comments:

In 2001, I started picking up hedge Apples, before the squirrels tore them up. I think, the first year I picked up about 200-300. I put that in a big Christmas card that I do every year. People started looking forward to it. So each year, I have picked them up. While I was in Iraq, my partner only picked up 3. One yr they were falling so close to me, my neighbor said I should put on a hard hat, so I put on my Kevlar. We took many pictures. It was too funny. Last year, I only picked up about 300. I decided it was to hot for anyone to mess around (male/female). This year (2013), is the grandaddy of all years. So far (Oct), I have over 5000. HOLY COW! Will post the total when I get it.

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Name: Charlie
State: PA
Date: October 16 2013
Comments:

I'm surprised to see a site about monkey balls. Growing up in southwest Pa. We don't see too many of these trees unless you are out in the woods, and it's pretty rare to see them along side a road. I made walking sticks and clubs out of the wood, it's the hardest wood that I know of. The monkey balls are good to have in your basement to keep the bugs and spiders out. When I was a kid, I would break them open and use the white sap inside as glue for paper, it looks just like Elmer's glue. Thanks for making this website, I learned a lot about these that I never knew. The name everyone around here uses for these things is Monkey Balls.

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Name: Alicia
State: NE
Date: October 12 2013
Comments:

Had a terrible problem with fruit fly infestation. Tried every spray chemical I could find, industrial as well as store bought, nothing worked. We have hedge apple trees in Hayes County so I collected a grocery sack full. Placed several in bowls and along windowsills and in 48 hours there was 75% reduction in the amount of flies. It's day 7 and I counted about 3 or 4 flies left. They look great with our fall pumpkins too.

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Name: Valerie
State: CA
Date: September 29 2013
Comments:

From Ontario, Canada. Yes we here in CANADA LIKE OSAGE ORANGE ALSO! Osage Orange used to grow here but have been harvested / destroyed - now,all but extinct. I would love to try to grow them here and repopulate.

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Name: Melissa Ritenour
State: WV
Date: September 24 2013
Comments:

I just went and got me some, never used them for spiders before, but im gonna try it, my porch and house is eat up with them, so this will tell the tell, I got several hope it works

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Name: Buck
State: TX
Date: September 9 2013
Comments:

Bois D`arc wood ,dried , makes the absolute best smoking wood for brisket , salmon etc

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Name: wildflower
State: OH
Date: August 31 2013
Comments:

can anyone tell me how to remove a stain from the hedge Apple? I had one on my carpet and it looks like it "melted". I have used them for years with great success in keeping spiders away, but I never had one do this before. I will put it on a dish from now on.

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Name: Mary
State: TX
Date: August 25 2013
Comments:

Found a tree in Arkansas, We picked 2 and brought them home. I am going to try them.. fingers crossed, The house i bought has spiders everywhere

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Name: Brookhaven
State: GA
Date: August 25 2013
Comments:

Twelve years ago, while jogging in White Rock Park (Dallas TX), I noticed the strange looking fruit along the roadside. I investigated my find on the internet, and then mail ordered two seedlings for my backyard here in Atlanta. Both trees appear very happy and are now about 20 feet tall each. One of them (the female) produced her first fruit this year. I hope I won't regret having planted these fascinating trees in my back yard next to the patio where people lounge :-)

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Name: Tiffany
State: FL
Date: August 22 2013
Comments:

My boyfriend and I were researching natural rememdies to get rid of cockroaches and we came across a book that mentioned your website. We had never heard of hedgeapples and were delighted to find out about them! A local friend has a bad roach problem in her home. We want to visit her more often, but are uncomfortable because of the bugs. I am going to get some hedgeapples and put them in a gift basket for this friend, as a polite way of offering help for her problem. I hope they work! By the way, I love your website! I would like it if you could maybe put a photo of the largest hedgeapple tree on here. I am from Virginia and would like to see it. I only noticed a couple other entries here from Florida dwellers. Since cockroaches (and so many other insects) are ubiquitous here, you'd think more Floridians would know about hedgeapples. If they work, I'm going to start the movement here.

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Name: Maxine Thorpe
State: GA
Date: August 11 2013
Comments:

Thank God for Hedge Apples. I truly noticed a reduction of roaches in my home. My only problem was not ordering more soon enough.I now have Hedge Apple trees growing in my front yard. I hope they keep growing and do not die on me.

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Name: Chris Traub
State: CA
Date: August 8 2013
Comments:

As a bowyer/archer, I've been interested in the isage-orange for a long time but they're extremely rare in California. A few rows of them have been planted here and there in the Central Valley as fences. Someone told me recently that they could be found on Robinson Road in Solano County. I drove there and, sure enough, well over a hundred them! And right now, early August, they have their interesting fruits. I'm thinking of trying to contact the owner of that farm to seek permission to harvest a few limbs to make bows.

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Name: Tim Ellis
State: NE
Date: August 1 2013
Comments:

I found a hedge Apple tree while walking my dog by the hotel we were staying at in Kansas City Missouri in July 2013 , I brought some back and placed them in my camper I am staying in while working in the country and have not seen a spider since....before that I had spiders.

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Name: R. Heavner
State: TX
Date: May 21 2013
Comments:

Will a hedge apple hurt someone if it falls on them? Our daughter has a large tree in her front yard where her baby plays. We are afraid that the baby could be hurt if a hedge apple falls on her.

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Name: Diana
State: TX
Date: May 17 2013
Comments:

Gonna give em a try

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Name: Rachel
State: TX
Date: May 17 2013
Comments:

My daughter is renting a house with a large hedge apple tree in the front yard. The limbs come out over most of the yard and the driveway. The apples drop for 1-2 months each year-what a nasty mess! My husband had his windshield broken twice last year. Here is my question: We are afraid that our little granddaughter would be killed if one of those apples fell on her. Has anyone heard of someone being killed or injured by a hedge apple?

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Name: Judy Mullins
State: KY
Date: May 13 2013
Comments:

I have left comments on this site before, but can't find my entries. The most wonderful use for hedgeapples is the cancer healing properties. The ingredient found in the apples is called Tetrahydroxystilbene. I personally know lots of people who have been healed of cancer by simply eating the hedgeapple or taking hedgeapple capsules. I take a capsule every day just as a preventive measure. So many people day every day from cancer, and they don't have to. If they would just look beyond the traditional chemo. If I were told today that i had cancer, i would not take chemo. I would just double up on my hedgeapple intake. This is no joke folks. Do your own research. Hedgeapples are a miracle from God.

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Name: Butch
State: SC
Date: March 15 2013
Comments:

Saw a huge tree on a clearing construction site mid 90s,collected fruit didn't know how to grow,my only survivor is now 20 ft tall,11in dia,keep hoping for fruit.last year where I hunt at found one growing in the wild,collected 11 "oranges",have hunted this spot since the mid 70s,first time I have ever seen fruit,tree was in dense shade of pine trees,pines dying have let sunlight get in .tree looking ok,will try to care for it.glad I could share story.thanks for this site

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Name: Mark
State: CA
Date: March 12 2013
Comments:

What season does hedgeapples Reach maturity ? COCKROACH PROB !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Name: Amanda
State: KY
Date: February 23 2013
Comments:

These hedge apple grow wild around here. They are very good at curing many ailments and curing cancer. They are frozen whole and taken out to grate off a tablespoon a few times a day. Great insects repellent but the sappy stuff can burn skin directly. If taken orally, should drink water to wash it down. It has been said the native American noticed their similarity to the shape of the cancerous tumors

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Name: Kim Hawkins
State: WA
Date: February 11 2013
Comments:

my husband read about Hedgeapples in a book about natural ways to get rid of bugs and all other creapy crawlers. The talked about this Hedgeapple as the best way to get rid of spiders. Well I want to try it so I am on the waiting list.

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Name: Doug
State: OH
Date: December 15 2012
Comments:

My sister had mention to my mom that hedgeapples are good for repelling spiders. We live in northwest Ohio mear the Wapkoneta/Lima area. Earlier this week we were in Tipp City (north of Dayton) and a lady at the library directed us to a Vandalia elementary school where we found them and they ranged in size from a baseball to a softball. All that we found were on the ground. They were yellowish green and somewhat "bumpy". There was just a small patch behind an apartment complex beside an elementary school parking lot. I hope they will repel spiders.

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Name: Michael
State: IN
Date: December 5 2012
Comments:

so Indiana says these "osage-orange trees are invasive" but i really don't think that they are, i think they just don't like them and sens they say they are im going to help spread more of there seeds and help more of um grow because, i like the trees and their are only 8 of these trees where i live at and all of um are spread out far their is only 2 out of the 8 of these trees close to town all the others are farther out and not in town we have "all different kinds of maple trees" and tulip-poplars pines red-wood-cedars and sycamores and just only a few osage-orange trees hanging on the osage-orange fruits don't have much of a taste at all the seeds taste good tho. and osage-orange seeds from the fruits don't need to be froze in order for them to sprout out something i learned my self if you have a fresh wet seed let it dry out them plant it or just plant it either way it will sprout out if its good my plan is to help plant more of these seeds i start them all indoors and transplant them outside but watch out for the rust.

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Name: John
State: NC
Date: November 29 2012
Comments:

I'm looking for about a dozen or so to buy now for planting some fence. But I need to work them over the winter. Please help me with my quest

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Name: Brandon
State: MO
Date: November 29 2012
Comments:

Growing up in Southeast Missouri I have always knew of the trees but they are very few and far between. My dad always brought one home a year and threw it under the kitchen counter. I took a 100 mile round trip drive yester day just to see how many of these trees actuall are still around and I counted five! I love how burly the trees look and the fruit is definatly fun for the kids just as long as there are no windows around. You can actually buy the trees from Missouri department of conservation.

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Name: Reggie T
State: AL
Date: November 26 2012
Comments:

Hey, I really appreciate your great info about this awesome Tree. I'm just getting started in my love for the outdoors and trees specifically. I live in Huntsville, AL and wanted to know about where & how I can find and then Identify these trees in the winter? Thanks Reggie

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Name: Patty
State: IN
Date: November 11 2012
Comments:

Grew up in rural Indiana in the 1970's and Hedgeapple trees dotted the roadsides. Now the subdivisions have moved in and the hedgeapples are out. However, I found a stand down a deadend road near my home in Zionsville. And want to try your method and by the hedgerow fairy and re-populate them along the roadside. Maybe Paw Paw's would be fun to try too. I think I will check with the nature center, too, and see if they can get involved.

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Name: Anne
State: MI
Date: November 8 2012
Comments:

We live in Chatham Ontario, Canada and osage orange trees grow well here (we are at 42 degrees north - the same as Detroit)- I hadn't heard about their insect repellant characteristics, but they are sold here as decorations in christmas swags and arrangements. Some of our trees are quite large. I picked some up today along the road on one of our main streets. I am going to use some in the storgae area to get rid of spiders.

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Name: Mary Lou
State: IL
Date: November 8 2012
Comments:

I use hedgeapples to keep mice out of the house in winter. Mouse poison does not get rid of them but hedgeapples do. I leave them sit all year long where mice might come in-replace them each fall have done this several years. I sit them on plastic lid to protect floor.

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Name: James
State: WA
Date: October 27 2012
Comments:

Glad I came to your website. I grew up hunting with my father just north of Walla Walla WA. I found this strange fruit at the edge of a field. My dad said they were hedge apples. That was over 30 years ago. Just today my father and I went back out there just out of curiosity and once again found the tree and picked some of the fruit. It was fun retracing our steps after all these years. My father knows of only one other tree in this area, also north of town. We figured these trees were probably planted 80 to over 100 years ago by farmers or homesteaders in the area. Very cool!

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Name: Leticia McRae
State: CA
Date: October 26 2012
Comments:

I am not in California I am in Alaska but our state NOT on your list. I just received a package from a friend in Cloverdale, Calif. with these "fruits" in it. One of these trees grows in Cloverdale and is a major part of my childhood memories. We always called it the brain tree while growing up. It grows at the cemetery, scared our selves silly as kids.

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Name: Ruthie Bodiford
State: TX
Date: October 23 2012
Comments:

First, I have really enjoyed your site. I have Hedgeapples galore. When they fall to the ground they become my Jack Russell, Andy's favorite outside toy. Andy has never suffered any adverse reaction while playing with the apples or ingesting them. He is allergic to his yearly shots so I am surprised that the Hedgeapples have not bothered him. I get a lot of enjoyment watching him play with the apples, dig large holes so deep only his tail is visible when he is working on the hole, then he buries his prize apple and covers it. One day I may have Hedgeapple Trees all over my yard instead of just the one. Living in the country we are overrun with spiders and I am anxious to try the apples for spider control. I will write and let you know how it works. Ruthie

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Name: Denise
State: OH
Date: October 16 2012
Comments:

I recieved my Hedgeapples in late August 2012 and so far so good! I have even told a few friends and they are having me order them some! Can't wait to share the spider fighter! I haven't had to replace mine yet which is even better.

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Name: Rob
State: MS
Date: October 7 2012
Comments:

I live in Mississippi and Osage is all over the place here. I'm a wood turner and love turning it because of the color, it makes a beautifil piece. I read here that Osage is related to Mulberry but other reading have lead me to believe that it isn't related to any other living species, that it is in a genus all it's own.

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Name: Judith
State: AL
Date: October 5 2012
Comments:

What a marvelous fruit. I live in North Alabama and was horseback riding in October 2012 with a friend. We discovered a remote apple tree, ripe persimmons, and late muscadines. My horse was so happy, he saw the Osage Orange on the ground and thought he'd found a treat. Not so much, but we really enjoyed seeing this unusual fruit. Your webpage is a fun, Thanks for the information. Judith

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Name: Nancy E
State: TX
Date: September 21 2012
Comments:

I recently discovered a few of these trees on my new-ish property. I had horses colicking way too much and found that they are very addicted to these oranges and must just not know when to stop eating them. After too many vet bills i have decided the trees must go. One of them is very old and one of my favorite trees but i cannot afford another sick horse. This old tree has dropped 100's of oranges this year!!! I found another tree that is only dropping a few...a much younger tree i guess and another that appears to have no fruit at all. if i knew how to tell the male from female trees i would NOT cut down the one that is not fruiting this year.

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Name: lee
State: OH
Date: September 8 2012
Comments:

we have a few in delaware and marion counties, but this year they didnt bear fruit. they are found growing by old barns and roadsides. i really want to get some and start growing my own

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Name: Gisele
State: SC
Date: September 6 2012
Comments:

I am just coming to aecprpiate Osage Orange. Growing up in SE Kansas, they were a given, always there. Now I see them in a new light in many ways. Hubby has been making some shawl pins from hedge cut on his family farm. I have added the hedge apples to my autumn decor of pumpkins and gourds

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Name: Ken
State: GA
Date: August 20 2012
Comments:

I grew up in Virginia and always had these trees somewhere in my childhood. Didn't have a use for them. Just got back from a trip to Va. and the friends there were from Kentucky and told me the sage orange(apple) was being used for virus and cancer treatments with great results. Of course this was all on the side because of the feds. If anyone else has information or knowledge let me know. Brought some to home to try. Cannot hurt.

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Name: Richard
State: GA
Date: August 19 2012
Comments:

I am professional woodworker and it is my opinion that Osage orange is one of the lovliest woods in creation, a wonderful golden color with a certain luminesence but oh so very hard. Now I will try the fruit and so inquire for my self wether it poseses any insect repeling properties.

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Name: Jennifer
State: VA
Date: August 19 2012
Comments:

I just placed my first order as we have bad spiders this year! the site says they are available until december...my question is when are they not available? thank you!

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Name: Stephanie
State: SC
Date: August 17 2012
Comments:

I was driving home with some family members when we saw it on the side of the road, and my dad wanted to pull over to the side of the road because he saw something. It was on the side of an older dirt road and at first I thought it was a tennis ball. We picked it up but nobody recognized it, but we cracked it open to look inside and ended up taking it home.

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Name: Christine Pasek
State: NY
Date: August 16 2012
Comments:

I have known about Osage Oranges for a few years but my husband didn't...he worked too much to notice some things....but now that he is retired and working out in the garden and around the house more he is finding out all kinds of things that I already know but I am letting him find this out for himself. Last year...as in every year we have a terriable time with spiders around the front and back doors to our house. My husband had gotten a spider spray before that seemed to work. Last year while we were at the farmers market he heard about Osage Oranges and how they would help get rid of the spiders....so he bought some...3 to be exact...and he put one outside by the side door and outside on our fall decorations by the front door and gave one away....guess what...NO SPIDERS....he was so impressed that we just had our house power washed and he was telling the guy about the Osage Oranges and now wants to go and get more...I just hope they are available this early in the season. Last year also when the fruit looked really dry I did cut it open and I then put it into the compost bin....this year I will do something different according to some other things I have read...I would really like to get 1 or 2 trees going for the fruit alone. A house next door to us was recently torn down...the lot is not big enough for a new house to be built so we are hoping to acquire the lot...I am sure these trees would be stunning on this lot....I have lots of ideas what I would do with that lot if we got it and a few fast growing trees is in the plans.

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Name: Ken Mason
State: OK
Date: July 29 2012
Comments:

I love in NE Oklahoma have two acres and have a huge number of Osage Orange trees on my property. We frequently have hundreds of the round green brains on the ground early fall. The trees when pruned up are wonderful left to themselves they are a serious nuisance. Cut one down and leave a stump at ground level next summer you will have a bush ten feet high ten feet wide and out of control. Yes the thorns are a disaster, they hurt, puncture tires and feet BUT i you can control these monsters you will have a super hearty foolproof tree in your yard giving you an abundance of shade. They are interesting trees.

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Name: Sylvia Martinez
State: TX
Date: July 22 2012
Comments:

We bought some land and I found 2 of these trees.. I am reading n these now...I am going to try these for my bugs ... Will post again in a month!!!! If you want some let me know!!!! Sylvia

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Name: Chris
State: TX
Date: July 4 2012
Comments:

Osage orange trees are sturdy, yet flexible. If the osage orange fruit winds up in your walking path, take it as a sign that you are being blessed. It says you are a person who has been through some large challenges, and have been able to endure. You are a person of high standards, and will not bend at the first sign of trouble. Your ability to outlast the difficulties of life lead you to victory. Honor the osage orange!

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Name: Lee Savage
State: IL
Date: June 9 2012
Comments:

I was investigating sustainable farming one day, and I happened upon this page. As I read, memories flooded back of the hedge row we had as a kid growing up in rural Annawan,Il. The farm we lived on had been started before the Civil War, and livestock had been a major part of the farm. There were a number of hedge rows that were still in place as fence. They would hold the sheep and cattle that we had on pasture. if an animal did break out it was from a section of fence that had been replaced with man made material. I drove past the old home-place recently, and was saddened that the rows of hedge hadbeen taken out.

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Name: Debbie
State: KY
Date: May 10 2012
Comments:

I have always thought hedgeapples were poisonious until a few years ago. I know some people who have been taking them as a cure for cancer and arthritis. And guess what the Cancer is completely gone. If pharmaceutical companies would get some and extract them we may have found a cure for this trecherous disease. Of course upon my reading they are very hard to grow the trees. but also in my readings learned that these hedge apple trees are thriving just about everywhere . God is so good and he wouldnt have just put these trees here for no reason . has anyone else heard about this.

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Name: Don
State: PA
Date: February 19 2012
Comments:

I have a Mock Orange bush that seems to be strangled by some sort of a vine. Anyone else see anything like this? Would appreicated any advice. Thanks

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Name: Beth
State: IL
Date: January 21 2012
Comments:

I remember hedge apple trees from when I was young on my Grandpa's farm. My grandma would throw them under the porch of the house to keep bugs out of the house. Most people never heard of them when I talk about them. Thanks for the info.

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Name: Evelyn
State: AZ
Date: January 3 2012
Comments:

I used Headge balls in Wis. Worked wonders in my garage to keep spiders out and even mice. Now I am in Az and want to get them for the spiders and ants can't wait to find them. Wish I could fond a place out here that sells them instead of having to order them. If anyone knows of a place in Mesa, Az that sells them please post this information. Thank's

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Name: Kristina
State: OH
Date: January 2 2012
Comments:

We have TONS of these trees in our area, Logan County Ohio. In the winter it looks like the trees have tennis balls stuck in them! I always use them around the outside perimeter of the house and stick one at the back of the mail box to keep all the spiders out.

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Name: Myranda
State: MO
Date: January 1 2012
Comments:

When I was in grade school and started my cycle, it was regular for about 4 years, then I started taking birth control and when I got off of it completely my periods stopped for about 4 years total. I went to the doctor had an ultra sound to check for cysts etc, nothing appeared to be wrong... strangely enough I tried the hedge apple one day. Then all of a sudden a week later, whoop, there my cycle was!!! So weird! I hadn't had it in so long the cramps, eating a lot, bloating etc. made me think I might be pregnant. Then well, you know... Miraculous!

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Name: Nita
State: TN
Date: December 31 2011
Comments:

Picked up several today on the side of the road. We have spiders, sure hope this works. Will let you know. Enjoyed all the entries.

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Name: Jesse
State: VA
Date: December 20 2011
Comments:

I bought a house on 2 acres in 2011 and was thrilled to learn that the property was surrounded by a thick hedgerow of Osage Orange! I probably have 50-70 standing trees over 12" diameter each. I have a feeling that some of these trees have been here for 200+ years. My largest tree is over 5 FEET in diameter at the trunk! I have been burning the dead and downed Osage Orange in my woodstove and I have NEVER seen wood like this! One log will burn HOT for 12-15 hours! When air is provided to the Osage coals it will spark so much that it sounds like fireworks going off in the woodstove! Crazy, amazing wood! I do have one peeve with these trees...stepping on a hedge apple that is covered in dead leaves is a great way to twist an ankle!

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Name: Jey & Lori
State: NE
Date: December 13 2011
Comments:

Jey went home to his Grandpa's farm and found a hedge apple making him remember the Christmas ornaments that were made from them. Anyone have any decorative ideas for ornaments?

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Name: Amanda
State: TX
Date: December 11 2011
Comments:

I recently moved to the country in East Texas from the desert. I was puzzled by the odd green brain fruit, littering the adjacent pasture. My future brother-in-law knew what it was and had heard of the bug repelling properties. I brought one home out of curiosity and he cut in half with a saw. Kinda slimy, gooey... reminded me of avacado. Anyway, we have a fire ant mound that we mess with pretty often, so we decided to try the Hedge Apple on them. Nestled into the mound, few ants responded. Later, we returned to the mound. Although, parts were still active...NONE were near the Hedge Apple. Cool! Now I'll have to get some for the house.

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Name: Annette
State: IN
Date: December 9 2011
Comments:

I remember these back when I was a child.. n my oldest sister who just turned 60 asked what those ugly green soft ball things were she sees layin in the road.. I told her well dang don't u remember ma use to call those "road apples" she said that's funny cause road apples is horse poo.. I laughed I said its that too lol Now the one thing we used them for was bug repellant but as far as slicing them n drying them I'd never thought that. Thanks Hedgeapple.com for opening my eyes to yet another good use to some funky lookin fruit :o) Bless!

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Name: Judy
State: VA
Date: December 3 2011
Comments:

We visited Shenandoah National Park yesterday and there was a prominent tree at one of the lookouts, about 10-15 miles down Skyline Drive from Front Royal, with all sorts of the yellow balls both still in the tree and also lying around. I thought they might be some sort of weird fungus but soon found that they were osage oranges or hedgeapples (thanks, google). Many of them had been smashed open and started to rot in the middle, but others were intact, especially those on the tree.

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Name: Lacey
State: TX
Date: December 2 2011
Comments:

Yes in Texas they are called HORSE APPLES ! I had no idea they were useful for anything else but my horses absolutely love them !!! We have several large trees on our property and my horse will stand on his hind legs to pick em out of the trees. Its funny to see people so amazed by HORSE APPLES ... too funny !!! The link RESERVE YOUR HEDGEAPPLES is Hilarious to me ... Think I should start selling em haha !!!

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Name: Sue
State: IL
Date: November 27 2011
Comments:

Earlier this month while camping with my scouts we found a beautiful osage orange with bushels of fruit hanging from her branches. Those bushels are now on my rear deck awaiting the winter freeze and hopefully an abundanr germination in the spring. They won't be planted anywhere near my horse pastures, but used as a living fence on my south property line. Hopefully I'll be around to see them mature. Love the tree -- it can add to the "lawn decor" just as my numerous black walnuts do now. Great web site !!!!

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Name: Billy
State: IN
Date: November 25 2011
Comments:

My mother and I recently went to a covered bridge festival here in Indiana where we saw these interesting fruit being sold along w/ gourds pumpkins and other fall decorative things. I had seen similar bread fruit somewhere before, and thought thats what I had encountered. Being inquisitive I asked the gentleman selling them, what exactly they were. He explained that when placed in and around the home they would keep out spiders roaches and other bugs.....and that he had even heard that they discouraged mice from coming in during the winter months. I thought they had a wonderful smell, but didn't buy any that day. Today after our thanksgiving dinner we were on our way home when i noticed HEDGE APPLES all over the ground on the roadside, right here in indianapolis. we stopped and picked up a few, i'm excited to see if they really work! happy holidays everybody!

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Name: alex
State: NJ
Date: November 25 2011
Comments:

saw some of those fruits today on my run today, was wondering what they were..well thanks to your site now i know, and i am going tomorrow to pick some tomorrow and put them to keep the crickets away from my house

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Name: Marie
State: NY
Date: November 23 2011
Comments:

I've always wondered what those things were growing outside of my school.

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Name: barry
State: PA
Date: November 17 2011
Comments:

i live right next 2 a creek,and i always wanted 2 plant a monkeyball tree so i can kick the balls in the creek to see how many other tree start themselfs over the next 10 20 years.so thanks 4 the idea about the seed slurry.

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Name: Janet
State: IL
Date: November 16 2011
Comments:

Lots of good Info here but specifically how many would I need to put in a full-sized, unfinished basement? How long do they last...months or years? I also heard they keep moths out of closets-true?

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Name: Janis
State: TX
Date: November 15 2011
Comments:

Hello I have just read and submitted an entry for your readers. I do have one concern. You state that a cat or dog will not go near a hedgeapple as you call them. My dog bites into them and it is a concern for me. He is only a pup and I am afraid that the milk which comes from this trees fruit will hurt him. So far I have not gotten a firm answer from any site I have visited. I understand they will not harm a squirrel but isn't a dog's digestive system similar to a human's? If so and they are not good for a human to eat, would this not be the same for a dog? If you have fact on this please relay it to me via my e-mail at the live.com address submitted on the contact page for your site. Thanx Janis

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Name: Jack
State: OH
Date: November 11 2011
Comments:

Wow I really can't believe someone sells these. I live here in Ohio and they are all over here at this time of year. Most people do pick some up from the trees and yes they do work from keeping bugs away.

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Name: Sally
State: VA
Date: November 5 2011
Comments:

We were driving down the road when my mom stopped the car and made me jump out and grab a couple!! We didn't know there official name so this website was a great help!!(:

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Name: val
State: IN
Date: November 3 2011
Comments:

We have 3 large trees with at least 1000 hedgeapples on ground right now. Any idea how to sell or even give away???

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Name: KAREN
State: PA
Date: October 30 2011
Comments:

I live in Indiana county in PA and near one of these trees. Thank you for the information about the use as a spider pest control. It is useful information. I now have one in both of my basements.

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Name: Rick
State: MO
Date: October 30 2011
Comments:

Love your info on the Hedgeapple. I am going to plan a row or two this spring. They are thick in my area and a local farmer actually cleared a field for cattle and is letting me clean up the dozer piles for firewood, mostly Hedge. I like the trees as they grow in some unusual shapes! They will fight for light if they are in a tree line, and will grow at all sorts of strange angles to survive. The Mullberry will do the same!

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Name: Tucker
State: IN
Date: October 27 2011
Comments:

I found a whole bunch of these on the side of the road and nobody could tell me what it was so i cut it open and found it oozing what seemed to be milk. i proceeded to google "weird green bumpy lactating fruit" and this was the first site that came up. Thank you.

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Name: Susan
State: KS
Date: October 26 2011
Comments:

We purchased a small farm about two years ago and this fall is the first time we have been submerged in hedge apples. I was looking for information about whether they will sprout if not collected from the pastures and yard. I don't need more hedge trees, but am glad we have some. Locals say that the wood is the BEST for burning and that hedge posts are the strongest you can have, even if they are not super straight. Folk wisdom around here says that a hedge post will last, without rotting, for 100 years.

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Name: Bonnie
State: CO
Date: October 25 2011
Comments:

Hedge apples do work for bugs and spiders.....used them for roaches in an apt. in Ks back in the early 60s....never saw them again in our apt...all the neighbors had us bring them some and got rid of theirs also. Used them for years in KS and NE...now living in CO and have no problems in apt that I live in...but if I do will get some more!!!!

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Name: Vikki
State: KS
Date: October 24 2011
Comments:

Are they poisonous to fish in farm ponds?

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Name: Marti
State: MO
Date: October 23 2011
Comments:

I just obtained these hedgeapples today 10/23/11. I picked up off the ground they seem to have good color. I am going to place them in basement and attic. Mainly for spiders, most of the crikets are gone by October. I will submit more info later. I am interested if I can sell them and how, the area I found these was abundant. I am going back tomorrow to gather more.

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Name: Deanna
State: IL
Date: October 19 2011
Comments:

I'm so glad I found this website! We live on ten acres of which approximately two thirds is woodland and a large portion of that is made up of Osage Orange. We have a woodburning stove and harvest the dead trees to help heat our home during the winter. Nothing burns hotter, and lasts longer than the Osage Orange wood.

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Name: Tom
State: MO
Date: October 19 2011
Comments:

My mother is who told me about hedge apples mamy years ago in Nebraska. My mom used to place the hedge apple in the basement and wildow sills to repel spiders. I recently purchased a home in Missouri and I am very fortunate to have aN Osage tree on my property. Every year when they fall from the tree I place the apples along the outside foundation of my home. And guess what?....no spiders!!!

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Name: Enya
State: TX
Date: October 19 2011
Comments:

Just seen these in Budapest! Took ages to find out what they were!

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Name: Sue
State: WI
Date: October 18 2011
Comments:

We have several "hedgespple" trees in a park close to my house. Every year I go pick up several of the fruits, slice them as thin as I can, put them on some parchment paper and slowly dry them. They are beautiful when dried, dark brown snd have a flower design. They look great in Potpourri and smell good too. I will have to try them for spiders this year too! Thanks for all the info!

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Name: jill
State: VA
Date: October 17 2011
Comments:

Hedgeapples are a great addition to outdoor fall decorations. When displayed outside, next to orange pumpkins and gourds, the yellow/ green "apple" really POPs. Here in northern Virginia they can be found at local farmers markets. I just returned from a trip to Lewes, Delaware where I discovered loads of hedgeapples free for the taking. Great find!

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Name: jack
State: OH
Date: October 17 2011
Comments:

I have a couple of trees. This year so far I have gathered over 200 off the ground so that I can mow the lawn. I just throw them away on garbage day. Tried them inside the house on a few occasions but saw no positive effect in insects.

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Name: mark shores
State: MD
Date: October 16 2011
Comments:

We seen these at Ladew Topiary gardens yesterday and couldnt figure out what they were, now we do.

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Name: Annie Grayson
State: AR
Date: October 15 2011
Comments:

Can you eat hedgeapples? I mean will they hurt your insides?

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Name: Pam
State: IL
Date: October 15 2011
Comments:

I first learned about Osage Orange trees when studying plant materials at U of IL in the 1960's. They were suggested as excellent windbreaks for IL zone fields. I didn't remember ( if I ever knew) that the fruits were useful for anything other than seasonal decoration, but I am living in a wooded area and I will give them a try

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Name: steve
State: KS
Date: October 15 2011
Comments:

The osage orange , or hedge tree, as we know it has cost me a ton of money. My cattle eat them and occassionally get choked on them and some die from choking. If anyone wants smoe, come and get it, we have to pick them up all of the time this time of year to avoid cattle problems with them .

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Name: Netta
State: TX
Date: October 12 2011
Comments:

I walk to work. And I happen to see the tree I pass daily has these "brain-like" balls under it all of a sudden. And of course I pick one up and brought it to work and asked everyone what it was. To no avail no one knew. I have a cockroach dilemma in my apartment. Ive sprayed areas were they traveled and where I see them. I also used the infamous boric acid powder stuff. Since I used both seems like they've migrate to other parts of the apartment. I was hesitant to use either product bc of allergies and being asthmatic. I decided to google "roach repellent" but natural roach repellant came up. So I search natural roach repellent then comes up hedgeapple or orange Osage tree. The description of a hedgeapple sounded like my "brain" looking ball I see walking to work. I google the image and there was my natural roach repellant. I think I will gather as many as I can and give to my clients. I will have a few in my apartment tomorrow. I'll post again in a few months telling about my the end of my roach dilemma. Lol

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Name: carmen
State: IL
Date: October 10 2011
Comments:

I was hiking on a path at a campsite once. I found a million of these little brain shaped fruits. I asked my mom what they were. She said my grandma uses it to keep spiders and some other insects away from certain places. I thought it was a very cool fruit, so after the hiking trip, I went home and googled "Hedgeapples" and I found this website. I am glad to know what they are now. I will do some more research!

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Name: Sandy Baker
State: IN
Date: October 7 2011
Comments:

I have a hedge tree up the hill from my house. It sits between the road and a sod farm. While looking for arrowheads on the edge of the field I have to make sure I don't get knocked out! They fall like crazy and roll down the hill. Cars smash them up and the kids love rolling them down the hill!

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Name: Rozann
State: MI
Date: October 5 2011
Comments:

I just returned from my yearly cruise of the local country roads seeking my fall cache of Osages. We have done this for over 20 years. This year my Hubby noticed that in the garden, in a spot where he always buried the old Osage oranges when the green flesh turns brown, he has a dozen or so new trees coming up..... Maybe in 20 years I won't need to go out looking for my fall Osage. I always thought they were poisonous to eat and that the sap on your hands was poisonous. That is why I always wear rubber gloves.... Love this site, Only found it today out of curiosity. Rozann

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Name: kay
State: OH
Date: October 1 2011
Comments:

I would like to know if hedgeapples are safe in the same home as an amazon pet parrot? I am trying these apples for the first time for insects and spiders. thank you much.

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Name: Sean H.
State: WA
Date: September 29 2011
Comments:

I Have Just Started Classes In Forestry Conservation And I Love Trees!!! This Is Such A Good Place For Informtion.

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Name: Karen
State: KY
Date: September 27 2011
Comments:

when I was about 11 back in MI my brother and I was walking in the woods and found these funny looking balls that we said looked like brains. later on I told my mom what we had found and she said they were Hedgeapples and wanted us to go get her some. she never told use why she wanted them but I found out just recently why she did. for spider and they make nice decorations. Now that I live KY I was wondering where if any I could get some and just the other day I stumbled upon a tree I am so luck.I have great plans so them.

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Name: Anamarie
State: GA
Date: September 23 2011
Comments:

I have a serious phobic of spiders and in 2 wks times I killed 6 wolf spiders in my house. I was skeptical of trying these but thought what the heck I'll give anything a try at this point. After putting them out around the house in various rooms (I put 2 in each room, in opposite corners), I did not see a single spider!!! I was so happy that finally something worked. Mine have lasted almost 6-9 months and glad that they are available again as its getting that time in GA where the creepy crawlies are looking for warmer spots to stay.. Best investment I've made in a long time!!!

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Name: Mary E.
State: OH
Date: September 19 2011
Comments:

I can't believe how many people don't know about these wonderful fruits and it's wonders. However someone should have warned my father and I that after so any weeks you let the green horse apples sit, please check on them, they can after awhile because it's a fruit, obtain nats. My father had a whole bunch of nats in his bathroom because the Horse Apples were rotting. But these things really do work for spiders. I would like to grow a tree or two in my back yard also.

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Name: Bob
State: IL
Date: September 19 2011
Comments:

I have a number of hiking sticks I'Ve made from the wood.

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Name: Christy
State: OH
Date: September 15 2011
Comments:

I live in Cincinnati area and am in search of the hedgeapple. Does anyone know of a location i can find them? Spiders are bad near me, willing to try anything. This year they seem even bigger and new kinds. Just bought a home and need help. Thanks

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Name: Melissa
State: IN
Date: September 13 2011
Comments:

My house is in 2 acres the neighbors on the left consists of a field the neighbor on the right consists of 3 horses...breading grounds for moles and wolf spiders, until 1 day my mother came across some for free so she brought me 8 I swear to you this was last year and I just threw the last 1 away about a week ago ( kept in cool dark places) and I bet I have killed 6-10 wolf spiders already....SOMEONE tell me where I can get some around kedallville In email melissawar29@yahoo

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Name: Angie H
State: SC
Date: September 6 2011
Comments:

There is a large Osage Orange tree in Starr, South Carolina. I picked up several of the beautiful green balls to decorate my front porch, and keep spiders away. They are beautiful paired with gardenia blooms!

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Name: KIMBERLY
State: SC
Date: August 27 2011
Comments:

I just found the Biggest Black Widow Spider, I want something that will hopefully run any more that may be around away, and will Keep them away. A Facebook friend shared this site with me. Thanks for a Site that actually explains what Hedgeapples really are.

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Name: Pam
State: IN
Date: August 19 2011
Comments:

This is the first time I queried information about hedgeapples on a website, and I was amazed about all the uses of the fruit and its wood. Every year we drive to this certain area to find some hedgeapples. They are great at getting rid of spiders, but my main problem are the knats in the late summer. Everytime we bring in tomatoes from the garden, those pests are everywhere in the house. Very embarrassing when company comes over. If you cut them into quarter size and place them all over the house, the knats land on the sticky liquid and die. I want to try and grow some of these trees in the back of our property.

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Name: Kath
State: WI
Date: August 18 2011
Comments:

I have used Osage Oranges for years back in Ohio but moved to Wisc. and can not find a 0ne. Thank you for this page...my husband did not believe me when i said I knew of a sure fire way to rid our basement of all those spiders but we are getting at least 4. Oh do they work wonderfully!

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Name: Kody
State: KS
Date: August 11 2011
Comments:

Growing up in Kansas, I personally had hedge apple trees everywhere and lots of them. I asked my dad once how they got in such cool rows of only hedge trees, and he told me that back in the depression and dust bowl times, they were planted in rows to prevent the wind from unearthing crops. They would just blend the hedge apples into a mush and pour them i to trenches. Also as far as the hedge apples repeling insects, mice, or any other. Critter, it is complete hog swallow. Spiders commonly make nests in hedge apples, and the only thing they are good for is squirrel food and target practice for shotguns. Hope this anyone questioning the "mythical" powers of the hedge apple.

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Name: Sheila
State: TX
Date: August 10 2011
Comments:

I come from Denmark and owns a flower shop. For 5-6 years ago I bought hedge appeal to market for sale in my shop. I am amazed at their impact and my customers come back year after year. Thanks for a fantastic website, and thanks for all the stories you tell. Sheila - Denmark.

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Name: Carolyn
State: DC
Date: June 15 2011
Comments:

This is a great website. I became fascinated by this fruit over 1 year ago. I stumbled upon this tree on public property in Washington, DC. I could not look it up, because I didn't know whether it was fruit or vegatable and did not have a name for it. However, I recently went to Jamaica and discovered a tree which is known as a "Bread fruit" tree in Jamaica which fruit are identical to "Osage Orange". After the trip, I was convinced that the fruit I had seen in DC were "Bread fruit". Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to Botannical Gardens across from my job and asked one of the Botanists who immediately identified the name. Amazing as to how many uses it has and the similarity between this unedible fruit and Jamaica's "Bread fruit" tree.

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Name: Joshua
State: IL
Date: June 10 2011
Comments:

Im going to Try them out see if the legend is true!

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Name: vicki
State: KS
Date: May 23 2011
Comments:

Hedgeapple/Osage Orange trees.... squirrels like those funky brain spheres but I don't. My neighbors on either side have male trees and guess who has the females? I don't have any tell-tale photos but I would bet money that the neighbors' trees manage to come over to my place to party with my girls The evidence of it covers part of my backyard and looks like about a million tennis balls on steroids. The size of the "apples" depends on rainfall, the less rain the larger the apples and there aren't as many. I think it's a defensive measure. I have had grapefruit size hedgeapples that were so heavy, when the landscapers were working around my trees and one got beaned with an apple, they all put on hardhats. I don't know about anyone else's Hedge Trees but the ones in my neighborhood are really ugly. In fact, I think Hedgeapple trees were once really bad people... I mean REALLY bad people and they have been reincarnated as these trees. Squirrels, as I said, eat them. Let me rephrase that. Squirrels nearly lose their teeth tearing through the thick warty outer layer of these "fruits". Once inside, they have to rip out the tough, stringy, slimy, sticky interior to get to the few seeds for nourishment. A very few really strange squirrels prefer these to a fat pecan but very few. However, in the dead of winter none of my little tree rats are particular. As for acting as a bug deterrent, I don't see it. Bugs and spiders of all kinds crawl all over them at my place, freshly fallen, busted open or rotting on the ground. Fleas??? Oh, please! Tell that to the squirrels.

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Name: Gary Galleher
State: OH
Date: May 3 2011
Comments:

I was scanning your site and noticed a post from Catrina from Olmsted Falls, Ohio from back in 2002. I was thinking of adding my own post when I saw hers and now have to add to it. Olmsted Falls does have loads of Osage Orange trees. Back in the 60s, we used to chuck them at each other and all that. We had great fun rolling them into the road to let the cars and trucks splatter them, till one day we got a good shot at a furniture truck and lodged a couple right under the front tires. The poor driver did a great job of getting that sliding truck under control. I see other posts where people like to flatten them with their cars. I'd say "watch out" they are very slippery when smashed. We were lucky we did not cause an accident on busy RT252.

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Name: Dee
State: WI
Date: April 9 2011
Comments:

I bought 6 of these hedge apples last fall at our supermarket. We were having a spider infestation and from the day we placed them on both the main level and the basement, the spiders are GONE! The hedge apples are all dried up and black but I am leaving them where they are since we still are not seeing any spiders or bugs! I'm sold. My husband said we need to buy a dozen next year and place some in the garage, etc for crickets and other creaping things.

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Name: Mike
State: OH
Date: April 2 2011
Comments:

We burn fire wood for about 90% of our heat.Hedgeapple is the favorite around here. You do have to watch the sparks.

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Name: Jan Christopher
State: TX
Date: March 24 2011
Comments:

I was told (by an exterminator even!) that grinding horse apples and sprinkling around the base of homes will even keep termites away. A Great Uncle of mine tried it on his barn and so far so good!

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Name: Zelda
State: SD
Date: February 16 2011
Comments:

We recently visited family in Bethulie, South Africa (Free State Province) where I fist saw this growing on trees in a family yard. I enquired about it from the town people, but no one could help me, but to tell me that it is very poisonous. I took one home Gauteng Province). After mentioning it to anouther friend of mine, she showed me an article in one of our local magazines ("Home") and there was someone also enquiring about this fruit/plant. To my surprise, we found this article on the web. I was told that this came from during the Boer War, and that the English horses were fed on this - left the droppings in SA and this is how it started growing in SA, especially in Bethulie, where one of the three biggest concentration camps were. Since I brought this home, I also realised, after reading the article, that I don't seem to hame as much psiders - we used to have huge one outside and inside, as we are staying next to a bird sanctuary. If this is going to solve my spider and ant problem, I am going to get more of these! Thank you for the informative website!

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Name: Janey
State: CA
Date: January 8 2011
Comments:

I was astonished to discover an osage orange tree in the old diggins area of Columbia state historical park in Columbia, California. I never thought I'd see one. I did know about them from reading about dye source plants. The roots produce dye.

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Name: Christopher Pitts
State: TN
Date: December 31 2010
Comments:

I was having a conversation with my girlfriend about "hedgeballs" something which I had never heard of before. She claimed that they would repel insects and spiders from the house and home. I was pleasantly surprised to validate the claim here on this website as genuine folklore.

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Name: Dominic
State: VA
Date: December 12 2010
Comments:

As a kid when i was living in Missouri we had a huge tree in our backyard with what my family called "brains" that fell off like fruit every year, covering the yard and killing our grass when we left them out. Never found out the correct purpose of the things, but they sure do make great baseballs;) especially the mushy ones. And then my brother and I were able to kill the tree by shoving the brains through a hole at the base of it, causing holes to pop up in the tree everywhere, causing endlessly fun targets for more brians to "disappear into". I can thank that tree for all of my baseball skills!

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Name: Maggie
State: NE
Date: November 30 2010
Comments:

We have used hedge apples for several years for spider and other insect control. We get them in Iowa and Missouri from trees along the roads. We noticed that we haven't had mice in the house for several years and think there must be a connection--either there is no food supply of insects for them or they don't like hedge apples either. Has anyone else noticed the same thing?

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Name: Maggie
State: NE
Date: November 30 2010
Comments:

I didn't notice your Search Engine and enter the word Mice before I put in my previous entry. It appears our observations are correct--yes, Scott they do work for mice, too.

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Name: kelly
State: IA
Date: November 25 2010
Comments:

My husband and I sleep and have our family room in the basement of my mother-in-laws house and I hate spiders, centepedes , and crickets. I heard that Hedge Apples at least work on spiders, so I had to give it a shot. Well, to my surprise we didn't have any spiders or crickets last winter at all. I was so happy and thankful for this little knowledge and wisdom. They really do work.

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Name: Karla
State: NC
Date: November 23 2010
Comments:

We had one of these trees in my yard growing up (actually, two trees that had merged into one). It was my job to clear the yard of all the hedgeapples (and boy, were there a lot of them!). Fun! Anyway, I had always heard that they were good for minor burns. So one day, when I burned my finger on my dad's hot water stove (thankfully it was the right time of year), I went immediately to get a hedgeapple. I cracked it open and rubbed my finger on the pulp (or whatever one might call the insides of one of those things). My finger had already started to blister a little in that short time and I expected that even if the hedgeapple could stop it from getting worse, the blister would still be there. By the next morning, there was no sign whatsoever of a burn, blister or anything. Anybody else had a similar experience? At any rate, they're always great conversation pieces! :)

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Name: Sarah
State: MI
Date: November 20 2010
Comments:

I grew up in the mid part of Michigan, but now live in the southern part. My parents came by this weekend and on our way out to eat, we saw these odd things on the ground and stopped to check them out. My parents decided to take one home that was whole. (I went online to hunt it down.) It looks similar to a Jack Fruit! My parents and I love a good mystery! What an interesting fruit!!

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Name: Kati Mae
State: TN
Date: November 18 2010
Comments:

I'm really glad I came across your site! It is loaded with useful information. I'd just like to clarify that whitetail deer DO eat hedge apples... They bite them, shake their heads until the apple breaks apart, and munch them down.. What apples I don't use, I pile up in the back of my property for the deer to munch on. They come by every morning to graze on these treats!!!

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Name: Doris
State: PA
Date: November 14 2010
Comments:

Spotted these brilliant green "balls" in the meadow. Googled and found a number of uses and definitions. I will add them to the fireplace mantle this winter over the Holidays for vivid color and a conversation piece. We could use for target practice or shooting a gun in from the back deck because we now spotted another tree there and many balls yet on that tree.

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Name: Susie
State: PA
Date: November 12 2010
Comments:

Thank you do much for the great info on your site. My 5 yr old took one in for show and tell today although we weren't so sure "Hedgeapple" was the appropriate name. It even stumped the teachers, so I happened upon your site. Love the cracked FAQs. Gotta love someone with a great sense of humor. Thanks again.

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Name: Karen
State: KY
Date: November 10 2010
Comments:

I purchased 8 of them at a pumpkin patch visit with grandkids because one of the owners said they were supposed to repel spiders. We have HUGE black spiders and large brown ones. We spray inside and out all along the perimeters of the house, but they still come back. I placed them in the garage in strategic areas and a couple just outside and in the flower bed. I have seen only one spider since then and he was sitting at the edge of the garage door. We haven't seen even one of the huge, ugly black ones. The price on this site is very expensive. I got mine for 2 for $1 at the market at the pumpkin patch. I will definitely look to purchase more for the winter.

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Name: Larry Baer
State: PA
Date: November 9 2010
Comments:

What a great article I had forwarded to me by my neighbor...I had shown her an osage orange( as I was told they were some years ago upon first encountering these huge objects that had fallen along a tree lined lane near our home here in Danville, Pennsylvania. ) and she, months later now, somehow found this article and forwarded it. I will now call to thank her. Is it common to find these trees here in PA? because I've never seen them before moving near this lane.

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Name: Therese
State: MI
Date: November 4 2010
Comments:

How safe is it around my cats? Do they like the smell? I would like some feed back on this matter. Thanks

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Name: Amanda
State: MO
Date: November 4 2010
Comments:

I grew up playing with these hedge apples but never really knew what they were good for. I am giving the spider repeling a try since I live in a 100 year old home and we always have spiders. My husband also has a childhood memory of a baby sitter cuting them in half and baking them for a fresh aroma. So I picked some up at a bonfire halloween party and gave it a try. I baked them on low heat and they do have a wonderful fragance. So if you have an extra one laying around then give it a try and make some childhood memorys for your own children.

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Name: Dave O.
State: MD
Date: November 1 2010
Comments:

We have hedgeapple trees dropping the fruit on a nearby road. No one in town knew what they were. I found this site in a link on another site. I googled "big geen things in trees". Thanks for the info. They do kill all types of bugs. Just pick them up and smash the bug. If that doesn't work you better run. That is one big bad bug!

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Name: Angie
State: OH
Date: November 1 2010
Comments:

I love hedge apples. I look for them when I go out by the Amish. I usually stop at the side of the road, if I spy a tree, to take a basket home. Sadly, my father passed this August. He is buried in a beautiful old time cemetary that is surrounded by fields, and rolling hills, in the middle of the country. While visiting we found a hedge apple tree fairly close to him. We had never noticed it before, but once the fruit started falling- all could see. I am so happy that my father has such a wonderful tree so close. I found 2 seedlings, that I brought home to plant. How ironic that something I searched for was always right there the whole time. Waynesfield, Ohio

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Name: Vicky
State: OK
Date: October 31 2010
Comments:

I grew up on a small farm in Kansas and there were hedge apples everywhere. Now, there seems to be a decrease in their population. Does anyone see this or am I just not looking good enough? I also remember as a kid my Dad telling me that if there was a year with a large number of hedge apples on the trees, it was an indication of a very cold winter. Has anyone else heard this?

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Name: Lora
State: WI
Date: October 30 2010
Comments:

I recently visited my aunt in Kansas and picked up some Hedgeapples to bring home. I've heard they are good for keeping spiders out of your home but in one of the guestbook entries I read, that hedgeapples can be eaten to help prevent cancer. My question is how do you eat one? Do you cut it up and eat it raw? What does it taste like? The lady who said it was good to eat was Judy Mullins, from Ky. My aunt that I visited has pancreatic cancer and I'm worried for her as well as myself. Several of my aunts have come down with various forms of cancer.One has already died from hers. I'm worried that I might be next.

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Name: Autumn
State: IL
Date: October 28 2010
Comments:

I found your site in looking for information on making a living fence. This is wonderful. I have never known so much about Hedgeapples or the Osage Oranges.

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Name: Holly Stutzman
State: OH
Date: October 27 2010
Comments:

I have had a fear of spiders all my life. My mom would always put hedgeapples around every room in and outside of our house for me. They truly work. Now as an adult I see them at every farmer's market around town. I however pick my own.

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Name: Chris Davenport
State: FL
Date: October 27 2010
Comments:

Hi Everyone, Visiting Missouri from Florida and found these large green fruit like balls and the rest is history :-)

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Name: Harold
State: NC
Date: October 24 2010
Comments:

I've got one of those old gas-guzzling luxury cars. I was going to get rid of it because it cost too much to run. But then I thought, why not try hedgeapples? I pureed hedgeapples in the food processor and poured the mixture into the crankcase, and voila! 75 miles per gallon in my Cadillac. Really, is there anything they can't do?

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Name: Carl
State: OH
Date: October 24 2010
Comments:

Not long after breaking my leg and spending several months on crutches, I was ready to graduate to a cane. I hobbled out to the woods, wrenched a 100+ year-old osage orange fencepost from out of the soggy ground, tucked it under my arm, drug it back to the barn, and began hacking away. I had to re-sharpen my hatchet several times reducing an eight-inch diameter post into a rough three-inch diameter proto-cane. The wood was so hard, it sounded as a bell with each strike. About a week later, after much carving and sanding, I had a servicable cane of lovely yellow, dense wood. This was about six years ago, and I can still go out near the barn and find those old chips from the fence post. I have tried to convince my woodworker friends to employ osage orange in their projects, but they refuse on the grounds that the wood is so sturdy that it ruins their tools. For my money, it's work a few tools to enjoy working with such a wonderful material.

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Name: Jen
State: IL
Date: October 21 2010
Comments:

I just saw some Hedgeapples on the side of the road so I doubled back and gathered some up for around my house. Does anyone know if they need to be inside, or can they be outside around my foundation?

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Name: Sue Colbart
State: MI
Date: October 20 2010
Comments:

I have been using them for three years now. I had never heard of them before that. I know where the trees are and I go pick them up and share them with my family.They work great. I place each one in a bowl and set them in each room and under the mobile home also.

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Name: Bob Richmond
State: TN
Date: October 19 2010
Comments:

The hedge apple is of course the fruit of the bodark tree(bois d'arc, bow-wood). I pick up a couple of them and bowl them down one of Knoxville's greenways when I go and walk a few miles, calling out BODARK! as I roll the ball. Once I even got a bunch of teen-agers to go bodarking. BODARK!

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Name: Kate
State: OH
Date: October 18 2010
Comments:

I have spiders in my basement that I would love to get rid of. I know I have them in the rest of our 2 story house but I only see webs outside the basement, not many spiders. I want to try the hedgeapples to try and get rid of them. Can I just place some in my basement or do I need to place them in every room? I don't want to drive them out of the basement and into the rest of the house. I'm not sure how these hedgeapples work so I thought I would ask all you out there. What are your suggestions? Thanks for your help!

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Name: Linda
State: MI
Date: October 13 2010
Comments:

After many years of passing up the Hedge apples from the Osage-Orange tree just north of Burnips, MI, I decided to collect a few to repel spiders, lady bugs, and hopefully stink bugs. Let's see what happens! At any rate, it's been a flash from the past to recall the times my sister and I would ride our bikes or ride the horse from our farm near Argos, Indiana to the dirt road nearby so we could kick the hedgeapples around. I knew they weren't horse apples as we had plenty of experience with the real thing! My city raised husband gets a kick out of these rural stories and now I have proof that I'm not making it up.

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Name: Kathryn
State: OK
Date: October 11 2010
Comments:

Can these hedgeapples be dried whole? If so can someone tell me how?

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Name: Gayle
State: PA
Date: October 11 2010
Comments:

My kids and I came across these for the first time just a few days ago. Driving down a road, the truck in front of us swerved to avoid something, and as we passed it we saw one of these 'things'. We thought that was the end of it, until this morning when I came across a bunch of them on the side of the road during a bike ride. We drove back later today and brought several home to investigate them. While a few friends said they were walnuts or something else, one friend called it a Hedge Apple and another friend called it an Osage Orange....they were BOTH right. Now I'm just in awe of these!!! I love all the info on your site!!!

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Name: iowagirl40
State: IA
Date: October 10 2010
Comments:

I grew up in Dallas/Madison counties in Iowa. We had a hedge apple tree on one of our farms. We would pick up the fallen fruit each fall and use in our house for spiders. (mom swore it worked for mice too, but backed off that theory when we witnessed a mouse push/follow one of the hedge balls from behind the fridge!) Grocers sell them 3/$1.00 or 1.50. Had 3 large wolf spiders scuttle through the kitchen last night! Posted my lament on Facebook and was reminded about Hedge apples!! Lucky for us we have friends who rent land in Warren county with a couple of trees. All we had to do was avoid the cowpies in the pasture, keep an eye on the inquisitive cattle and figure out how to knock apples from the top of the trees and they were ours for free! It was quite the adventure.

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Name: Randy Dixon
State: OR
Date: October 8 2010
Comments:

On vacation in Minnesota I ran across this product in the grocery store...my friends told me that they were good to repel spiders...they only cost 99 cents a piece...I'll have my friends send me some as your prices are alittle too much...don't you think

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Name: Jenny
State: WV
Date: October 7 2010
Comments:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned fear of death by falling Hedgeapple... these fruits are so heavy and therefor fall very quickly to the ground. We have to be very careful this time of year because the trees are in our front yard where the children play. You would not want to be in hit on the head by one.

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Name: D.S.
State: WI
Date: October 3 2010
Comments:

I'd never seen these "nuts" before, until this fall at the Gays Mills Apple Festival in WI. The lady selling them said she found them on a tree near the Mississippi River in WI. When she told me they keep spiders away, I couldn't believe it, until a couple standing behind me quickly agreed with her and told me they come here every year just to purchase this fruit from her as they are hard to find in WI. So, for a dollar a piece, I bought a couple, one for the basement and one for the mail level of our house! Hopefully they will keep away the bugs. I'll then go back next yr. for more! And they are so decorative! Glad I found your sight as I had forgotten what they were called.

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Name: Lesley Sales
State: IL
Date: September 28 2010
Comments:

I have been picking these hedge apples up for years thinking they were so cool with their brain like skins. I also thought they were toxic, thanks for the clarification also for the bug repellant tip! We have tree's here in Southern Illinois too! Our apples are anywhere from an extremely large apple to grapefruit size.

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Name: Lynn
State: NE
Date: September 26 2010
Comments:

We have a park right across from my apartment and let me tell you I check our tree there and it is heavy duty loaded. Waiting for them to fall, unbelievable that folks pay upwards to 2/2.00 when I have them free!. Any one want to pay shipping let me know I send you a bunch of em! This probably wont get posted but eh worth the shot.

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Name: TB
State: GA
Date: September 22 2010
Comments:

Osage Orange tree found on the walking trail behind "The Old Church" Oxford, Ga. The Hedgeapples are everywhere!!!!

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Name: Liana
State: PA
Date: September 22 2010
Comments:

We used to roll "monkey balls" down the road while we waited for the school bus. The winner was the one who could get them under the wheels of the passing cars before the rolled into the ditch! I recently went back to the old neighborhood in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh, but there don't seem to be as many producing trees anymore. I found your site last year and ordered 2 dozen hedgeapples, to keep the spiders out of my closets and basement. I definitely noticed a reduction in the number of spiders. Can't wait to get my order this year. Spiders - BEWARE!!

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Name: Mystery Masher
State: OH
Date: September 20 2010
Comments:

It's Hedge apple season again. Time to get a wagon full of hedge apples and throw them at storm doors. Really wakes up the family. The cheap aluminum storm doors almost fall off the hinges, while the more expensive doors just make for awesome sound and dent a little. Run for your life after tossing!!!

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Name: John
State: GA
Date: September 16 2010
Comments:

Found an old hedge apple tree in Marietta, Georgia at 613 Rose Lane - a nursing home. The tree was covered with them - bigger and heavier than a softball. I'm not good at estimating the height of trees, but surely this tree had been there for quite some time and was probably over thirty feet tall. Never seen anything like it. Had no idea about the thorns until I tugged hard at one of the fruit and came down with it and a large slice/cut on my right arm. Definitely worth it, though. Everyone at work was quite impressed/baffled by it.

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Name: Christina
State: MO
Date: September 13 2010
Comments:

I live in the small town of Poplar Bluff, and I have only ever seen one of these trees, right up the road from my house. I've always called them horse apples, but then an old friend of mine told me that she calls them alligator apples and gives them to her grandkids and tells them they have to take care of them and they might hatch. Well, that got me thinking. What are these things, really, and is there any use for them? Well, I guess I found out. If they really work for the spiders and roaches and fleas, these are a godsend.

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Name: linda
State: IN
Date: September 9 2010
Comments:

thanks for all the good info. i have just been putting my hedgeapples on the floor.. 1. what do people put the "apples" on beside foil? 2. are the "apples" as effective if picked rather than waiting for them to fall to the ground? I'm especially interested in repelling insects and firing clay. thanks

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Name: Timothy
State: IA
Date: August 24 2010
Comments:

I just found a hedge apple tree in Poweshiek county, in a ditch on a gravel road. Of course, I have seen the fruits in the store, and when I first saw it, I thought it was a green apple tree. When I got close, I saw the fruit high up (at least 7 or 8 feet above the roots), and the lower half covered in thorns. I am 36 years old, and this is the first hedge apple tree I have ever seen in central Iowa. Are they rare around here? This was a lone tree, not sure how the the thing grew in the first place, as there were no other trees of any species near it. It was hanging over a fence of a field, and on a steep embankment of the ditch. I managed to knock down a couple apples, for decoration. But this very much interests me how this tree came to be in the middle of nowhere!

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Name: Tom
State: MN
Date: August 19 2010
Comments:

Will these grow and survive in Minnesota?

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Name: Char
State: MN
Date: August 19 2010
Comments:

My neighbor told me these work great. I have a cockatiel and was wondering if the hedgeapples are harmful to birds. Birds are very sensative to things like air fresheners and nonstick cookware.

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Name: Tyler
State: WA
Date: August 19 2010
Comments:

I grew up in Kansas where Hedgeapples were available in my backyard, and they're the best spider repellant that i've found and it works on other pests.

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Name: Valerie
State: NY
Date: August 15 2010
Comments:

I am so glad that I found this site. I learned a few years ago that osage oranges repel spiders and have tried to figure out how to get them. So far, I have seen that they work in my home in repelling spiders. My older sister put the one in the kitchen in a food cupboard that seemed to be infested with moths, and now we have no moths. Unfortunately, it seems that putting it in the cupboard has left the kitchen unprotected - we now have baby spiders, but they appear to be fleeing from the hedgeapple I relocated from the cupboard. I will fill out the survey after more observation.

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Name: Greg Stewart
State: TX
Date: August 3 2010
Comments:

I live in Euless, TX (between Fort Worth & Dallas) and I have a male and female tree in my front yard. I like the trees because they are unique to my neighborhood. The squirrels love them.

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Name: David
State: OK
Date: August 1 2010
Comments:

As a boy growing up in Kansas, my mother swore that hedge apples sliced in two and placed around the house would get rid of fleas. We had a cat and once we had an infestation of fleas. She got the hedge apples and placed them under beds, sofas, tables, and she said that the fleas jumped on them and stuck to them and they would die. It is amazing, but our flea infestation cleared up. I don't know if the hedge apples did it, but Mom was sure it was the hedge apples.

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Name: Christine M
State: MD
Date: July 13 2010
Comments:

We have 6 Osage trees on our farm in Baltimore Co. Maryland. Are the thorns toxic? I was riding my horse and ducked under a branch - one of the large Osage thorns sliced the front side of my upper arm. Have had quite a reaction at the site and wondered if there might be a natural toxin?

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Name: Leslie
State: CO
Date: July 12 2010
Comments:

Here in Boulder there's a small park called Christenson Park on Kings Ridge (off Valmont between 47th and Airport Rd). It has an Osage Orange tree grown from the seed of a 300-year old tree at Patrick Henry's Red Hill farm in Virginia, according to the plaque. I found your site while looking up what an Osage Orange is! I think the tree was donated by the Arapahoe DAR. It's about 12 feet high right now (July 2010).

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Name: Judith F.
State: VA
Date: July 5 2010
Comments:

I planted 4 osage orange trees last year. They are now only about 12 inches tall. Has anyone ever heard of other plants dying, when they were planted around these trees? I can't seem to establish other plants around them.

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Name: Jim D.
State: NV
Date: June 20 2010
Comments:

I love these Hedge Apples, they really do repel spiders and bugs, their great when you have small grand children running around and picking up anything on the floor and putting it in they're mouth's, so I prefer not to use pesticides in doors.

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Name: jackie
State: MO
Date: May 15 2010
Comments:

Moving to Missouri from Florida,We had never seen hedgeapples or black walnuts.My sister being a teenager in need of money went and picked up a truck load of walnuts to sell,when she got there the guys asked her what she wanted to do with that truck load of hedgeapples,as they were laughing so hard..All she knew was they were round green things that fell from the trees..

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Name: Charity
State: WV
Date: May 14 2010
Comments:

I have a huge fear of spiders. I usually call them s-words. One day I read in magazine that some people believed Hedgeapples kept spiders away. Our pastor had found some in the woods, brought them to church and I haven’t seen a spider since!!

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Name: Jose'
State: IN
Date: May 11 2010
Comments:

I was in a park about 3 years ago and nitice these funny light green "bumpy" apple looking things on the ground. They were very hard and smelled very good. I have been on a quest since to find out what they are. Today, I saw a picture of one in a "Better House and Garden" magazine. I "googled" the words "Hedge Apple" and here I am !

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Name: Tony
State: IL
Date: May 11 2010
Comments:

I came across this website on a search for how to kill these things. I am now rethinking this. I have them on my property and I am seriously worried about the kids playing around the trees and getting stuck with the thorns. The apples do serve a few purposes, but the trees can be dangerous. I have actually had to use a claw hammer to get some of the thorns out of my boot soles, that is how big they get. And if you do get stuck, it does hurt for a while. And I find you cannot kill these trees. I cut the heck out of them last weekend and the trees are covered with new sprouts.

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Name: Judy Mullins
State: KY
Date: March 13 2010
Comments:

Well a year has passed since I last left a guestbook entry. As I stated in the March 2009 entry, hedgeapples are God's gift to us, not only to rid our homes of bugs, but it has cancer healing properties. The ingredient in the hedgeapple is called tetrahydroxystilbene. I continue to take it two or three times a week as a cancer preventive. It not only helps with cancer, but arthritis as well. There is a lady in Louisville, KY who had cancer. The doctors had given up on her, and told her they could no longer help her. My nephew told her about the hedgeappples. So, she thought, what do I have to lose. She started being very agressive by taking a tablespoon of hedgeapples twice a day. In just a few short weeks, there was no more cancer in her body. The doctors were amazed. I hear these stories on a regular basis. My dad always said that hedgeapples were poisonous. If they were, I would already be dead. Do your own research, and you will find studies where tetrahydroxystilbene has been found to reduce cancerous tumors. You can find more stories on my website about hedgeapples. www.mullinslogcabin.net God bless you, and thank you God for hedgeapples. Judy Mullins in Kentucky

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Name: Elizabeth
State: NC
Date: March 10 2010
Comments:

When I lived in Moore county, N.C. On Deep River there was an osage orange tree. Very tall. 60 ft. at least. When I was a child we gathered them up off the river bank and took them home to play with. I recently thought of the tree and wondered if it was still there. There has been a lot of changes on the river so I don't know if I would be able to recognize the tree. That was 50 years ago. When does it bear fruit?

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Name: Sharon
State: CO
Date: February 13 2010
Comments:

I would really like to find a hedge apple tree. I hate spiders and we have a lot of black widows. and the apples keep them away. Does anyone know where to get themmat this time of year? thespiders aren't picky about when to attack. I would love to find a tree.

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Name: Andrew Parker
State: VA
Date: January 10 2010
Comments:

I grew up in Harrodsburg Kentucky which has the oldest osage orange tree knownat over 400 tears. It is located just inside the main entrance to Old Fort Harrod State Park. It is a wonderful shade tree and I hope it is still there as it has been about 10 years since I took my children there on a visit to my parents house.

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Name: Angie
State: IN
Date: January 9 2010
Comments:

I am a nurse that was working in a rural nursing home when I heard about hedge apples being used to keep spiders out of homes when a resident had found some outside and brought them in. Well of course all of the elder residents had heard of this and were more than happy to pass on this knowledge to the younger of us. I found some at a local park and brought them home placing them in front of all the vents of our crawl space and dang it if it didn't work, not one spider that fall/winter. See we live next to a field and woods so we have many varieties of spiders and they often come into the house but both my daughter and I have aweful allergic reactions to bites so we hate to see them. I missed getting any last year and my husband reminded me this year to make sure to get them since they were free and very effective. Belive the elderly they know what they are talking about with cheep effective fixes!

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Name: William C
State: SC
Date: January 4 2010
Comments:

I recently just ran across the Hedgeapple while exploring an abandoned town from the early 1700's these things were everywhere! and The tree used to hang people was the Hedgeapple tree,the base of the tree was about 8 ft. in diamater.

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Name: Wishes to remain Anon.
State: TX
Date: December 31 2009
Comments:

There used to be this wierd dog that would hang out near my house, it scared my kids. Then one day I planted a hedgeapple tree, and the dog hasnt come near my house since.

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Name: michelle whitaker
State: OH
Date: December 21 2009
Comments:

On Oct. 1st I was dignosed with cancer for the 3rd time. I did the all the alternative food diet w/ pure water. the lemon and baking soda remedy, the vitimins and antioxidants, and 4tbs. of hedgeapples a day! I start back on Chemo. 12-28-09, one of my tumors shrank slightly and the rest doubled in size. I wished I would of have taken Chemo. from the bigging though!

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Name: Terry
State: NC
Date: December 17 2009
Comments:

I picked up one of these "osage-oranges" (hedge apples) recently while fitness walking. I had no idea what it was but set it out in my home. So far it has repelled several pests in my home, including my Mother-In-law. I haven't seen her for weeks. Is there a way I can find these "hedge apples" year-round?

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Name: Carolyn
State: GA
Date: December 16 2009
Comments:

I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee and we had these trees all over the place and we would pick them and roll them in the street so cars would run over them, what were we thinking!!!! They were huge and we played with them like toys. I am now in Georgia and have yet to see a tree here.

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Name: Bruce Poole
State: CA
Date: December 12 2009
Comments:

I have a beautiful hand made duck call made of osage orange, this call was made by Paul Kingyon, I think he lives in Arkansas but I'm not sure. Great sounding call!

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Name: Arthur R. Wells Jr.
State: NJ
Date: December 11 2009
Comments:

Funny story. I live in South Jersey and I hunt in a Wildlife Management Area in Port Republic and I pass two of these trees for years and always wondered what the heck these were until a coworker of mins saw one in the back of my truck. Then I found your website. Very interesting! I wonder if it's ability to repel things will work on my sisters moloccan cockatoo.

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Name: Chrys
State: NY
Date: December 3 2009
Comments:

Thank you so much for all the info on this site. I'm a Canadian living in Ankara, Turkey and we found this incredible fruit at the park just last week. I as had never seen such a thing before, I asked my Turkish work colleagues if they knew what this was and NONE of them had seen this before. Finally one of them said they had seen this fruit and tree in Turkmenistan as well. It was being used to separate fields and parking lots (?! only in Turkmenistan would you find individuals to grow such a tree next to cars where its fruit can rain down on it with the expected consequences...). It'd be interesting to know how this native american tree made its way around the Black sea and in Anatolia. Anyway, when we head back to Canada, I'll try to plant some around our property. They are just too cool!

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Name: Beverly
State: IL
Date: December 1 2009
Comments:

As a young girl, we went hunting in the southwest suburbs of Chicago (all farmland then) with my family. I carried a 4/10 shot and my Dad would have me use the orange "brains", as we called them, hanging high in the trees as target practice in the field. I remember trees being well over 20 to 30 feet tall living in the tree lines that separated the farms we hunted. I never knew the names of these trees and their orange "brain" fruit. I also remember one of my Dad’s friends also call them “road apples” as well. Many of these trees still exist near my home, although they are not as tall as I remember and are fewer in number as well. When I drive down the roads near my home and see the fruit of these trees each fall laying all over the road squashed and splattered and although I cannot confirm this (my Dad has passed), I am relatively sure that I may have, as a child, hunted in or very near to my current backyard. The sights of these orange “brain” fruits always transforms me back to my childhood with my Dad driving to the next farm to walk the cornfields for pheasant and rabbit for our dinner. Thanks to your posting to answer a life long question that no one has been able to answer for me for over 40 years. I also can’t wait to pick some up from the road, share my stories with my 3 yr old grandson about these “brain” fruits, his great-grandpa and also try them in my home to repel my wolf spiders (it will save me trying to capture these spiders to put them outside). Thanks also for the space to share. I can't wait to share the Osage Orange Tree story with everyone I know. I am so excited to have learned so much about this childhood memory. Happy Fall to all!

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Name: Vince
State: CA
Date: November 30 2009
Comments:

Next to a well traveled highway outside Chico stands several odd trees. I recently asked my brother who has driven by them for over 20 years what they were. The only thing he said was that an older lady who was collecting the fallen fruit had called them "Prairie Oranges." Your site cleared it all up. The hills outside Chico were full of 49's and the valley is filled with orchards of almonds, walnuts, fields of corn and rice. The area dates to the 1850's and thus obviously became home to your "Oranges" likely 100+ years ago. Thank you for a facinating site and more explanations of our past.

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Name: Tabbie
State: MO
Date: November 21 2009
Comments:

Well my kids were playing in our back yard and brought in some of these and I myself (being a country girl) had never seen anything like this. I was looking in a magazine and found a name for these strange looking thing, so I decide to research them on the internet and my search brought me here. Thank you for all the information on these, it has really been helpfull. I will definately have my kids gather more and use them around my house, since i know they are not poisonous

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Name: Doris
State: IN
Date: November 20 2009
Comments:

Wow, I can't believe all the info about hedge apples! I was looking to find if they are toxic to pets. Imagine my surprise when I found that people actually pay for them. Here, you can go out along a country road and pick them up from along the ditch. We seem to have a lot of spiders, so I am considering putting some under the house and perhaps just along the perimeter outside.

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Name: David Kenney
State: IL
Date: November 17 2009
Comments:

Ever feel like your the last person to find out about something? Ha Ha. IM 52 and saw Hedge Apples for the first time this year. 2009. IM a Trucker and never watch the hedge's, im too busy watching the road. But there stood a tree with these bright green what looked like small grapefruit. Intrigued i called dad and asked if he knew what they was. From my discription he took a mistaken guess as to what I was talking about. I took a photo of two of them, one whole and round, and the other i had smashed open. Needless to say, he knew what they was.told me a bunch of stuff about them. Now, at 52 years old I learn something new.I stopped along the interstate in Kansas, grabbed seven of them. 1 is cut in half and placed in the Kitchen by my lovely wife Betty, and 6 are in my basement. ok ladybugs, bring it on. iv got hedgeapples now. lets see if they viset me this year. i cant wait to go home and check out the basement and see if all them spiders are gone. Loved your site. Heres a thought. Was this the apple Eve wasnt suposed to touch? David Kenney

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Name: Marc
State: CA
Date: November 16 2009
Comments:

I live in the Gold Country of Cent California. I've seen those bright green "things" lying on the roadside in the Fall for many years. No one knew what they were. Now I know! I've had ants in the house every winter,,, this year we'll see what happens! I'll report back this Spring. Maybe I can cancel my pest controll service:) Think they run off gophers?

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Name: Denise
State: OH
Date: November 16 2009
Comments:

My mom and dad accidentlly came across some hedgeapples last year while driving around. They had stopped to see and old car in someone's yard, and the owners wife told my mom what the hedgeapples were and hoe good they were for repelling spiders. She gave my mom some to take home and we did not see any spiders until after the apples rotted away. I was wondering, can these be frozen while in season and then used in the warm months when they are not growing around here? Great site by the way. I want to plant a row of these if I ever get a big property of my own.

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Name: Jennifer
State: NY
Date: November 14 2009
Comments:

We use them as potpourri during the winer months. They keep the air fresh and clean smelling for months. A few in a bowl is all it takes, but I see here that maybe only one per room may work as well. People always ask about them as they are so unusual.

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Name: Rick Miron
State: OH
Date: November 14 2009
Comments:

I know of an Osage tree in Perrysburg, OH that must be one of the largest around, if not, it should at least be noted for it's size. The trunk could measure 48" in diameter. The height is at least 60 feet. And the branch width must be around 80 feet. This tree is magnificent and produces a bounty of osage oranges every year. Some one should take note of this tree so that it is protected from cutting or worse.

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Name: Cynthia
State: TX
Date: November 11 2009
Comments:

The first time I saw a hedgeapple was two years ago, deep in a park in Austin, Texas. I had no idea what they were until I saw them featured on the front of the Better Homes and Gardens, October 2009 issue. They were being used as decorations for Fall.

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Name: Tim
State: ID
Date: November 11 2009
Comments:

Hi, I found your website while doing a yahoo search. I wanted to mention that hedge wood is also used in making more expensive duck calls. The cheapest call I have seen made with hedge wood is $50. With others closer to $100. I own one duck call made from hedge and it is almost too pretty to hunt with. Tim

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Name: David & Lisa
State: IN
Date: November 8 2009
Comments:

We were driving down a country road on the way home from church one Sunday afternoon. I could see ahead that there were a couple hedgeapples lying along side the road. I said "there's a hedgeapple." My wife grew up a city girl, and had never really seen much of them before. She said "STOP! Go back and get them!" We like collecting things from nature. So we went back and got a couple. We were wondering, why did God make these things, if you can't eat them. What are they good for? So I decided to try the internet to see if there was anything about them. Sure enough...A very interesting site you have! We will try using them for insect repelling. God has a reason for everything! Thanks for your site!

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Name: Sylvia
State: OH
Date: November 6 2009
Comments:

I am SO excited! The farm we recently bought has a old, old row of hedgeapple trees. We used some that were cut back off the fenceline for firewood and agree they burn the hottest of any firewood we've used. As I searched for possible uses of the fruit, I found your site and the possibilities are thrilling! This old house needs a good dose of hedgeapple repellent! AND we may have a tree that could challenge the oldest/largest record holder. NOW gotta figure out how to measure the doggone thing! THANK you for this informative site!

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Name: Spinner
State: IL
Date: November 5 2009
Comments:

what year do they grow i need some to get rid of roaches

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Name: CUDA
State: PA
Date: November 3 2009
Comments:

For Josh in IN. Apr.13,2009,Go for it, I have a good friend that makes bows and he says osage is one of the best woods to make bows.And he told me the Indians used osage to make thier bows.

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Name: Michael
State: NM
Date: November 2 2009
Comments:

I have a 1acre yard. My property Is irrigated by well. A ditch runs along the entire west and north side. A very nice hedge about 25ft high provides nice shade. Also my son did a science project in 8th grade-testing the burn qualities of diff varieties of wood-about 8-species in all. Including Pecan, and Oak. Surprisingly the Osage was the best burning. This wood is unbelieveably hard-really dulls the ole chainsaw fast.

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Name: Greg
State: TX
Date: November 2 2009
Comments:

I just collected some of the fallen hedgeapples from an old shelterbelt near my in-law's ranch. My friend wants to get some started on his acreage to create shelter for his deer and other wildlife. Thanks for the planting information, the critters will appreciate it.

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Name: CALVIN
State: CT
Date: November 1 2009
Comments:

I STAY IN CONNECTICUT AND A HISTORICAL GRAVE IN RIGHT NEAR ME DAING BACK TO 1800s RIGHT WHERE THE AMISTAD TOOK THEIR LAST STOP AT THE DOCK I THINK I HAVE THE OLDEST OR ONE OF THE OLDEST TREES WHEN I WAS SMALL ME AND MY BROTHER PLAYED BASEBALL WITH THEM AND BROKE MANY OF WINDOWS MY DAD WAS MAD LOL NOW IM 30 I SEEN THE FRUIT FOR MANY OF YEARS DO ANYBODY KNOW IT COMES FROM

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Name: Glory
State: IL
Date: October 29 2009
Comments:

When I was a child, several large trees close to our elementary school (actually on the grounds of a golf course) dropped hedge apples on the ground right where we walked every day. The kids called them "monkey apples". The boys smashed them for fun. After moving to a different suburb, I never saw them again. Recently, my "best friend" from that school was in town, and we met in the area, toured the school, and drove around the old neighborhood. As we passed by the path to the school, I said, "Look! A monkey apple!" We had a good laugh. After lunch, I went back to that spot to pick up several hedge apples to make a display in a bowl on an antique table. It is so much fun to look at those "monkey apples" picked up close to my childhood school, where I have so many wonderful memories.

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Name: Linda
State: NY
Date: October 29 2009
Comments:

I have had osage orange trees (hedge apples)for years and have always used them in my house and basement to ward off spiders and other insects. After distributing them around the house the spiders disappear within days! They are absolutely fantastic!

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Name: Eva
State: MA
Date: October 27 2009
Comments:

I wonder if I will beyour first international entry,but your web page has finally set my mind at ease- I have been trying for years to find out what these fruit are, and they grow in a romantic 19th entury park in (get this)central Madrid, called Fuente del Berro. NOBODY knows around here, and I looked on the net years ago, probably before your page. Our house is always full of "green alien brains" around Haloween, we gather them with my kids,but the mystery was maddening. Nice to finally know what they are, and how far from home, and how usefull.

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Name: Robin
State: NJ
Date: October 26 2009
Comments:

I came across some hedgeapples by the side of the highway on my way home today, and had to stop and pick them up. I grew up in southern Virginia and clearly remember playing with hedgeapples when I was a little girl. We didn't know what they were, so we called them "brain fruits" (because of all the convolutions). I think they're weirdly beautiful, but never knew they were good for so many things! Thanks for your site! Are they edible?

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Name: Hans
State: PA
Date: October 25 2009
Comments:

Hedgeapples are awesome, I recently found some growing just south of Harrisburg, PA

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Name: Lisa
State: AR
Date: October 25 2009
Comments:

I grew up in Arkansas where we have hedge apple trees but learned of thier repellent properties from my northern grandmother who put them in her basement every year for spiders. Am wondering if any one knows of a good source for artificial ones. Googleing got me one result and they were pricy.

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Name: ACE
State: VA
Date: October 23 2009
Comments:

When I was a kid living in the Bronx, there was a loong stretch of sidewalk near the Institute for the visually handicapped (on Pelham Parkway) that had ROWS of Osage Orange trees. As far as I know, they still may be there. They smelled so nice and orange-y -- but man those fruits were wieeerd. Then when I moved to Virginia, there was a GROVE of Osage Orange trees in the back of Pollard Gardens on (naturally!) Pollard Street near Wilson Boulevard. SADLY -- those were ALL cut down.....Boo Hoo!!!!! I see Osage Oranges in the Colonial wreaths over the doors of many of the houses in Old Town Alexandria (VA) I'd like to try and grow some. In the olden days, the settlers used the wood for fence-posts.

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Name: Mary
State: VA
Date: October 21 2009
Comments:

Here in Virginia the Osage Orange is called a thorn apple. I'd like to know if there is anything I can dip or spray on the apple/orange that will help preserve its beauty. While its ability to repel spiders is nice....I prefer to use them for decoration but they seem to lose their beauty rather quickly. Thanks for the website!

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Name: Rita
State: MO
Date: October 19 2009
Comments:

I just spent the weekend playing golf in Springfield, IL where there were some of the largest hedgeapple trees I've ever seen. Some of the people I played with said they would repel bugs if you put in your basement, so I gathered up several to try. I've seen them all me life in SE Missouri, but had never heard of any use for them until now. I found your guestbook quite interesting.

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Name: Nancy
State: IL
Date: October 18 2009
Comments:

Today, after taking a brief hike in a nature area near Mendota, IL, my mother and I came upon these hedgeballs under a tree which also had a lot still hanging. We wondered if it was a myth or fact about repelling spiders and insects. I'm so glad I googled hedgeballs and found this site. I will definitely go back soon and get as many as possible to put around our house and do the test. Thanks everyone for all of the info.

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Name: Peg
State: IN
Date: October 14 2009
Comments:

We have them in Indiana also.My husband used them for ants and it seemed to work.

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Name: sam
State: CA
Date: October 14 2009
Comments:

I don't know why but these didn't work for me. I purchased a box of them last year. Some I cut up some I did not. I had a bad problem with Roaches and spiders....nothing! Went to the store a bought some RAID... worked great!!

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Name: bettty
State: NY
Date: October 13 2009
Comments:

Hi we live in manhattan and we have one of these trees in our park. happy to hear they repel bugs...will check it out

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Name: steve miller
State: KS
Date: October 11 2009
Comments:

i have acres of hedge trees. They cause great problems with cattle in that they get logged in their throats. However over the years i have aquired a tool to remove the logged hedgeball without harming the animal.i have pulled many hedgeballs out of my cattle's throats. If you are interested i knowing about this great tool, e mail me at dudedog12@yahoo.com and i'll wnlighten yo on this trick.

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Name: Courtenaye
State: MD
Date: October 7 2009
Comments:

I first found these weird fruit 9 yrs. ago in Oxon Hill, MD!(Southern Maryland). No one could tell me a thing and I couldn't find info on them. On 10/5 I found them again near the campus of Hampton University in Hampton, VA! One of my colleagues,Mrs. Craig, a High School Biology teacher, found this site about the "alien brain" and I FINALLY have my answer!

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Name: Michele
State: MO
Date: October 7 2009
Comments:

Was walking in a park just outside Kansas city ,Mo and a friend showed me the apples on the ground. Told me his grandparents used them around the house to keep out pests. I have spiders badly am going to pick some and try it out. will let you know.

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Name: Maggie
State: MI
Date: October 6 2009
Comments:

Traveling from Michigan to California,found a tree at a rest stop with these,looking to get more for my daughter,do they grow in Kansas,or Oklahoma or California??

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Name: LeeAnn
State: TN
Date: October 4 2009
Comments:

These apples are the ugliest things I've ever seen I am hopin' that they work cuz we get all kinds of spiders,cave crickets and others crickets,cockroaches.So I am really hopin'this works .This web sight is really cool.Also very informative.Thanx so much for creatin'it.Another thing do ya have to have both male and female trees to get the fruit,like with boxelder bugs?

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Name: DJU
State: KY
Date: September 30 2009
Comments:

Just got a few in the garage to use as decoration :) Do I need to do anything special to them???

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Name: Keith
State: NC
Date: September 28 2009
Comments:

I learned of Hedgeapples after seeing the trees in Colonial Williamsburg (VA) in 2001. I brought one home and now have 2 15ft trees in my yard. Last year was the first year they had fruit, but only 2. This year I have picked up nearly 20. I plan to grow seedlings for planting next spring. Great Site!

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Name: Amy
State: OH
Date: September 28 2009
Comments:

is it best to place them on inside or outside of the house

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Name: Steve
State: TX
Date: September 27 2009
Comments:

One caution, don't put them on paper plates! As they deteriorate, they eat through it and will stick to anything. I have a big stain in the carpet from one under my bed. No spiders in the last 2 months though! Be sure to use a plastic bowl under them, as the small segments break off as they dry out and will stick to anything.

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Name: Marcia
State: MI
Date: September 24 2009
Comments:

These work great! No more spiders or bugs. Wish they were around all the time.

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Name: GJJ
State: OK
Date: September 23 2009
Comments:

How interesting to read about this wonderful odd looking "fruit". Your website is very interesting; I particularly enjoyed the stories from others. I saw my first Hedgeapple about 8 years ago when I went to Columbus, Kansas to visit a cousin who had just moved there from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was amazed at the unique large grapefruit sized "things". I had no idea what they were at the time and was so intrigued with them, I picked a bunch and took them back to Montana at the time for my sister to use as crafts. Then, we moved to Oklahoma about 4 years ago and my son bought property here. Low and behold, two gorgeous hedgeapple trees are on his property. Now my grandchildren discovered the beautiful green grapefruit looking fruits this year...the hedgeapples look so majestic hanging in the trees and the children are very excited to collect them as they fall. They are huge! Bigger than grapefruits here. I like science and I must say they even remind me of brains! Well, we heard they help to repel spiders so we brought home about 6 and placed them around in our garage. Then, I noticed the cover of the Fall/October issue of the Better Homes and Garden magazine had a picture of low and behold...the mighty hedgeapples as a centerpiece on a table. I must say, they are glorious. So I too have 3 big hedgeapples on my counter in a pretty bowl. What a conversation piece! Thank you for this website...so fun to read what others have had to say about this magnificent fruit.

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Name: Connie
State: WI
Date: September 23 2009
Comments:

I am wondering if humans could be allergic to them. They must emit something if they deter spiders. Can anyone help with their experience?

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Name: Catherine
State: MN
Date: September 21 2009
Comments:

These really do work! We had a huge spider problem and I bought these and put them in various rooms and have noticed a big decrease in the spiders in our house. The only thing is they don't last as long as they say they do on here- at least for us they only lasted a month. But I am ordering more! They are worth it!

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Name: Mary Ann
State: TX
Date: September 21 2009
Comments:

I picked my granddaughter up from school today. She is in the 2nd grade. She asked me to walk around to the back of school with her. She had a tree to show me. It was a Hedgeapple tree and there were many big green balls on the ground. She said her teacher said they were horseapples. I had to get online and look them up. I found this web page. Thanks for all the information. We live in north Texas.

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Name: Neil
State: TX
Date: September 20 2009
Comments:

Met an old Cowboy from Ft. Worth who told me about "Horse Apples" and how they repel spiders and 'roaches. Collected some today having finally found some trees locally. Have put them around the buildings on my property. Fingers crossed!

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Name: Woody
State: TX
Date: September 18 2009
Comments:

The first "Hedgeapple" I ever saw was in a thickly wooded area near an old house place in west central Louisiana where I was hunting. My brother in law called it a "Smell Orange". I had hunted all my young life and had never seen this strange species. The second one I came across was on the campus of then Northwestern State College in Natchitoches, La. in 1962. The Forestry teacher referred to it as a Bois de Arc or Osage Orange tree, both names being equally acceptable. I never saw another Hedgeapple tree until I happened across one near the western edge of Old and Lost River in Texas where it is crossed by I-10. This was thirty years later, circa 1993 or so, and it was like meeting an old friend. I gathered up a few of the Hedgeapples to show my wife and two children because I had always thought the fruiting body was so unique. My wife, to my surprise, was familiar with them as she had a Hedgeapple tree in her yard when she lived in Nashville, Tn. Her family referred to them as "Horseapples". June Carter lived next to them and she kept horses in a large field that joined my wife's parents property. When the horses would wander over to the fence and the "Horseapples" were available, my wife, only eight or ten then, would throw the fruit to the horses. But she doesn't remember if they were ever eaten. In the ensuing years, I had also learned that that the fruit was also referred to as "Mock Orange". This made the Hedgeapple even more interesting to me as mock was part of my family name. A few years ago my wife and I moved to Kerrville, Tx and my wife's brother moved to Fredericksburg, Tx. only twenty miles away. And wonder of all wonders, the acre of property he purchased just happened to contain one of the most robust, albeit small, Hedgeapple producing trees I have ever come across! To this end, it is a small world! For the past two years I have been wondering how I might collect and grow the seeds. Because of this web site I now have a place to start. Thanks to all of those who have contributed to it.

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Name: Lee
State: IA
Date: September 11 2009
Comments:

It's that time of year to pick hedgeapples. I just got back from my first picking and picked 4 bushels. When I found out that they were selling for 1.50 each, I thought how can it be since they are so plentyful.I just have the joy of picking them and giving them away so if your in Iowa look me up. I'm in cedar county. happy hunting.

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Name: Teresa
State: IA
Date: September 3 2009
Comments:

My husband calls it the devil tree because he had to trim one that is on our new property and did he get scratched up.

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Name: Tracy
State: CT
Date: August 30 2009
Comments:

Tried combat roach bait which helped reduce # roaches I saw greatly. But once I got the hedge apples and put one in each room of my 4 room condo haven't seen a roach since. Most of these condos are rented and there is a basement. I did not put apples in those areas. Just my own condo. Thanks God for making hedge apples.

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Name: karen
State: VA
Date: August 30 2009
Comments:

I found a tree of these funny looking green balls behind my fence in a wooded area. Being curious about them i picked one, and cut it, then searched about what it might be. Its a hedge apple!!! And I was pleased to learn they repel bugs, I now have one sitting at each door on the inside and outside, since I just placed them an hour ago I have no report yet as to wether they have helped. We get crickets in the house every year and I'm hoping to reduce the noisy things from being in the house keeping us up at night.

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Name: P. Andrews
State: GA
Date: August 28 2009
Comments:

After a 2 day rain storm, I was taking my son to school and noticed what I thought were giant green apples. My granddaughter thought they were cabbages. My grandson, ran over to pick one up. We couldn't figure out what the large round & green thing was. We figured fruit because it was associated with a tree. We took it home. We googled pictures of green round fruit and discovered the various names & uses of the hedgeapple. We are in GA. and the tree is at the beginning of a graveyard. After researching the hedgeapple, we went to get some more. Many were on the ground and some still on the tree. We didn't try to get any off of the tree. We love the blog site. My granddaughter wants to take one to school to her science teacher. This is really great info. It is Friday, but the kids were so interested in learning more this afternoon after a full week of school. Go figure. They are having a ball exploring internet pages of info about the hedgeapple. Strange how that spore traveled all the way to GA to grow the fruit. We are not a midwest state where the fruit is native to.

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Name: Michelle
State: MI
Date: August 25 2009
Comments:

I'm so happy I found your website. As a kid I happened upon some Hedgeapples. There were Hedgeapple trees as part of a fence row between some fields. I was fascinated by the fruit. So unusual and beautiful! My grandfather who had an encyclopedic knowledge of the area (the southern border of Michigan) tentatively identified it as Osage Orange and that it might be bad for livestock. I couldn't find any other info about it in those pre-internet days. I've never seen one growing or available for sale since. If I find a Hedgeapple, I'm snagging it and bringing it home!

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Name: Kathy
State: OR
Date: August 23 2009
Comments:

I'm fascinated by osage orange. My dad recalls them from his boyhood in Oklahoma, & I've seen a row of really impressive trees in Umatilla County Oregon, so I've tried growing my own for several years now. They don't transplant happily but will sprout eagerly in late spring if I simply bury the fruits in the fall. I am really impressed by their drought tolerance, however they're only borderline hardy at my home (Zone 4). Although they're late leafing out here, they cope very well with hot dry summers, poor soil and erratic rainfall/irrigation. So even tho they don't grow very fast here, I'm persisting in hopes my grandkids will be able to enjoy a genuine old-time hedgerow that repels horses, bulls, hogs and whatever else! And YES those fruits repel insect & rodent pests!! So I'm ordering for both uses, thanks so much for offering this wonderful resource!

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Name: Maggie
State: NV
Date: August 17 2009
Comments:

Thank you for this information. I just came back from a family reunion in Halstead, KS. Many vacations as a child to Kansas and did not remember the hedgeapple and wanted to learn more. My cousin Lillian explained the many trees throughout Kansas and why they were planted. Very interesting. I brought two back to NV. do you think they would grow here? Probably near a natural spring? Thanks again for this great site!!!

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Name: Jessica Skelton
State: TN
Date: August 12 2009
Comments:

We live in Athens Tn next to a large milk distrubting company and due to the waste they throw out for the hog farmers we have roaches, as well neighbors on the surrounding streets. I am going to purchase some of the apples for spiders and fleas but was wondering if they will help with the roaches?

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Name: Naomi
State: IN
Date: August 3 2009
Comments:

Wow! Hedggeapples are great. I have enjoyed them all around the perimeter of my house. I am terribly afraid of spiders and was hoping not to see any this fall in my house.

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Name: Suzanne
State: OH
Date: July 25 2009
Comments:

I am a lifelong southerner that just relocated and had to know about the HUGE trees I have along my property line. I have never had to deal with such difficult pruning! THey are really hard. Really cool to know the history though, can not wait to try to use the apples..

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Name: David
State: NY
Date: July 23 2009
Comments:

I picked up some hedge apples in New York's Central Park last fall. I separated some seeds and am growing them in 12" pots now. They're growing fast - now in early july they are all over a foot tall. Anyone have any experience starting saplings in pots, then moving them outside after a year or two? I wonder if they mind being transplanted. Much obliged, David

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Name: Fat Mama (eastern)
State: PA
Date: July 19 2009
Comments:

I found these in the street and brought some home last year, after they had fallen from their branch homes... they lasted forever, and I kept them in the kitchen to keep the fruit flies away. I miss them, and this year, I know better and will PLANT the first few I bring home.

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Name: David B.
State: KY
Date: July 16 2009
Comments:

Im looking for someone who has some hedgeapple trees that I could cut for fence posts. I live in west Ky but will travel to cut some posts from your trees. I see that there is a Dave in central Mo. that has some. If anyone can hook me up,

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Name: James
State: NV
Date: July 6 2009
Comments:

I used them to control bugs with out pestacides last year, they worked great. When will they be in season this year?

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Name: Jennifer Davis
State: SC
Date: June 24 2009
Comments:

My husband makes hand made hunting knives. He would love to have a couple of dead Bodock limbs to make knive handles out of. Does anyone know if there are any of these trees in South Carolina?

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Name: Mike
State: TX
Date: June 20 2009
Comments:

Joy, I think what you heard as "bodart" is an anglo/celt way of saying "Bois de Arch". In Texas we commonly say it as if it were spelled "bodark". I suppose 'Bois d Arch" is rendered in English as "bow wood"

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Name: Dave
State: MO
Date: May 22 2009
Comments:

I own 13 acres in Central Missouri and I probably have 30 or more hedge trees on my land. I would gladly give some away. There are some good and some bad about the tree. They make great fence posts and especially corner posts (I have seen some used up to 2' across) and they last for years. It is true they do burn very warm but you also have to be careful about that they can also burn so hot they can eat up a stove and the tree itself has thorns that, if you prick yourself, I can tell you from experience, that area is going to sting for a while. They do make great shade trees though. I have noticed in the past that the older trees (mine) have started growing less and less of the "hedge apples" and the darnest thing the cows starting eating them. Anyhow, I hope this was maybe informative to somebody.

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Name: Lucious
State: FL
Date: May 22 2009
Comments:

Thanks to you and your site for being found. Now I know the name is hedgeapples. I have known about them since I was a child in Alabama. I always was told that they were poison. Your article refutes that they are toxic. One thing your information supports:We put them in our clothes closet to repel cockroaches. I admit that we said horseapples.

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Name: Ken Mallory
State: IL
Date: May 21 2009
Comments:

I used to find them for friends around Rockford IL. Short drive - easy to spot. They put them in garage, and basement to repel pests. Thank you for putting together a wonderfull site. Be well.

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Name: Carl
State: NE
Date: May 6 2009
Comments:

I have used Hedgeballs as we call them for the last few years in my garage to keep out mice. The garage is not attached to the home and beside a cornfield. I never have any mice in the garage and we don't have them in the house. We put them in convient areas by doors, under the furnace and a few other places. I tried something different last fall. I cut them in small pieces and put them in mole holes. So far, I have no moles, but many people on a lake where I live have moles. I go out to and pick them up in the country. This year, I will pick them up and give to my friends. We can also purchase them in the HyVee store for $1.00 in the late summer and fall. Do they work? Definitely. I might mention that we also put them in mole holes at a friends house and you guessed it, no moles. Two doors down, there are all kinds of moles. Maybe they moved there.

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Name: patina blakey
State: VA
Date: May 6 2009
Comments:

When i was a little girl we lived in Anniston Alabama, and in this field that my family owen their was a tall tree with these big green apples.We call them horse apples,and the tree we call it an odor ball tree. their we would have family cook outs and all kinds of things,later on we would call the tree our happy tree.I can't believe after 37 years i finily know the real name of our happy,hourse apple,odor ball tree.I can't wait to get off this computer and call my aunt Pam in Alabama and tell her.and after i tell her im going to call all of my family members(sisters and brothers) here in charlottesville and tell theme.I am so happy because this tree has been in our family well over 100 years.thank you so much for this web site.I could go on and on about our tree and tell you wounderful stories and all the fun things we did with our family around that tree it bring tears of joy just to think of all the good times in my life. I guess after all its still our HAPPY,HORSE APPLE,ODOR BALL tree.........oh ya i forgot to tell you the best cooks in anniston Alabama came from under that tree.just to think about it i can smell and test grandma and uncle johns BBQmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Once again i would like to say thank you so very much for this web site.

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Name: Janet
State: MO
Date: April 30 2009
Comments:

Great website, full of very interesting information! I've always loved these beautiful trees. Glad to find others who agree. I'm lucky, I have the trees growing all over my farm!

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Name: Maria Prentiss
State: OH
Date: April 29 2009
Comments:

I'm so glad I found this site...I've used the fruit in my basement for many years. The tree where I picked them is several miles from my home and alongside a very busy street. This is a much easier way to obtain them. I've added my name to the "Reserve Your Hedgeapples" list. In my opinion, they did keep the bugs out of my home. Maria

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Name: Josh
State: IN
Date: April 13 2009
Comments:

I have heard that the Hedgeapple tree was used by the Indians for bowmaking. I wonder is anyone else has any information on this. I would like to start a project with my son on bowmaking like the Indians did.

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Name: Judy Mullins
State: KY
Date: March 25 2009
Comments:

In my opinion,Hedgeapples are the most valuable trees known to mankind. The reason I say this, is because an ingredient found in the hedgeapple called (tetrahydroxystilbene) has been proven to kill cancer cells. I personally know people who have been cured of cancer after eating a teaspoon every day. A friend I work with had bladder cancer, confirmed with 3 different tests. She went in for surgery. Right away the doctor came out to the waiting room to say this to the daughter. "I don't know what happened, but there is no cancer in her bladder." She had used the hedgeapple for only 3 weeks. I have lots of stories of cures & remissions on my website. I don't sell the hedgeapples, but you can certainly buy them on this website. So, if you want to try an alternative cure, you can't go wrong with hedgeapples. You can still take it along with your other treatments. Everything that grows on this earth, was put here by God, for a purpose. Judy Mullins (www.mullinslogcabin.net)

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Name: Timelord
State: SC
Date: March 20 2009
Comments:

Was teaching a class on Natural Insect Pest Control and Hedgeapple was listed. I never heard of one so I went to the web site given. I grow up in Union, S.C. Outside of the Union Cotten Mill gate that my father, grandmother & grandfather used was this large tree with what we called monkey oranges. Now after 30 plus years I know what those thing were. The next time I'm home I will go by the old mill and see if the tree is still there. The mill has been gone for a few years.

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Name: emily nicholl
State: NJ
Date: February 11 2009
Comments:

I saw my first hedgeapple on a Christmas House Tour Dec. 2008 at the historic Whitall House in National Park. They referred to them as Osage Oranges.The tour guide explained that these "oranges" were used for ornaments,fences, bows and also for reducing the presence of various insects. My curiosity was peaked since this year we have been plagued by cave crickets in our basement. They kindly gave me two Osage Oranges to bring home. From the day I placed them in our basement we were free of the cave crickets. I threw them away on February 10 (yesterday)as they were turning brown. Tonight Feb. 11, I saw a large cave cricket in our basement - they were back. My husband found your site tonight and retrieved the browning Hedgeapples from our trash bag. We didn't realize that they still had a little life left in them until we read your article.They are back on our basement floor again. We hope to get one more month of cricket free living. We wish there was a way to get new Hedgeapples/ Osage Oranges to carry us through our battle against the cave crickets. We have already signed up to receive your notice in July.Can't wait for July.

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Name: Ryan
State: WV
Date: January 28 2009
Comments:

I read one guestbook entry lamenting all of the dead undergrowth on his trees. I welcome this dead wood because of the extremely good heat this wood provides in my stove. And after your done pruning the trees look great. I have a fall Osage Orange baseball game with the thousands of fruits that fall in my yard. I had also read that Lewis and Clark sent Jefferson the first example of Osage back East.

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Name: Linda
State: CA
Date: January 25 2009
Comments:

I remember them by my grandmothers house in Akron Ohio. I didn't know the name of them, I just remembered I liked the smell. I had for many years asked people about them since moving west but they must have thought I was crazy, until I found a fake one at a design store. I bought it, and finally found someone who knew what ti was! How can I find the real ones? Fruit or tree.

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Name: jean williams
State: KY
Date: January 23 2009
Comments:

I recently found out my only sister has lung cancer. It's inoperable. A friend told me that Hedgeapples have a beneficial effect on cancer. I would like to know if anyone else has heard this and how to get the apples?

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Name: Grace
State: IL
Date: January 12 2009
Comments:

I had heard of the Hedge Apples but had not tried them til a few years ago. My daughter lives at home and is EXTREMELY phobic about spiders. I put them up in the fall, either sitting them in lids, or hanging them in nylons. They DO work! My problems is, they have already gotten dry and hard. I would assume they are not any good at that point? But where would I get any in the winter??

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Name: John
State: NY
Date: December 21 2008
Comments:

Way up here in the northeast! We have many osage trees on my street! for years we would play with the big fruit that the trees produced. then when i decided to research the Osage Trees i found out the trees arent native to New York but the mid-west!

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Name: Sheila
State: KY
Date: December 16 2008
Comments:

I looked up Hedge Apples because my Doberman has been eating them after they get soft. I wanted to see if they would were toxic to pets. I learned so much from your web site. He also has been carrying them into the house. Maybe that is why we live in the country, and don't have mice inside. Thanks for the information. Tomorrow I'm going to go collect some off the ground and place them all around the inside of the house.

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Name: Eug
State: PA
Date: December 8 2008
Comments:

While in Kansas City, Ks. there were Hedge Apple trees adjacent to the parking lot of the hotel. The Hedge Apples would fall into the parking lot where the squirrels would eat them. An individual parked a brand new Mustang Cobra away from the crowded section, presumably to keep from getting door dings. In the morning the windshield was fractured right in the middle, along side the car on the ground was the largest Hedge Apple I've ever seen. I'll bet the owner was shocked when he/she arrived at their car in the morning. Lesson learned don't park under the Hedge Apple tree!

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Name: Silver Dragon
State: NV
Date: December 1 2008
Comments:

Did you know there are 2 of these trees growing in Lorenzi Park in Las Vegas, NV of all places?! Both trees are loaded with fruit. The one I picked up is 16 inches in circumference! Didn't know what it was. Neither did one of the master gardeners at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. Thank goodness for the internet...

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Name: Vince
State: NJ
Date: November 28 2008
Comments:

An old man I know told me about a place on a backroad here in Beemerville NJ where he as a child saw grapefruits high in a big tree. I told him he was nuts...it's very cold here in the winter. Just recently I was driving by that same area and saw these humongous greatfruit sized balls squashed in the road. I stopped the car, picked on up and sat down at the PC looking for answer. Low and behold, I have a fruit from an Osage orange tree. Up here in the far north-west corner of NJ !!

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Name: Paul Whetstone
State: TN
Date: November 24 2008
Comments:

My wife and I divide our supply of hedgeapples, take our respective defensive positions in the yard, and declare war. I nailed her in the calf yesterday. After she hopped around in pain for a few minutes, I then prentended to be out of hedgeapple ammo. When she dropped her guard I nailed her in the foot. When I turned to re-arm myself, I felt one jet past my left ear, missing my head my less than an inch. This is a penalty because a head shot can send the unfortunate antagonist to the emergency room, perhaps the morgue.

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Name: Jamie
State: TN
Date: November 22 2008
Comments:

The Mock Orange has been a part of my life for 62 years. I have argued with many people over what the name is but to me it will always be a Mock Orange. All of these years I never knew of the wonderful uses for this "ball". We threw them as children and fed them to the horses. After marrying, having children and buying a small farm in middle TN, we found the trees growing on both sides of our lane. The land here was once owned and farmed by freed slaves and one can only assume that the trees were planted for the purpose of "fencing" in the property. However, it was to my children's and now to my grandchildren's delight to play a game when driving the lane to see how many balls you can run over with the car. We would often keep score from morning to afternoon. After reading the guest book I'll be bringing some up to the house for many uses.Thanks to everyone!

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Name: Laura
State: PA
Date: November 20 2008
Comments:

We bought a small farm a few years ago near Harrisburg, PA. With the farm we got a small orchard of about a dozen Osage orange trees that range from 20 to 40 feet tall. The Osage orange fruit has been very abundant. We tried using them as pest repellents in our basement and in the barn but didn't see any evidence of it working. Can't use them as feed for the animals (pot bellied pigs and guinea hens). Would love to use the fruit for something but haven't figured out a use other than they are pretty to look at. Does anyone know if they break down into garden composite? I would think the seeds may be a problem. I sure hate to waste anything that can be harvested and used for other purposes.

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Name: Larry
State: TN
Date: November 19 2008
Comments:

We bought a 43-year old two-story home, only to discover later that we were infested with Brown Recluse Spiders. Our neighbor told us about using Hedge Apples, after paying a monthly service for 2-years, and still having the infestation. I placed the Hedge Apples around the foundation and under the down stairs bathroom sink, (where majority appeared), and less than a month later, we have not seen any spiders anywhere in the house. I am a believer in this all natural inspect repellent.

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Name: Marie
State: MO
Date: November 19 2008
Comments:

I live in Kansas City, Missouri and had never seen a tree like this before. I discovered it on the grounds of my work, and there are several that are dropping amazing loads of these "apples"! I have yet to try them as a spider repellant, but will gladly pick up several of them tomorrow whne I return to work!

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Name: George
State: IL
Date: November 15 2008
Comments:

Osage orange wood is a great wood to turn on a lathe. It makes great tool handles for chisels and other small tools as well as chair spindles. In addition, the wood is a joy to turn. A local store Hardwood Connections in Sycamore, Illinois sells Osage orange wood (kiln dried) and many other kinds of woods to woodworkers Try it.

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Name: megan
State: TX
Date: November 15 2008
Comments:

This is an excellent site! I live in the country with tons of these so called hedge apples.Down here we call them horse apples because we feed them to our horses and they love them. It helps with their teth and breath. I've heard they keep away the spiders but what about roaches?

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Name: Laurie
State: MO
Date: November 15 2008
Comments:

Wow, I can't believe that people would actually have to buy hedge apples. Apparently, we are sitting on a "gold mine". Farms around here are full of the trees. All we need to do is sell them! And yes, we use them to get rid of spiders. They work and are a good decoration to have around.

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Name: Deborah
State: DC
Date: November 15 2008
Comments:

We are glad to have found this site which has told us just about everything we ever needed to know about hedgeapples. We found a few on a sidewalk the other day -- had no idea what they were. We liked the color and the scent, and they look nice in a bowl. Maybe we'll try putting some in the basement to keep the spiders away.

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Name: John
State: SC
Date: November 14 2008
Comments:

We had a problem with cochroaches appearing on an almost daily basis. Within two days of placing 8 hedgeapples in the rooms of the house, the cockroaches stopped appearing. We saw the first bug maybe 5 weeks later.

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Name: Catherine
State: CT
Date: November 12 2008
Comments:

End October 2008: My husband and I drove through quiet Veedersburg, IN, just south of I-74, in search of a post office. We were cruising along its rural roads, enjoying the fall scenery, when our attention was drawn to dozens of oversized black walnuts in the grass - or so we thought. Back east we have used those strong tasting nuts in cakes, breads and stews, so we were rather eager to collect some. As we approached the sprawling patch of fluorescent green balls, we noticed that they had bubbles or warts all over their skins, and we were completely baffled by this alien fruit. Finally we asked an elderly couple walking by to identify it for us. First they looked at us as if we were from another planet. Then they looked at the fruit, at each other, and back at us, and smiled. - Why, hedge apple! - Is it edible? - No, but it is not poisonous - I think. - What is it used for? - Well, some folks keep it in their basement to keep the bugs out... We found these apples with their delicate citrus fragrance quite decorative and decided to hang on to a few of them anyway. Now we are mighty glad we did, because your splendid web site is wildly inspiring! Keep up the fun works!

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Name: Dennis
State: CA
Date: November 12 2008
Comments:

two items I heard that the pioneers liked to use pieces of Osage orange for chicken roosts to ward off lice. I had heard that the wood contains an oil that repels insects. Someone asked where they can be found in california. I am familiar with Northern California. There are a number of large trees at the corner of Highway 32 and Nord Rd. west of Chico, Ca., Butte County. It is approximately 6 miles west of Chico between Hamilton city and Chico. Be careful, traffic is fast. chico is 100 miles north of sacramento. Good luck

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Name: Pam N
State: IN
Date: November 11 2008
Comments:

I was first introduced to hedgeapples by a co-worker who had them growing on a tree in her back yard. She told me how they repell insects inside the home. I took a few home to see if it worked. I figured if it didn't at least the house would smell of fresh orange peels. To my amazement, i started seeing less spiders, crickets, centipeds, and ants inside the house within days of setting these wonderful apples out. Since then I am sure to place a couple in each room of the house starting in late October. They usually last until May or June of the following year. I swear by them. I was recently asked by another co-worker if it was possible to make a jelatin or paste from the Hedgeapple that could be stored for later use in the summer time when Hedge apples are not commonly found in our region. If anyone has or knows of a recipe for such a thing please list it here.

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Name: Jane
State: MO
Date: November 10 2008
Comments:

When I was a teenager, my mother had my dad saw hedgeapples into slices. She then baked them and used them for a variety of crafts. They were beautiful. My co-worker brought me hedgeapples yesterday. I'll use some whole but want to use the others like Mother did. Does anyone know how long the hedgeapple slices should be baked and at what temperature?

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Name: DesoShade
State: MD
Date: November 7 2008
Comments:

My girlfriend was at the college one day and sent me a txt saying she found this strange tree growing by the track with this weird bumpy fruit. She picked one and brought it home. Was the strangest thing. I didn't know what it was so my first reaction: "I bet it's poisonous." Come to find out, it's not. :) And it repels spiders? Awesome! Should pick some more!

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Name: K Stine
State: PA
Date: November 6 2008
Comments:

I am a teacher and a parent brought in a bunch of hedgeapples for the children to explore. She provided literature about the "orange" from the wikipedia site and while reading it I saw it contains latex. We are a latex free school and I ahve children who are allergic to latex. Can anyone tell me if this "latex" is the kind which is an allergen or a plant extract of no threat? Thank you.

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Name: Nancy
State: WA
Date: November 3 2008
Comments:

My husband and I were just visiting a cousin in Odessa, MO. His farm has several trees along the line between their house and pasture. I was fascinated by them, so brought 3 home to show people! Didn't know about the insect repellant feature. Also, another cousin in MO told me there is a tale that if you open up the fruit(?)and crack the seed, . . . .? Something about bad/good luck? Nancy

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Name: Ryan
State: MI
Date: October 31 2008
Comments:

Skeeter, let me tell yas. I ain't seen no cotton pickin' spiders in two years since I instealled them apples. Thanks Billy.

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Name: Jim
State: KS
Date: October 29 2008
Comments:

Through reading the entries on this web site and having numerous hedge trees on our farm, I decided to try them in our basement. My questions to others is has anyone tried adding alittle water to the container the hedge apple is in to help with the repellant properties entering the air and has anyone tried freezing them for future use?

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Name: Stacy
State: OH
Date: October 28 2008
Comments:

What a wonderful and informative site!Almost five years ago, we moved into a house in a neighborhood with trees lining our backyard. I will tell you what...since moving in I developed a phobia of spiders. A couple of years ago---not sure who---told us to put a hedge apple in our basement, as this is where the spiders like to hang out...and travel upwards. Needless to say, it worked amazingly! We have been sure to put a hedgeapple in the basement every fall, and this year gave a few away to friends! It works so well, it truly is amazing terminex stays in business!!! :)

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Name: Lois
State: NC
Date: October 27 2008
Comments:

I never see any hedgeapples around here in North Carolina, so I traveled "home" to West Virginia this last weekend and brought back a feedsack full of them. They're great to keep the spiders away. My father always placed them about 5 to 10 feet apart all around the base of the house and he still does. The spiders always just disappeared! I'm putting them all around my house both inside and out because last year we developed such a spider problem. Not this year! Well worth the 5 hour drive to me!

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Name: Sue
State: MO
Date: October 26 2008
Comments:

I put two in my basement and not only the spiders left - but we had a lot of crickets and they seem to have left as well. Does anyone make baseball bats from osage orange? It sounds like they wouldn't break as often as maple.

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Name: Patrick
State: OH
Date: October 26 2008
Comments:

I've got these darn things coming out my ears! I moved into my current home a year ago and the back property line has like 6 of these things and they are huge. I've been shooting literally hundreds of these stupid monkey ball hedgeapple things into the woods. Any one who wants them can come and get 'em... better bring a pick-up truck cause you'll fill the bed!

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Name: JUDY
State: MO
Date: October 26 2008
Comments:

I live in Kingsville Mo. I have hedge apple trees on my land. This year I have alot of them an they are big. I've been ready about peoples comments. I like the ideal of spraying them for the hollidays. I do use them for the insects around the house. But what I want to know is there a way that you can get the fragrance out of it so you can have the smell in the house cause I love the smell. They smell like spring flowers. If anyone knows just write a comment an I will check back. Thank You

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Name: TudorD
State: CT
Date: October 23 2008
Comments:

This is so weird ... I found out by accident that osage-orange tree (producing huge hedgeapples) is growing in my school yard in the city of Cluj-Napoca (Romania). Do any of you have any knowledge of such a tree growing anywhere else in Europe?

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Name: Terry
State: KS
Date: October 21 2008
Comments:

I live in S.E. Kansas where hedge apples along the roadside are a sure sign of fall. This year i found a tree producing the biggest hedge apples I have ever seen. Not just 1 or 2 big ones,they were all huge!I lugged four of them home. The largest 18" diameter,2 1/2#! The rest were 2 1/4# each.Never seen them this size. Do they grow this large elsewhere? Baseball size is usually the norm here.

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Name: ROBIN HEATH
State: GA
Date: October 19 2008
Comments:

My family and I were at the chichamauga battlefield when we ran upon this hedge apples. My daughter was very interested in these things. We brought 2 of them home with us to find out what they were. Thanks for all the info i had no ideal what they were, now i know and can try to put them to use. thank you. dalton georgia

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Name: Yalonda
State: PA
Date: October 19 2008
Comments:

My brother came across one of these when a neighbor had one and was wondering what they were. After someone finally told him him it was a hedge apple, I decided to look it up! It's nice that there was a site just for it and with a bunch of information about it! They seem very neat and useful, so I may try some in my house to repel the bugs! But I might also try to get some of the hedge wood somewhere to burn because I'm sure the kids would love the light effects it gives off!

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Name: Pat Holcomb
State: CA
Date: October 19 2008
Comments:

This site is a treat. My Uncle Tobe who was from Kansas and quite the tease, called these LEAVERITE APPLES. . . "leave 'er right there, it's no darned good." Looks like he was wrong, but it was good fun. I'm eager to check out their less frivilous properties.

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Name: Denise
State: TN
Date: October 17 2008
Comments:

Ahhh, the osage orange! A wonderful slow burning hardwood to keep you warm; fence posts that never rot; the "apples" to help keep the spiders out of the house (at least most of them; unique decorations fresh in a bowl or sliced and dried for arrangements; and if you have a good local woodworker they make the most beautiful bowls!

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Name: Sherrie
State: KS
Date: October 15 2008
Comments:

I can remember my mother spray painting them silver and gold at Christmas time and using them as a centerpiece with green garland.

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Name: Rick
State: IN
Date: October 15 2008
Comments:

I have use hedgeapples for all kinds of crafts. You can spray paint them,hang them,make bird houses with them,cut them into slices and paint or dec. to make Christmas items for the tree or candle rings. It is just fun going out looking for them, alone country roads or alone rivers. You can find them almost anywhere. I don't know why anyone in Ind. would have to buy a Hedgeapple, because people that have them in there yards would love someone to pick them up for them. When the leaves come down on top of them it is very hard to rake the leaves,and even harder to rake Hedgeapples. Ha. Good hunting from Rick in Indiana.

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Name: cindy
State: PA
Date: October 13 2008
Comments:

got some of these hedge apples from ohio and will try them out and let you know if they repell the spiders as winter is coming and they tend to get in the house i have about 8 of them all around the house we will see

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Name: DL
State: MO
Date: October 11 2008
Comments:

Lived in Missouri for 8 years and had over 5 acres with many hedge trees. The hedge apples do not repel bugs at all. Bugs are all over the hedge apples. Hedge apples are very messy. The trees are fast growing and survived ice storms, tornadoes, flash floods, drought, clay soils and large dogs, weed wackers, and tractors.

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Name: Kate
State: TN
Date: October 11 2008
Comments:

We're originally from TX and never saw these things until we recently bought some small acreage here in middle TN. We have dozens of these trees with this strange looking fruit a neighbor called hedgeapple from a "bodark" tree as it's locally known. Found your website while looking for more info. What's the best way to get rid of these things? A hedgeapple fell on the hood of our car and dented it. Cut it down and it's growing back!

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Name: Deb
State: MO
Date: October 9 2008
Comments:

Hedge apples or Horse Apples as we called them were amazing fun things when I was a child. We would collect them in mass and find a place to hurl them at the pavement. The most thrilling part was when they burst open and the white milky stuff would come out. What a fond memory but oh what a mess! Guess I have loved them all these years. Great site!

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Name: Rick
State: IN
Date: October 8 2008
Comments:

We love the wood for walking sticks. We use the hedge apples for fun mostly, ut I have seen a reduction in spiders. Paint them and hang them from a tree for Christmas decoration too

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Name: pamela purse
State: MO
Date: October 6 2008
Comments:

I've just placed my hay bales and indian corn and pumpkins out front to welcome fall. I was thrilled when I climbed the hill to see my hedge apple tree LADEN with fruit. Last year, due to the spring freeze we had none. I've placed 3o or 40 "apples" around the pumpkins and bales of hay. They are the finishing touch to my fall display!

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Name: Matt Scheidenhelm
State: KS
Date: October 3 2008
Comments:

Just felt the effects of picking up nearly 100 of these in the backyard of our newly purchased house, all the while thinking that there should be a more noble purpose for such an elaborate fruit. I proposed fermenting them into some Kansas moonshine. Any way, my 2 year old daughter enjoyed the capture of them, and how I threw them against trees when she supplied me with them

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Name: LaTisha
State: OH
Date: October 1 2008
Comments:

There is a park about a mile from our home that has a huge hedgeapple tree and they begin to fall around the end of September. We were told by a relative that they keep the spiders away, and he gave us about six of them and told us to place them around the house and in the basement. Lo and behold we did and they worked. We went from seeing spiders everywhere (even in the shower!!) to not seeing any for the remainder of fall and the entire winter. They work!!!

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Name: veronica.lynn.boyd
State: OH
Date: September 30 2008
Comments:

i heard about the apples from my grandma, when i was young...now much older i live in the country an i have found alot of spiders, as we remodle our home... mostly in our bedroom..2 months ago my daughter brandi got bit by a brown recluse on her top leg.. must say the affect from that spider was deadly, but we caught it in time.. she has had many surgey, now doing somewhat better.. since i have put the apples down i havee not seen any spiders, but have found a few dead...

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Name: Michael Livingston
State: IL
Date: September 28 2008
Comments:

My grandmother on Mom's side has always had a few hedgeapples in her cellar, and I hardly ever saw insects down there. I just got some hedgeappples for my house to repel ants-Terminex's efforts had nearly no effects-, and the ants disappeared with in 5 minutes. These things work WELL!!!

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Name: Bryan
State: CA
Date: September 23 2008
Comments:

My friend told me about Hedgeapples a few years ago. As I lived in an older house, spiders and water bugs were a problem. I picked a few from a field down the road and put them around and they really worked. I have Birds and my friend has a lizard so I told her about them as they did not bother the birds at all. She tried them and now uses them all the time. As I do,too. They have also helped me in my new residence as it is full off those pesty spiders with the whispy webs. You know the ones you don't see until you walk into them.

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Name: Shaun
State: KY
Date: September 22 2008
Comments:

Actually Whitetail Deer do eat hedgeapples. At least in Central Ky, they do. I am a deer hunter and whenever I find hedgeapples I pick them up and take them to my stand. The deer seem to like them a whole lot but I do not know why??

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Name: Nick
State: KY
Date: September 16 2008
Comments:

My little boy was fansinated with the hedge apples when we were on the farm yesterday. We found one tree that had them from 8" - 10" in diamiter. This is a cool site. I always put them around my house and will probably stick a few inside now that I've read about them. Didn't know that the Osage Orange was the same tree as a hedge!!

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Name: laurie teaman
State: GA
Date: September 13 2008
Comments:

My son and I found these odd looking things along a creek in Atlanta, Ga. I had started to collect them and put in a glass vase for decoration. I was walking with a few of them today and a young man stopped me and told me what they were as I had been unable to find out. He was from Kansas. I have never seen them anywhere else. So interesting. My son's teacher now has one and I am so excited to now share with her what I have learned.

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Name: Sandi
State: CO
Date: September 5 2008
Comments:

I might as well have bought $28 of tennis balls. I'm sorry I wasted my money. I have just as many spiders and other bugs as I did before. They have done absolutely nothing.

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Name: Dave
State: MO
Date: August 15 2008
Comments:

Throw the fruits out where they can sprout, so the next generation of bowyers can have lots of raw material to work with. Try cleaning your house to keep the bugs down.

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Name: Nancy
State: IL
Date: August 11 2008
Comments:

I bought these hedgedapples 2 months ago and they have not helped with one single insect in my home. Beware! Don't wasted your money.

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Name: John
State: KS
Date: July 23 2008
Comments:

I came upon your website while looking for spider repellents. Your FAQ's section had me rolling on the floor with laughter.My parents had a 58 acre section of land that was mostly covered in Osage Orange trees.When my kids were young, my parente would give them a penny for every hedge apple they picked-up out of the yard.Now that I see what the prices are for hedge apples, I'm thinking we probably sent about $2 million dollars worth of the little buggers floating down-stream...RATS!

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Name: Mary
State: MO
Date: July 23 2008
Comments:

Your site is most imformative on the iconic hedge apple. My family have wondered for years..."what is the use or purpose in evolution, for the hedge apple?". Now we are closer to this realization but not quite there yet. Thank you.

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Name: terry
State: OK
Date: July 17 2008
Comments:

the indians used the wood for more than just bows (which give it the french name bois d'arc) the heartwood especially makes a beautiful yellow dye and can dye most fiber (and basket material) anywhere from a pale yellow to almost neon yellow (wool and silk). the bark and wood other than the heart will produce the paler colors of yellow also. we just bought 45 acres of bottom land in the original range in texas and i am so glad to see i have about a dozen osage oranges in a mixed stand on the southeast corner of the land.

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Name: Sharon
State: CA
Date: July 6 2008
Comments:

I read in an article that hedgeapples repel insects and spiders. I was thrilled that something like this exists, so i did some more research and came across your website. i was hoping you could give me some more information about this fruit(?). where and when are hedgeapple trees grown.. ? can i find them locally in califnoria ? i would love to find out how they work. thankd you.

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Name: Cynthia
State: TX
Date: May 28 2008
Comments:

My grandmother had a tree in her yard and told me that they keep the roaches out. I had not seen any since or even thought about them until we started to be more cautious about using commercial pesticides. I saw some on vacation in Arkansas and brought some home. THEY DO DETER SMALL INSECTS, SPIDERS, ETC.

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Name: Kim
State: AL
Date: May 19 2008
Comments:

I bought an Osage Orange tree today and am fascinated !Is this a fast growing tree ? I'm also curious..since I only bought one and don't know if it is "male " or "female"...should I buy more ? Since these are large trees....Please email me

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Name: David
State: PA
Date: May 2 2008
Comments:

On a recent visit back home I noticed the magnitude of the tree in my friends yard, easily 4 feet in diameter. I remember growing up and throwing the dense apples we used to call Monkey balls.

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Name: Arlet
State: IL
Date: February 20 2008
Comments:

My husband and I have argued over hedgeapple trees on our property since we bought it. He was tickled to death when I heard about your website on a national news show we get through satellite dish. We, from reading your site, mistakingly call them hedgeballs. I will try to remember that fact. Lots of good info on the site. We also burn the wood in our only source of heat...a wood burner. It certainly does have a high BTU rate as far as I am concerned. Only like to add it to slower burning wood. Will probally return to the site because like you, my husband is a huge supporter of the hedgeapple and its tree they come from.........something else we learned. We always called them hedge trees. Their strong wood also is used in farm fencing in our area. Thanks for the chance to read all this information. Have added it to our favorite list.

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Name: Richard
State: IL
Date: February 15 2008
Comments:

A lot of info. The one thing that I did not see is where we use the straighter branches for fence post. The larger ones were used for corner post and the smaller branches used for line post. They are very hard and you just about have to drill a hole in order to get the staples driven in all the way. the last forever and do not rot in the ground. you can use the crooked ones as well as the straight ones as they make an interesting sight. the good thing is they reproduce new branches so you are never out of post.

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Name: Ashley
State: AR
Date: January 5 2008
Comments:

I've heard so much about hedge apples, bodark, and osage orange, and I finally put them all together today.... Very informative site, much appreciated!

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Name: Lynne
State: GA
Date: January 1 2008
Comments:

I just flashed back 50 years ago. Central Illinois, in the woods with my mother and younger brother picking morel mushrooms and plucking Hedge Apples from multitudes of trees while my dad hunted for squirrel and rabbit. We ate the squirrel, rabbit and mushrooms for dinner most evenings - and to this day, I HATE all mushrooms and all game food. As for the Hedge Apples, I think dad used them in the old coal furnace and mom used them to keep critters at bay :)

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Name: Lindsay
State: KY
Date: December 6 2007
Comments:

I returned to Louisville, KY a number of years ago and moved into an apartment complex that had an Osage Orange tree on the premise's. I questioned what the use of the fruit would be and was told it repelled spiders and crickets in the fall. After having a Wolf Spider charge at me while sitting on the floor, I immediately collected a number of Osage Orange fruit and placed them be the windows and door. No more spiders. Since then, I have moved into a rental house and every fall place the fruit by my doors and in the basement windows. I have never had to call Orkin.

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Name: Sandy
State: CA
Date: November 25 2007
Comments:

Would love to try a few. Have heard great things about hedge apples. Sandy

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Name: Steve
State: KY
Date: November 24 2007
Comments:

My Dad use to say, the only good use he could think of for hedgeapples would be to make fuel from them. Does anyone know if ethanol or biodiesel can be made from hedgeapples??? I also remember that sixty some odd hedgeapple trees were uprooted and went across the road after a possible tornado where I use to live as a kid. that might be a drawback of having a hedgeapple farm for ethanol production. but if existing hedgeapples could be gathered and used for ethanol (instead of or in addition to corn), why not? we would not be depleting the food supply that way!

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Name: Carol
State: MI
Date: November 18 2007
Comments:

When I was little, there was a stand of osage trees along our country road, from my parents house to my grandparents house, a quarter mile away. Just before WWII, a photographer, from the State Journal came and took pictures of my two brothers, setting beside a large stack of hedgeapples. The pictures were very good and it was sort of a human interest story along with the apples, as my mother had made my brothers snow suits that they were wearing. Anyway, WWII broke out and the paper never ran the pictures or the story, but I still have the picture. I still live along this road, now paved, but there are only two trees still here, both, in our yard. People will stop and pick a few of the apples, from the driveway. I bring a few in for decoration and also for the spiders. Last year, we just had a few, this year, the tree is loaded. If nothing else, they are certainly a topic of conversation. My brother, next door, would like us to cut the tree down, between our two homes, but the tree will remain, at least for the rest of my life and hopefully long after. I never look at the trees without remembering all the times we played along the path to Grandmas.

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Name: Ricky
State: CA
Date: November 17 2007
Comments:

I work a golf course that has these trees.. there are 2 that are probably around 50ft tall an produced huge hedgeapples, the other day one fell from the top and smashed through the roof of a golf cart haha.. we hit them with golf clubs, throw them into the tree to knock out more, bowl, play baseball, lets just say hedgeapples can be alot of fun when your bored at work..

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Name: Rob
State: MI
Date: November 16 2007
Comments:

They are everywhere here, we use the apples in the basement for bugs.The wood burns the best

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Name: Elry
State: NY
Date: November 13 2007
Comments:

Hedge Apples? To me they ar called Mock Oranges and always will be. And they are a treasured part of my childhood! I grew up in Rockland Country NY on the Hudson River. And at the base of the hill was a huge Mock Orange tree. And every year as they fell to the ground we would gather them with glee for our yearly tradition. Yes! We would roll them out into the road and watch them get squished by unsuspecting motorists. The best squishes came from the 9A bus on it's way to NYC. But school buses were great too. Of course, we could use crab apples. but nothing made a better road pie splat than Mock Oranges. It brought more joy to the 5th grade than ringing doorbells on gate night. So what brought on this trip down memory lane and this GREAT web site. I live in NYC now. AndI was out walking the other day on the upper west side and I cut through Morningside Park to get up to Columbia University. And low-and-behold I came upon a grove of Mock Orange trees in full bloom. I wonder what people will say to see a 40 year old man rolling little green brains out onto Broadway!

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Name: Becky
State: KY
Date: November 11 2007
Comments:

I have these trees in my backyard. We've lived here for 4 years now and we have noticed that some years they bear lots of friut and other years hardly any. This year we've only seen 1 on the ground and I can't see anymore on the trees. Does anyone know why this happens? Last year we had tons! Is my tree gender confused? We have 3 -4 of these trees on our fence row. Last year we had one cut down due to storm damage. Was that our male tree? This may sound silly, but do you have to have male and female trees together to produce friut? Or is it due to the long hot dry summer we had this year? I shouldn't complain because they are a pain in the butt to throw out of the yard. Please email me if you think you have an answer. Thanks.

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Name: Yvonne
State: TN
Date: November 10 2007
Comments:

I used osage oranges when I lived in Michigan to repel the spiders and now that I've moved to east Tennessee, I can't find an osage orange anywhere! People don't have a clue what I'm talking about! But after reading some of these entries, I know they grow in Virginia and that's not far away. Could someone email me silentwolfmountain@yahoo.com and tell me where I can go to buy some??? I need a bag full desperately! Thanking you in advance!

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Name: Cindy
State: MI
Date: November 6 2007
Comments:

We saw these weird fruit all over the road near a new subdivision. I stopped and picked them up. I am so glad I found this website because I had no idea what these things were. I am planning to go get more and try to get them to grow in my yard. Thank you Mr. Hedgeapple!

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Name: Sharon
State: MI
Date: November 5 2007
Comments:

I have heard about these things for years, but cound never find them and never knew what the name of them were. Well, last weekend at our local flee market-stock yard, I found them and bought 6 of them and passed them out to family and friends. I kept two for us. One for the house and one for the garage. I will be letting you know what happens. I just know they are going to work well. I will give this address to my friends and family so they can see the results too.

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Name: Jeff
State: OH
Date: October 29 2007
Comments:

I have seen this tree for a couple of years and finally did my research. i know of only one female tree near me and it sits in a very old cemetery in the ohio city neighborhood of cleveland's westside; monroe cemetery. i usually take the kids to this cemetary near halloween and all these balls get smashed under the weight of the car tires. these hedgeapples are great looking brain things that are good for halloween mischeiviousness!

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Name: JUDY
State: TN
Date: October 29 2007
Comments:

The Other Day I Stopped By My Husbands Dr. And Along The Curb Were These Funny Looking Bumpy Green Things. These Had Never Seen In My 56 Years. I Took One Into The Office And Only One Person Thought She Knew What They Were . A Hedge Apple. I Had Never Herd Of Them Either. So I Went And Gathered More, I Would Like To Know If They Can Be Painted And Used In Decorating For The Holidays. They Are So Cute. I Collect Apple Things. I Think I'Ll Go Get More. But It Looked More Like A Bush That They Came From. A Few Were Still Hanging But The Rest Were Everywhere On The Ground. My Sister Helped Me Find This Site. Thank You For The Info !!!!

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Name: Stephanie
State: CA
Date: October 20 2007
Comments:

Going east of Merced, California on October 12,2007 on county road 59 we just passed through the hamlet of Snelling when we noticed large green brains along the side of the road. We stopped and gathered a few. Many were still hanging on the tree. We were going to a wedding up on Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada and the locals attending the wedding will tell us what these are, we thought. Wrong, none of the attendees had ever seen one except one lady who saw a child with one and asked what it was and was told but couldn't remember. We all were fascinated. We sliced it open after Sunday breakfast. A couple even tasted it. We love learning new things. Happily a friend at home googled green brain fruit and found your site. Thank you!!

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Name: Lisa
State: TX
Date: October 19 2007
Comments:

Wow... I'm a New Yorker but transplanted in San Antonio, TX. My husband and I were leaving our home the other day and noticed these strange bright green balls on the ground at this construction site. I stolled over the next day to investigate to see what they were?? Hummm... No IDEA! So, I went to the computer and discovered this whole world of Hedge Apples Trees. :) - I'm thrilled! The history behind this tree is amazing and I'm excited to share it with my daughter's school. - My husband has lived in Texas his whole life but has never see anything like it before. -Yes, it's very sticky inside but smells nice. Thanks for sharing your stories about the Hedgeapple.

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Name: Bobbi
State: OH
Date: October 19 2007
Comments:

I love the site! I learned so much about the hedgeapple I never knew anything about! All I knew was they kept spiders out of the house, the wood is yellow when you cut it, you have to keep a file handy for your chain on your saw when you cut it, it makes a great bow and it burns HOT!!

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Name: Alli
State: KS
Date: October 18 2007
Comments:

Do hedgeapple tree's ever stop dropping apples? My tree is not dropping apples this fall and I was wondering if you knew why. We had a late spring frost earlier in the year, so I wondered if that could have caused it to not drop apples this fall? Or could the crazy weather and global warming that we've had cause damage to my tree? Or do these tree's have some sort of lifespan where they stop dropping hedgeapples after a certain number of years?

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Name: Linda
State: IN
Date: October 17 2007
Comments:

Great site, the only one on the net about hedgeapples. Gathered up 2 bushels today to give way for insect repellents. Hope they work.

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Name: Sandy
State: OH
Date: October 17 2007
Comments:

The osage apple has been my headache every fall for the last six years. When I first moved to my home that I am now.. I thought they were large WALNUTS! I guess I was clueless. I had soooo many people last year stop by and want to pick them up (they sell them around Lake Erie for .25 cents a piece to detour spiders. (I don't know if they do or not!) Anyone have any thought on that one? I wish they would come back this year and take them all!!! Hee Hee! My neighbor said if we could make WINE out of them.. We are in business! Anyone have any thoughts on that one???

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Name: Sandi
State: OH
Date: October 8 2007
Comments:

Thank You so much for all of the helpful information. In our area there are only 2 trees and nobody knows where the second one is but me!!!!! It's almost harvest time! See Ya!!!

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Name: Michelle
State: WI
Date: October 3 2007
Comments:

I bought hedgeapples in a grocery store a few years ago and buy them every year since. I love the way they work. I will book mark this site so that I can order them when I want.

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Name: Cheryl
State: NE
Date: September 27 2007
Comments:

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM 60 YEARS OLD AND WAS JUST ENLIGHTENED ABOUT THE HEDGEAPPLE TODAY AT WORK. IT SOUNDS AMAZING FOR SPIDER CONTROL. (I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY YET, BUT - IF I LOOK HARD ENOUGH I'M SURE I'LL FIND EM') I HATE TO KILL ANY LIVING CREATURE SO THESE WOULD BE PERFECT. SORRY ABOUT THE FREEZE AND I WILL CHECK IN LATER TO SEE IF THESE ARE OBTAINABLE. RESPECTFULLY, CHERYL K. JORDAN

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Name: Steph
State: KY
Date: September 27 2007
Comments:

Squashing Hedge Apples with my car is my favorite activity in the fall. I can not explain to you the satisfaction I get when I flatten one (and there are many) on my way to work. I also like the green mosaic pattern left behind by someone who beat me to the punch. I want to grow 2 in my yard for the sole purpose of lining them up and squashing a bunch of them in a row.

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Name: Steve
State: GA
Date: September 4 2007
Comments:

Dear Mr. H.A., I just visited the AIG museum just outside Cincinnati and found this tree full of pale green brains next to the museum. I brought one home and searched the internet until my son found out on yahoo answers what it was. An osage orange. 47 years old and my first experience with one. I don't get out much. Thanks for the info.

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Name: Sandi
State: OH
Date: August 31 2007
Comments:

There are 2 HEdgeapple trees in our town. One tree everyone knows about and people are seen waiting for a monkey ball to fall. The other one only Myself and my Son and 2 of his friends know about. I give the monkey balls to friends as Fall gifts for their basements and closets.

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Name: Debbie
State: NY
Date: August 31 2007
Comments:

Just resently my husband and I were in SE Nebraska visiting our son and saw these osage orange trees along side the road. I was very curious as what they were and my husband had told me what they were. Never heard of them before, he had stopped and picked one out of a tree and handed it to me and brought all the way back to NY. My Husband told to look it up on the net to see what i can find out out about the fruit and I was amazed and what I found. We're planning another trip out there this fall and I'm going to make sure that I get a few more for my home, for it too is infested with fleas and spiders, also hoping it might get rid the other insects that surround our home. Would to plant a few here but we don't plan on being in this area all our lives. Thanks to the many people that have contributed to your site!

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Name: James Easter
State: IA
Date: August 18 2007
Comments:

Great site you have here. We need more sites with some of your view points. It also lightens the day. My timber is full of Hedge trees and we make Archery Bows and Fence posts from them. They are a valuable resource here. Please look our site over that is dedicated to the tree. http://www.osageorange.com Like yours is dedicated to the fruit.

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Name: Donna
State: KS
Date: August 7 2007
Comments:

Growing up in S. Central Oklahoma, we had hedgeapple trees everywhere. Here in Kansas they are bountiful. When my children were young and in Girl Scouts in the 60's, we had a project where we gathered hedgeapples, sliced them into different widths, and baked them in the oven. They made beautiful shapes and we could use them for decorations or jewelry. The girls really loved doing that. I am always reminded of those days when I drive to the lake here and see them lying on the ground. My house is infested with brown recluse spiders. I was bitten on the arm 5yrs ago by one and it almost cost me my arm. So if I lay some in the basement and in my bedroom it should help keep them aaway from me? Is that right?? My daughter sent this article to me and her niece as her house is also infested with them. I love your site. Thanks.

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Name: Cndy Beglin
State: TX
Date: July 19 2007
Comments:

We were just out on the San Jacinto River which we live on this morning and saw a strange green bumpy fruit on some trees on the river. We picked one and brought it home and I thought it looked somewhat like an apple and heard the name hedge apple before and looked and found your site and was so happy to be able to identify it. They are pretty colorfuly looking fruits and we were wondering if they were edible but see they are not..but the bug repellent properties have me interested enough to try them out. Thanks for your website in helping identify this.

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Name: Sophie
State: IL
Date: July 13 2007
Comments:

I love hedgeapples. I like this website. But I am a bit confused. If Lewis and Clark brought the Osage Orange back from their journey, there shouldn't be any trees in the Eastern U.S. more than 200 years old. But the record holder tree at Red Hill is estimated to be 350-400 years old? How did it get to Virginia?

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Name: Audrey
State: KY
Date: June 16 2007
Comments:

Regarding Hedgeapples: I must say, I love the smell of citrus. I had 9 trees in my yard and cut 6 of them down, because they were a nuisance. I dreaded fall, because it was a chore to pick them all up and the trash men I'm sure didn't appreciate how heavy my trash cans were. They would get as big as grapefruits or bigger. My ex husband would put them in his hunting gear to get rid of the human scent for deer hunting and also used to keep certain critters away in my basement. Even though I miss my the shade in the summer, I won't miss picking up thousands of "balls" and raking all them leaves this fall.

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Name: Tom
State: VA
Date: May 21 2007
Comments:

We have a very large Osage Orange Tree with trunk DIAMETER of 4-5 feet. A tree surgeon came by, and took some photos for himself, as he had never seen one as old as this one. I have never personally seen a larger one. We have some others here in Mathews Co., but they are not as large in diameter, as this one, which is a male tree. The others line a driveway for a historic 18th C. home "Poplar Grove", here in Mathews. Very hard wood. Hard to trim limbs. Thanks for the information regarding this very interresting tree. Our home is an old one, but the Osage is much older.

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Name: Kennard
State: MI
Date: May 11 2007
Comments:

"brains in trees" the first time i saw the hedgeapple was 30 years ago in mid november. i turned a corner and there was a row of large trees and it looked like these brains had come from outer space and landed in these trees. there were no leaves just these things stuck in the tree. i was actually nervous about it at the time. i have since come to see that they are realativly common in southeast michigan usually around old farms.

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Name: John
State: PA
Date: April 4 2007
Comments:

I have been searching for these trees for years. i now have located a hedgeorw along a back road that had headgeapples along the road last fall. i will try to identify the tree by using your pictures on your web site. thanks for the great site and positive articles on this interesting tree.

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Name: George
State: AR
Date: March 12 2007
Comments:

I have long been familiar with the osage orange. I know it's history and uses of wood for bows, plows, etc and fruit and tree plantings used as fence rows. I have done wood work using osage orange wood. It is very hard wood and great except it expands and contracts a lot depending on moisture content. I have osage orange trees, mulberries, ches and other related fruit all in the same family. My ches are grafted on osage orange. The che fruit looks the same as osage orange except it is small, red, juicy and sweet. It also has male and female trees, except both produce fruit. They will not produce seed in the fruit without both male and female, just seedless fruit, which is good. I have tried for years to make crosses or hybrids of the osage orange and related fruit. It is not easy, I'm an engineer, not a horticulter (or speller as you see). I just like rare fruit trees and have hundreds of trees, bushes, vines, palms, etc that produce fruit from all over the world. The osage orange hybrids are small and have not produced fruit yet. My goal is to have fruit large like the osage orange, but sweet and good to eat like the che.

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Name: Don
State: OH
Date: March 6 2007
Comments:

My remembrance of hedgeapples is when my son took me to cut some of them for firewood. I took an electric chain saw and a generator. It took all of a half hour to burn out the chain saw. It was excellent firewood. It was practically rotproof even lying on the ground. and burned with a slow, hot fire that made a few sparks.

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Name: Greg
State: VA
Date: February 27 2007
Comments:

Interesting site. But I'm rather surprised to find that Osage Orange is reputed to be (generally) native to Texas & Oklahoma. I live in Northern Virginia and we're positively overrun with them, and many of them are truly colossal! I heat my home with wood (I have a large outdoor wood burning furnace) and I’m always on the lookout for seasoned Osage Orange. It burns with a heat intensity like no other wood I’ve ever seen: usually with a blue flame! The only other wood that comes close, BTU wise, is Locust (IMHO). With respect to harvesting Osage Orange for heating fuel, I’ve found that large specimens usually exhibit a characteristic where the entirety of a major branch (or branches) seems to be “abandoned” by the main trunk in favor of new growth branches on another part of the tree. These “abandoned” branches then literally “die on the vine”. When I find such abandoned branches, I “prune” them off and use it for firewood. It’s usually perfectly seasoned, largely free of bark, and it does the tree some good. It’s the best firewood you can use.

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Name: Tommy
State: MO
Date: February 27 2007
Comments:

We have hedgeapples (bodarc balls) in abundance here and put them in basements and crawlspaces to get rid of spiders, especially brown recluses. I began doing this upon advice from an older person in the community and it works. We had a house infested with brown recluses and after putting them under the house, spiders were everywhere for a week. Apparently they were leaving because after that, they were mighty scarce.

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Name: Bill
State: OH
Date: February 16 2007
Comments:

Thought I'd share what happened to me a few years ago. I turned a corner and as I began accelerating, my windshield on the passenger side shattered. I stopped to see what I had hit, and I found that a hedgeapple had fallen from a tree and hit my windshield. The result looked like it had been hit with a baseball bat. Imagine trying to explain that one to the insurance company.

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Name: DONNA
State: KY
Date: January 31 2007
Comments:

I have been in love with hedgeapples for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Ohio and as kids we called them monkeyballs. We used them to throw them at whatever was handy. I now live in Kentucky and see a few of the trees along the roadsides. I own 58 lovely acres here in Kentucky so I snitched a few monkeyballs off of a roadside tree. I just planted the balls a few weeks ago - just dug some holes and threw them in. I hope they grow even though I didn't use the slurry method. Do they like sun or will they tolerate a little shade? I would love to find a ceramic one, too.

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Name: Michael
State: TX
Date: January 10 2007
Comments:

Growing up on Southeastern Oklahoma “Horse Apple” tress were common. The most common use for the apples by my friends and I was loading them with firecrackers and playing war with the improvised grenades. After a day of this and the resulting stains on my clothes it was not uncommon for my mother to teach my another use for the branches of this tree. I have a bit of a history lesson about a particular Osage Orange tree that grew in my parents yard. I would say that it has to rival the one mentioned on your page as being the biggest, fully 50-60 feet high My grandfather who mined coal across the road back in the early 1920 stated that the gentleman who lived on the place at that time, could often be found sitting under this tree smoking and drinking. He also states that the tree was as just as big then as it is now. To attest to its slow growth, back in the middle 70’s my father built me a tree house in this tree, the lumber is long since, but the nails used in the construction can still be seen sticking out of the tree, and at the same depth as when it was built 30+ years ago. Several years ago a heavy ice storm was able to break off a lower branch, when I assisted in cleaning it up I cut a cross section of this branch, took it home and sanded it smooth and counted the growth rings. They numbered over 120. On a side note the only other Osage trees I have ever seen that even came close to obtaining it size were all male thornless and fruitless, just as this one is.

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Name: Steve
State: PA
Date: December 27 2006
Comments:

I have access to a few trees in my local area & I used them every year for my basement and garage.They work very very Great!I called them Monkey Balls!

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Name: Jonathan
State: IN
Date: December 22 2006
Comments:

We found several of these trees along the newer trail parks in Logansport. The ones above the Eel River were quite mature. The ones along the Wabash River were much younger, and growing rapidly. Some new shoots are regularly over 6' long. One of them produced a crop of fruits this year. The growth is hilariously vigorous, but tends to bend over with subsequent development and fruiting. The branching is messy because there is no surviving terminal bud. We have put a lot of work into limbing them up so that people walking the trails can still see the river below the developing canopy. So far, the beaver have not attacked the trunks.

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Name: Barbara
State: MI
Date: December 22 2006
Comments:

My neighbour has one of these wonderful trees and was very curious to find out more about these interesting trees. The female tree she has is probly 35feet tall and bears hundreds of the fruit each year not knowing too much about them interested in trying to start a few anybody have pictures of sappling because i might already have accomplished growing some. thank you for your web sight and all imput from readers in guestbook. so much information to give my neighbour. I feel it might be over whelming for her being she is elderly and has limited information. Also some of you might enjoy this she was told that the trees are hard to start and some scientists had no luck in growing these trees and told her she needed a male to polinate them is that true?

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Name: Timothy
State: CO
Date: December 20 2006
Comments:

I found this site trying to prove to a friend that hedge apples are not something I made up. When I was a kid growing up in NE Kansas we would gather hedge apples near my grandparents farm. My mother would then scatter a few of the hedge apples around the basement for insect control. I don't recall how often she replaced them, but they seemed to last for quite some time in the cold dark environment.

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Name: Ray
State: OH
Date: December 17 2006
Comments:

I have heard of the Headge apple being used for insects around houses. I remember the headgeapple tree when I was a kid back in Ky. I found them in Indiana and will try then in my home.

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Name: Jim
State: WV
Date: December 2 2006
Comments:

I have a couple hedgeapple trees in my back yard. Come late season for deer hunting when there is not much left for the deer to eat they quickly consume the friuts if they are broken open since they are a bit big to fit in there mouth. So some quick work with a hammer or hatchet and there is plenty of open fruits. I have taken quit a few deer over hedgeapples.

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Name: Dan
State: NY
Date: November 30 2006
Comments:

Me and my hunting party found the hedgeapples hunt this year. we asked around to many people and they didnt know what it was till we found this websit and now we know what they are. we where thinking thay where some type of brian.

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Name: John
State: OH
Date: November 30 2006
Comments:

Every fall I pick one of these up and put it on my friend's car or near his house over night. It started when we were younger adults, and got a kick out of how they look, now his kids think it's funny too.

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Name: Justin
State: KY
Date: November 26 2006
Comments:

I just started studying and collecting Hedge Apples here in Shelby County Kentucky. There is a high concentration of trees in the immediate area. About three to four per wooded acre on average. They repel house flies and most other insects very well and the cent they produce seams to actually freshen the air quite a bit. Although I have found that wood mites, silverfish and some spiders don’t seam to mind them and in some cases thrive on them.

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Name: Dru
State: CA
Date: November 25 2006
Comments:

We live 50 miles from Yosemite National Park. The hedge apple tree is near the road that my son travels to go to school. Which is about 12 miles from our house. It is a very interesting tree. I'm so glad I could find more about it on the net.I'm going to try the dye part of it and the insect repellent aspect of it also. Thank you to all for the info. about this crazy plant.

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Name: David
State: KY
Date: November 24 2006
Comments:

For years I've wondered what the heck those green things were I see scattered around in Central Park and some of the streets here in the fall. Thank you, Mr. Hedgeapple! You've completely satisfied my curiousity; I think I'll collect a few next year and see if they'll get rid of the horrible camel crickets living in the basement.

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Name: Shetorg
State: IN
Date: November 21 2006
Comments:

Found some in my brother's yard and they make great Fall decorations with other fall fruits -- apples, pomogranates etc. Now I know more. . .

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Name: Denise
State: TN
Date: November 20 2006
Comments:

Amazing! We found these all over our property. I only remember them being thrown around when I was a kid! Didn't know they have so many wonderful uses! AND, never imagined there'd be a web-site about them!!! Thank you!

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Name: Michael
State: IN
Date: November 15 2006
Comments:

Hello. I am a big fan of the osage. My grandfather had a hedge of it planted between a creek and his driveway to his farmhouse in Northern Indiana. That hedge is what kept the drive from being flooded and swept away every year in the spring time. One year, around 15 years ago, my father and I had to cut down one of the larger osages that had finally succumb to flooding and it's own great weight. (30 inches in diameter). That old tree blocked the drive at a 45 degree angle but was not dead by any means. So we went to work cutting it down. Numerous chain sharpenings and sparks thrown later the work was done. We kept the bulk of it for firewood. That wood has set outside in the elements for half my life now, and it is only slightly gray and still ready to burn or carve. All other firewood cords we had out in the elements that old is now glorified dirt! That osage cord still makes great carvings of statues and figures. That hedge was one of largest in Northern Indiana and Carroll county. Alas, it no longer remains in my family. But that hedge still has my heart. Lucky for me, I live next to Camp Atterbury and it has one of the largest Hedgeapple colonies in Indiana.

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Name: Bethany
State: OH
Date: November 15 2006
Comments:

This site is very educational. I learned about it through my sister's school newspaper and decided to give it a lookup. It does seem that the hedgeapple has quite a few different uses!

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Name: Pamela
State: NY
Date: November 12 2006
Comments:

About 15 years ago, I spied these odd green fruit on the side of the road near the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Quickly I veered off the road to investigate further. I filled a bag and brought several of them back to my apartment. Alas, with no tree id books at my disposal, I merely marveled at my chartreuse finds and remained curious as to there story until tonight. You see earlier today I again spied my familiar friends and welcomed them into my new abode. Armed with the internet I was determined to finally sate my curiosity and put an end to my ignorance. How charming to find osage-orange oglers abound!

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Name: Bob
State: WI
Date: November 8 2006
Comments:

Tried hedgeapples in the basement earlier this fall for the first time. Put one or two in each corner of the basement in late September 2006. For years we've had spiders, in particular, in the basement each fall (coming in to find a place for the winter)and they'd usually end up staying through most of the winter. This year was no exception. Spiders were in all their usual places before I placed the hedgeapples. Just checked all of their usual hiding places tonight (November 8, 2006). Spiders are completely gone! It worked for me.

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Name: Pat
State: KY
Date: November 2 2006
Comments:

For me, the "use" of the hedgeapple is solely emotional. For as far back as I can remember as a child in WV, each Fall my mom would take my sister and I for a ride in the country to the special places she knew where hedgeapples grew. We collected hedgeapples, bittersweet, walnuts and hickory nuts, and long-needle pine branches, and Mom decorated the outside of our house with them. We always had a few inside as well for the glorious citrus-y aroma they gave off when they became warm. After I grew up and moved away, I always knew when I came back for a visit in the Fall, Mom would have some waiting for me to bring home. Mom died in 1995, and hedgeapples have been few and far between for me since then. In the area of WV that I moved to, and then here in eastern KY, I would ask around if anyone knew where I could find hedgeapples and folks thought I was strange. They've never heard of them. Today I was visiting in north-central KY, and there outside my friend's window was a hedgeapple tree. I came home with a bag full and a big smile on my face. For just a while, I can reminisce about my girlhood and my Mom who loved to gather "natural" decorations each Fall.

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Name: Mary
State: MI
Date: November 1 2006
Comments:

've used Osage Orange (hedge or bodart apple) tree fruit for years as a spider repellent. In my opinion it does work although others will say not. Maybe it's the type of spider. I have a lot of wolf spiders and hedgeapples keep them out of my storage sheds. Too bad they only last 3-4 months before rotting. Although the trees are not too common here in Michigan you can still find a few on the country roads. I have three that all produce hundreds of fruit. The last few years people stop in the middle of the night to "steal" them out of my yard to sell at craft shows and garage sales in the area. Little do they know that this is great amusement for me to see the lengths people will go to aquire these sought after fruit. If they would come to the door and ask, I would be happy to let them have as many as they want. Pretty silly,yes? If you do see a tree and want the fruit just stop and ask the farmer/landowner. It's just the polite country way. You can even find them on ebay!!! They are not difficult to grow but it is a little labor intensive to get them started. You have to let them freeze & thaw through a winter to break down the apple and let the seeds mature. Squirrels will eat any they can get at!! You can put them in a metal garbage can and mush them out in spring to make a gooky slop that you pour into a 3-4 inch deep furrow. If you are brave enough to pick the seeds out of the slop (sticky/slimy/smelly) you can plant them individually or 3-4 to a hole. They transplant easily when they get to 8 inches or so. Protect them the first year in a cold climate by covering the soil around them with a heavy layer of leaves, but after that they seem to do well anywhere.

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Name: Sandy
State: MI
Date: October 31 2006
Comments:

So good to find this sight. We lived in Joliet, Illinois for the first years of life. There I learned about and saw these growing. I was surprised to find them at an arboretum in Lansing, Mi this past weekend. Now I can share with my children.

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Name: Devin
State: OH
Date: October 30 2006
Comments:

I LOVE HEDGE BALLS!!!!!!!!!

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Name: Carol
State: PA
Date: October 25 2006
Comments:

We found a strange looking green fruit today that I've never seen before. We brought it home and started to search the internet. I think we've found a hedge apple. Very interesting!

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Name: Kathleen
State: MI
Date: October 22 2006
Comments:

I bought some osage oranges at the farmer's market in Detroit. I think they are a beautiful curious fruit. I was first introduced to them many years ago by a local witch, who was the mother of a friend. The witch did not claim they had any magical powers, but liked the "monkey brain" look of the fruit. In many years of gardening, this was the first time I had seen them for sale. I was surprized to find that they are suppost to repell spiders. i will find out, spiders like to move into my house every fall. Is there any way to keep the fruit fresh for a longer time? I like the way they look.

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Name: April
State: AZ
Date: October 17 2006
Comments:

I recently was introduced to the hedgeapple. My son calls it the brain tree. We were excited to find out so much from your website. I wish I had brought home more.

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Name: Krissy
State: IL
Date: October 16 2006
Comments:

WOW! Who knew anyone else cared so much about all those big green things falling off the trees all over around here! Fascinating to see a whole site dedicated to them! Too bad you can't eat them!

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Name: Paul
State: TN
Date: October 13 2006
Comments:

I grew up in Oklahoma and I have good meries of a bowark tree accross the road where we all played . I moved to tenn. in 75 did not see a one till I moved to t county so I am going to try to raise some . wish me luck

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Name: Janet
State: PA
Date: October 13 2006
Comments:

I am sorry to say that I do have something against Hedgeapples although not until three days ago! I was on my way home, going my usual way and suddenly the sky fell down!! My windshield was hit by two of the aforementioned fruits and consequently smashed!! I could not believe that so much damage was done by such innocent looking objects but I am now going to be out of pocket more than $300!!

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Name: Sharon
State: VA
Date: October 9 2006
Comments:

Have always loved the unique character of this tree and its fruit!!! I am trying to get in touch with a builder that is about to bulid 30 houses in an area that has 5-6 very big trees!! My intuition says that there is more to this tree then is commonly known. The brain shape of its fruit might be a doctrine of signatures to uses other then repellent. Noticed one women mentioned using it for arthritis. Was wondering which part was used and how. Does anyone know of any other medicinal folk uses!?

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Name: Shay
State: IA
Date: October 8 2006
Comments:

We recently moved into our refinished farm home and have been having troubles with spiders and insects! So we have collected some hedgeapples and placed them around, we'll see how it goes. Great web site, thanks so much for the info!!

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Name: Sheila
State: KY
Date: October 8 2006
Comments:

HI, I WAS DOWN IN KNOXVILLE,TENN. LAST WEEK AND FOUND SOME APPLES ACROSS FROM MY SISTERS HOUSE.I GATHERED ABOUT A BUSHEL BEFORE I CAME BACK TO OWENSBORO.I HAD HEARD THAT THEY GET RID OF UNWANTED BUGS. OUR NEIGHBOR HAS A ROACH PROBLEM SO THAT MEANS THAT WE HAD SOME ROACHES TOO.WE TRIED EVERY ROACH KILLER KNOWN TO MAN,AND NOTHING SEEMED TO HELP.WHEN I BROUGHT THEM HOME FRIDAY AFTERNOON,I SET THE BASKET OF THEM IN OUR BACK ROOM.THAT NIGHT MY FREIND PUT THEM OUT IN BOWLS ALL OVER THE HOUSE.SATURDAY MORNING THERE WAS DEAD AND SICK ROACHES ALL OVER THE PLACE.GUESS THEY WERE HIDING IN THE WALLS.NEVER KNEW WE HAD SO MANY.GAVE ME THE CREEPS!!!!! SO BELEIVE YOU ME THEY WORK!!!HTE MOST WONDERFUL THING TO HAPPEN TO ME IN A LONG TIME.AND TO THINK OF ALL THE MONEY WE SPENT ON ALL OF THAT ROACH KILLER.I AM GOING TO TAKE SOME OF THE SEEDS FROM THESE APPLES AND TRY TO START SOME TREES.I WAS ON THIS SIGHT CHECKING IF THESE APPLES WERE POISIONOUS,WHICH THEY ARE NOT,BECAUSE WE HAVE A FEW DOGS,AND THOUGHT I WOULD LET YOU ALL KNOW ABOUT HOW GOOD THEY ARE.WISH THEY WERE IN SEASON ALL YEAR LONG.SEE NATURE WILL HELP YOU IF YOU KNOW HOW TO LET IT.THANK YOU GOD FOR THESE TREES. SHEILA ANN RAINS

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Name: Barbara
State: MI
Date: October 8 2006
Comments:

Read about your site in the "Critter Ridder" book. Had a time with spiders on my patio but did not know where to get the hedge apples and some friends got them for me on their trip to Three Rives, Mi. They said they stopped on the road and picked them up. So anxious to see if this will do the trick as I had tried pennyroyal oil and water. Loved your site and will share with others.

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Name: Jon
State: MI
Date: October 4 2006
Comments:

I have been using Hedgeapples for the past few years for spider control. Amazing, they work. 1 per room, they last a few months, but have had zero spiders for a whole year. Just learned something new from this site: Hedgeapples also work on fleas. I will be trying this one myself, as I have had a flea problem all year. I'll get back with the results very soon.

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Name: Elizabeth
State: MS
Date: September 27 2006
Comments:

I have a very old tree like this on my property. Something eats the green balls from it. I am wondering if it is deer. A very long time ago I tried to cook some of these and got as far as adding the sugar to them. They smelled horrible ! I had to throw pan and all away. I am glad to know they are good for something. My tree has thorns on it too. One time I spelled BOO ! with them out front for the kids to see for Halloween.

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Name: Chris
State: OH
Date: September 24 2006
Comments:

Having recently aquired about 3,000 feet of rough cut osage orange was wondering if anyone has ever made tonque and groove flooring from this pretty wood. Thanks

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Name: Melissa
State: IL
Date: September 23 2006
Comments:

I have to say this website is very very kewl! After a bit of web surfing I finally came apon this awesome site. The osage orange trees are a fascinating study of nature for sure. Terrible thorns though, and the strongest wood I have ever encountered. My whole family got into checking out the info, very interesting stuff. One of the best sites, probably the best, on the osage orange trees. Thanks for sharing all that very kewl info with the world. I will spread the word about the facts, like the seeds are not poisonous, a silly rumor that my neighbors told me! Peace!

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Name: John
State: MO
Date: September 11 2006
Comments:

I currently have in the far back corner of my yard a Hedge Apple Tree that is approximately 14 feet in circumference and approximately 60 feet tall. I was told, and I'm not sure of the accuracy, but the tree is close to 80 years old. The first year that we moved in to the house (2003) I picked up (by count) just short of 3,000 hedge apples. They were small in comparison to last year. I could sit in my back yard and hear them with a resounding thud when they hit the ground. I had one that weighed a shade short of 4 pounds. I harvested approxi- mately 1200 last year. I was told that the reason for the increase in their size and the drop in number was because of our higher than normal rainfall. In all honesty I am not very happy about the hedge apples but the tree is a sight to behold. It sits there like a big brute, all gnarled and massive.

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Name: Brian
State: OK
Date: September 11 2006
Comments:

Y'all are yankees if you call em hedgeapples. Theyre bois d'arcs thats French for bow wood & the trees are native here on th Red River drainage. If you want to get technical the "horseapple" is actually a multiple (same as a mullberry) It agravates me to here people call Osage Oranges hedgeapples they dont grow in rows down here (just grow every were) They're my favorite tree of all.

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Name: Shea
State: SC
Date: September 7 2006
Comments:

I just recently saw my first hedgeapple tree! I picked the fruit up off the ground and brought it to my husband (we thought it was a pear or apple tree). We were initally afraid of the fruit...it looked like a diseased apple to us. After some research we discovered it's real identity. This particular tree was found on the grounds of Eden Hall Plantation in Troy, South Carolina and it appears to be very old. The house was built in the 1850's and the tree may have been planted then. The tree was about 40 feet tall and quite big around, although I could have reached my arms around it, but just barely. We fell in love with the tree and would like to plant some around the home that we are now building.

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Name: Mr. Moore
State: MI
Date: September 5 2006
Comments:

Gotta love the Osage Orange and there are lots to see where I'm at in Michigan. Osage Orange is my favorite wood for longbows and is absolutely beautiful! Thanks for the detailed webpage, lots of great info here.

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Name: Patricia
State: AL
Date: August 20 2006
Comments:

I was in Muscle Sholes Alabama for a golf tournament and on the tee box of the 14th hole I noticed this ugly fruit type ball on a tree. I picked one and tried to crack it open by throwing it on the cart path but, could not open it. My husband ask what if it is poison and now you have it all over your hands. I said maybe not and washed my hands. I ask a lady who is a member of the golf club what it was and that is how I found out it was a Hedgeapple. I had never heard of it. I plan to try and grow some of these in Trafford, Alabama.

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Name: Nelson
State: GA
Date: August 17 2006
Comments:

Have an Osage Orange tree in my front yard and doing some research on the ugly fruit. I would like to know how to get them to keep until Christmas. I have seen them used during Christmas.

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Name: Lisa
State: VA
Date: August 16 2006
Comments:

I grew up with Hedge Apples in the backyard... I love them but can't explain why! A few years ago I saw a ceramic hedgeapple at an outdoor antique show and almost bought it... I have regretted not buying it ever since. I have been looking for a similar item since then.... Aarrgggghhh!!! Does anyone out there know where I might find such a unique item? I found one site where you can buy plastic ones, but I'd really like something a little more chic (a medium more befitting of the wondrously bumpy neon green orbs - smile).

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Name: Christie
State: WI
Date: August 14 2006
Comments:

I just purchased 2 Hedge apples here in Wisconsin. I never heard of them and I wanted to try to see if they would get rid of Spiders and Crickets in our basement. Pretty interesting comments.

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Name: Tina
State: SC
Date: July 31 2006
Comments:

Hi, I am from Spartanburg, S.C. and my Mother has a Hedgeapple tree growing across the street from her house. My family has lived there for over 30 years and the tree has been there since we moved in. When we discovered the tree and it's odd fruit we had NO CLUE what it was, they are not common in our area. The other day my Mom took some of the fruit to show a friend and she started to research it and found this site and so I decided to look it up and see for myself. I am so happy to actually find out what it is. I even took the fruit to school as a child and no one knew what it was.

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Name: Valentine
State: NJ
Date: July 28 2006
Comments:

I grew an Osage Orange tree from seeds. The tree is now thirty one years old and bore many fruit up to three years ago when I had to severally trim it to repair my garage roof and since hasn't borne any more hedgeapples . This year it's different, I can see one, only one, hedgeapple growing which make me glad and maybe next year I'll have a bumper crop.

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Name: Jean
State: TX
Date: July 23 2006
Comments:

I had heard about Bodart apples keeping bugs away, We went to Lake Texhoma on a fishing trip and saw the trees in the ditches along side the road. Know they must not need special care, we stopped and gathered a few of the apples, to take home. discovered right away.... they leave a stain on clothing that doesn't come out. would make a good dye. Put the apples under the house.. seemed to stop ants and roaches but not sure. The weather may have helped in the changes.

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Name: David
State: OK
Date: July 8 2006
Comments:

Made a trip out to a town about an hour west of Tulsa, Pawnee, and saw these trees for the first time. It was winter, and they looked black and twisted, like some kind of Wicked Witch of the West tree from Wizard of Oz. So I "Liberated" an apple from my friends house, and planted it when I got home. I had no idea if it would sprout or not. The following spring, it shot up like a rocket. That was 2.5 years ago, now it's about 4 feet high. I am hoping when it matures, it will be the female, and will have the apples on it. Or Osage Orange as we call it down here in Okie land. If so, I will try the bucket slurrie deal, and try to make a fence out of them in the near future. Just for the thrill of doing it. Don't really need a fence.

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Name: William
State: WV
Date: July 8 2006
Comments:

I love telling all my native plant purists that the two trees i'm most gratefull to have planted on my property were japanese larch and osage orange. both grow fast, tolerate climatic fluctuations well, and outcompete the tremendous surface vegetation in our damp loamy soils (much of that vegetation is introduced btw, purists) early after transplanting. now i planted many native trees and shrubs as well, especially ones underrepresented in the wild (viburnums, deciduous bigleaf magnolias, et al) so im not beligerantly trying to upset the ecology - far from it. but ill never apologize for a single stray maclura seedling on a neighbors property. besides, we have multiflora roses and nothing short of kudzu, which we dont have (oh please never that!), could be as obnoxious. as far as macluras go, they are maybe the best investment choice for a single tree species avilible. see ive got a hunch/hope that the super durable and remarkably beautiful wood of these trees will eventually trump sugar maple and red oak as soon as HGTV and martha stewart recommend osage furniture. even better, deer never have eaten one of my maclura seedlings, though the dogs have chewed a few for reasons unknown to me (maybe a cainine toothpick?) deer do eat the fruits, as well as squirrels and of course, black bear. bear will eat walnut husks and skunk cabbage tooso i guess the osage orange juice is not so bad in comparrison. better still is the king of firewood status of this remarkable tree. best to burn it in a stove or furnace rather than fireplace as it does pop like firecrackers. at 32million btus per cord it is the hottest thing buring, short of coal. actually i have terrified a few people i know in the coal industry with this. check it out....anthracite coal burns at about 25million BTU's per ton. Osage burns at 32-33 million BTU's per cord, which is about 4400lbs, or 2.2 tons. So anthracite does take up less space than osage, and also burns a bit hotter 25 million BTU's per ton compared to Osage's 15 million. BUT -- an osage orange tree can go from seed to firewood in about 10 years (15 max), if pruned for several large branches. And how long does it take to produce coal?? Oh and how much does it cost to extract coal?? Plus Osage grows abotu anywhere in continental US, is relatively pest free, and has other aformentioned uses. See, Osage is better business!

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Name: Robert
State: NY
Date: June 30 2006
Comments:

I'm just becoming acquainted with the osage orange, and I'm amazed at its unique characteristics when shaped and cured for use in bow making, ship timbers and struts, walking sticks, and any other project requiring a very strong and sturdy wood; ..... and the list can go much farther.

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Name: Charlie
State: NY
Date: June 7 2006
Comments:

Learned all about Hedgeapples while living in Zanesville Ohio. Found several trees near Glen Cove Long Island.

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Name: John
State: KS
Date: May 29 2006
Comments:

Osage Orange is extremely musical (right up there with rosewood). We have produced steam bent snare drum shells that are musical and gorgeous.

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Name: Bob
State: AZ
Date: May 28 2006
Comments:

I too am trying to grow Osage Orange in Arizona. I live at 7000' in zone 5. I started with 24 seeds in April and now have 11 seedlings. If these work would like to hedge my entire 2 acres. My biggest problem is the 40MPH wind. Sure hope they like rocky dry clay soil.

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Name: Lisa
State: KS
Date: May 28 2006
Comments:

Being a Central Kansas 'Lifer', I've known hedge apples since the day I was born. I grew up using them as bowling balls, baseballs and throwing them against trees to see how long it would take to split one. I also know they can be used as a doorstop and of course, cricket control. Now that I'm an adult they've become a pain in the rear to mow around and I have found that the variety of tree that produces 5-7 inch thorns can be lethal! On a more pleasant note...as an avid bow hunter, my husband and I have found that hunting in a Hedge grove is awesome. Not only do the trees provide good cover when we're hunting from the ground but the aroma from the hundreds of trees and fruits is wonderful. It's a delicate but all encompassing smell. I love it! ** I saw a program this morning of the gentleman touting hedge apples as bug control. He said animals don't eat them. I am dismissing that statement as my husband and I have witnessed numerous squirrels and white tail deer munching on them during the fall.

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Name: Joy
State: TX
Date: May 21 2006
Comments:

I was amazed to stumble on this site. I saw my first Hedgeapples about five years ago somewhere in Tennessee. It was on a civil war battlefield where my husband and I were walking down a country lane. The were all over the place on the ground. My husband teased me saying as a country girl from SE Texas, near Houston, surely I'd seen them before. I hadn't. He called them "bodart apples". We both grew up in small towns northeast of Houston and, when I've mentioned the name "bodart apple" to other people, they know exactly what I'm talking about. I haven't seen any in this area since I learned they existed, but I'm very curious to know more... especially since I've learned from this site that they have the ability to repel spiders, etc. I'm also looking forward to reading all the posts here to learn more. Great website!!

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Name: Allison
State: OK
Date: May 21 2006
Comments:

I heard that they make bug go away. I'm trying it out.

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Name: Alan
State: WA
Date: May 14 2006
Comments:

I was interested to read the e-mail from Eureka, KS. I was born in Wichita,KS, but we lived in Eureka until I was 6 years old, When we moved to Wichita during WWII. I lived in Wichita thur college. We lived about 1 block from the nearest "hedgeapple" hedge row. This was an area where I spent many an hour playing. I have fond memories playing around them. As a teenager I had heard that they made great bows. I tried to make one, but couldn't find a suitable piece, the one that I chose had bird shot buried in the wood. It was Hard too! In my 8th grade science class we had to prepare a cross section of wood as we were studing annual rings/tree age. I was able to cut a cross section in a limb about 3" in diameter and 2" long. It was a beautiful piece of wood, white near the bark changing to orange toward the center. We had to shellac the top and apply felt to the bottom for a paper weight. I hope you will forgive me for cutting this section from the tree. I believe that my teacher told me that the true name of the tree was Osage Orange. The annual event in Eureka must be something new, since I often made trips to Eureka over the years until I was 30 years old. In 1968 I moved to NW WA, since then I have seen no Osage Orange trees, although I read in the info you have, that there are trees in WA. I awakened this morning thinking about these unusual trees while thinking about bows and thought about finding something about them on the Internet. Sure enough your site was there! Keep up the good work, you never know who would like to know more about this unusual tree.

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Name: David
State: MI
Date: May 1 2006
Comments:

I found a hedgeapple tree out in the woods in Albion,Mi and I knew what they did for spiders and insects. They really do work.

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Name: Alva
State: TX
Date: April 16 2006
Comments:

I remember seeing Osage Oranges everywhere when I was a kid in Columbia, Maryland. I thought those green "brains' were really neat. I just thought they were something to kick on the way to school. It was my mom who told me what they really were. She is from Southern Virginia and was quite familiar with them. Now I am in my forties in Texas and I haven't seen one in the last 10 years. Is this a tree that requires cold weather? Maybe there are some in Texas up closer to Amarillo. Hmmmm.................

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Name: Blake
State: AZ
Date: April 11 2006
Comments:

Apparently I'll be the first one to try and grow Osage Orange trees in Arizona, lol wish me luck!!

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Name: Leah
State: KS
Date: April 7 2006
Comments:

Come one, come all and chuck a hedgeball! I’d like to invite everyone to our 2nd Annual Hedgeball Chunkin Festivial. The event will be held on Oct 7th, 2006 in Eureka, Kansas. Come see trebuchets, air cannons and catapults battle for the $1000 first prize! There will be food, music, kids games, lodging and RV hook-ups. For more information and a sign-up form, call (620) 583-8640 or e-mail hedgeball@eurekakansas.com. Leah Booth, Event coordinator, Eureka Foundation, PO Box 247, Eureka, Kansas 67045

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Name: Susan
State: IA
Date: March 31 2006
Comments:

When I was a child my father used to put hedgeapples in our basement to rid of the spiders and bugs, never did too much for the selamanders though. I think they were still there when I was grown. Needless to say, after I was maried, I also tried this living in a mobil home in Missouri and never had any problems with spiders, roaches or any ants. I put them under the sink in the kitchen , under the sink in the bathroom, and under the trailer itself. Does anyone know if these work for snakes? This is a wonderful site.

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Name: David
State: TX
Date: March 13 2006
Comments:

I saw Greg's comment to a person who had land with old osage orange that had not been touched in 30 years that if they wanted to get rid of it to spray it with chemicals, etc and I almost had a coronary! Please don't do this--I'm looking for mature Osage Orange and Black Locust for veneer purposes. No, I'm not a glutton for punishment. I just like the woods and would like to start offering them as veneer for cabinets, flooring, and furniture. If they are indeed as plentiful as they sound, and if they can be made as beautiful as some techniques that I have heard of, I look forward to working with them more. I have a portable sawmill and would like to speak with anybody who has mature trees. In addition to Osage Orange and Black Locust I also work with pine for lumber and Oak, Cherry, and other hardwoods for cabinets, flooring, and furniture. Please contact me via email if you have a forest you'd like to clear and turn into lumber and veneer! David P.S. Great web site!

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Name: Angela
State: MO
Date: February 26 2006
Comments:

My husband was watching TV this morning and heard about the hedge apple. Ya see, he's quite afraid of spiders and this gentleman said to put hedge apples in your closets and no more spiders. I have read through your guestbook and found out some very interesting things and some unexplained things. It seems that you should split the fruit to repel insect. Am I right? Also our house is setting up on cinder blocks and I was wondering if you count split them and just throw them up under the house and get good results for all insects. Also, I would like to know what to do with them when they go bad. Just simply through them away or let them dry up first. I would like to plant a tree but am afraid after reading some of the comments that that might not be such a good idea since they grow big and are thorny. Also some people called them hedges and some trees. Are there two kinds or do they start out as hedges and grown into trees? If anyone has the answers to my questions, I would grea ly appreciate your information. I will keep looking back on this guestbook or you could email me at foster1956@peoplepc.com. And please do not give out my email address to just anyone, I have enough trouble as it is with spam. Thank you so very much for this site and for everyone's comments.

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Name: Sandy
State: KS
Date: February 16 2006
Comments:

My parents used Hedgeapple's for years in our basement to keep crickets away. Do not laugh, it works. I now live in Texas & we have an abundance of crickets in the summer. My house will have hedgeapples for decoration's this summer., it is an necesssity here.

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Name: Sue
State: IL
Date: February 9 2006
Comments:

I grew up on the edge of a field and woods and a beautiful hedge row. We even had tree houses in these hedge trees. We played in this wonderful woods of mainly hedge trees edging open fields and creeks. We had hedgeapple fights. The knarley beauty of these trees will always be special to me, I love the smell and the way the trees become a tunnel over a path. We called one path "the old bus" and everyone believed a bus rotted there because of the shape. Hedge trees will even grow sideways, it's amazing and so beautiful. Now the "nativists" (too much school and not enough time in the woods I'd say) want to remove them and make prairies and savannas. They are calling them invasive and exotic!!! I have a different opinion as to who is invasive. Our conservation district is cutting down hedge trees, using my tax money!! I am just sick over this and it has ruined my walks in the woods with God because I am too angry to find the peace I used to find when I see these beautiful areas being torn up. They are killing the very things I love most about Illinois woodlands. Please help stop this!!

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Name: Rebecca
State: VA
Date: February 6 2006
Comments:

Often older locals call this tree a Brain Fruit tree. We had a hard time identifying the real name. We have a Hugh tree across the street and every fall it causes a lot of trouble as the large fruit fall on passing cars. People often stop to investigate the fruit. This tree can draw a lot of attention and is a great conversation piece.

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Name: Blanton
State: NC
Date: February 1 2006
Comments:

I grew up in Murphy, NC and have fond memories of the osage orange tree that stood in the middle of an old graveyard across the street from my house. My sisters, friends, and I had a blast tossing them down the steep hill beside the graveyard. We would have contests to see who could throw them the farthest. The tree has since been chopped down, and I have yet to see another. I would really like to grow one for future generations. Does anyone know how to get a sapling?

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Name: Douglas
State: KY
Date: January 27 2006
Comments:

I picked one up last fall in front of a cave by McNeely Lake. I just sat it out in an open field behind my house and the process of decay pretty much worked enough that I was able to get a few seeds out just the other day. It's really simple!

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Name: liz
State: IL
Date: November 28 2005
Comments:

At first I was told by a woman that the hedgeapples had a nut in the middle of it. So yes my husband tryed to cut and cut it in half, finaly after he broke the knife, only to find no nut! We did find out the correct use of the hedgeapple and it works well every late fall my boys and I go on the hunt to get the apples, we have so much fun and end up with to muck so we give more than half away. the hedge apple workes won

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Name: Dan
State: NY
Date: November 27 2005
Comments:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I have found hedge apples while hiking through long-abandoned communuties in my area. Every time I've brought them back with me, no one has had any idea what they are. I finally came across your site and learned something new. Thanks.

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Name: Tom
State: KY
Date: November 26 2005
Comments:

Great site! I always wanted to know the proper name for these things. Old timers around Louisville call them horse apples. I am trying to get rid of an infestation of spider crickets in my garage. I have put four hedge apples around the garage floor, I'll let you know if they help.

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Name: Steve
State: IN
Date: November 24 2005
Comments:

Great site !!Lots of good info!! I am a storyteller and I do Johnny Appleseed "in Character" at Events throughout the Midwest from Chicago to Pittsburgh.I talk about hedgeapples during my presentations.

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Name: Orv
State: VA
Date: November 23 2005
Comments:

Hey not fair,I like spiders and insects.:: We have lots of Osage trees here in Va. They line the roads where early people used them as fence rows. I've often wondered if they'll break a car windshield if one drops on a car while driving under a tree.

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Name: Skeezicks
State: MO
Date: November 23 2005
Comments:

Just picked up a fresh supply during Deer Hunting season to keep the spiders away in the basement. It is interesting to find out about the hedgeapple--my Co-Landowner and I have been arguing over whether they actually keep spiders away. I say they do from past experience hanging them in mesh bags from the rafters in the basement.

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Name: Mary
State: NC
Date: November 19 2005
Comments:

Attended a funeral in Chapel Hill, NC last weekend and discovered many Osage oranges under a tree in the old churchyard. A Southern friend told me they were "monkey brains" and that his Mother used them in the house to make the air smell clean. Because I love chartreuse green and anything textured, I immediately scooped up several and brought them home to use in a white bowl on the dining room table. They will be part of my Thanksgiving table centerpiece. Now, having found this web site, I know a lot more about these amazing fruits and will be on the lookout for more trees and fruits in my immediate area.

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Name: ERICA
State: IL
Date: November 17 2005
Comments:

I AND THE KIDS WERE VERY EXCITED TO LEARN ABOUT THESE WONDERFUL FRUITS!::SIX YEAR OLD JOI THANKS YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL THE INFORMATION, BECAUSE WITH OUT::IT; SWOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO HER SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT!

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Name: Boris
State: NY
Date: November 13 2005
Comments:

I am using Hedgeapple for the treatment arthritis during 30 years. Osage Orange is very good for this disease.

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Name: Jenni
State: MD
Date: November 11 2005
Comments:

All I have to say is WOW! This site is amazing. Hedgeapples are one of God's greatest creations, next to humans, of course. Well, I just wanted to leave this quick note...now I have to get back to making my hedgeabpple flower basket! Thanks for the great idea! ;)

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Name: Miles
State: KS
Date: November 10 2005
Comments:

We live in the ground floor of this old apartment with sudden infestation of roaches and mice/mouse. As far as mice or mouse goes, we have a cat to chase and catch them but when it comes to roaches, nothing has been worked to get rid of it, manager comes in every month to sprinkle some boric acids but its like candy to roaches. Now we got hedge apples on the counter, under sink, and in the cabinet, well, we see more roaches now. I kill at least of 20roaches a day big and small. What am I doing wrong? Somebody please help our sanity from roaches!!! We are afraid that kids will get them in their ears!!!

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Name: JOHN
State: SC
Date: November 8 2005
Comments:

I first spotted these strange looking things at the base of a tree in TN while touring a Confedrate Battle site in 2004. I was taking pictures of a stack of cannon balls and someone had created a similar stack of these crazy green "things". I was going to get one and bring it back and have someone identify it. Being on Gov't property I decided not to take a chance. This year, 2005, I traveled to Gettyburg,PA ,Harpers Ferry,WV and several other Confedrate sites. I stayed in the town of Berkely Springs,WV. While enroute to one of the sites I saw this "strange" item again in the road. I stopped and saw a tree about thirty yards up the side of a hill. I found a place to park and climbed up the hill and gathered a dozen and brought them home. One lady at a fruit stand told me they were PAW PAW fruit, but she wasn't sure. But for $2.50 I could have five. After I returned home I hit GOOGLE and found this site. I gave two away to local Nursery's and they had no idea what they were and but they were going to find out. I told them I knew, but they could do their own research. You have a great site, and if someone reads this and comes up twelve Headapples short, come to SC and I'll pay you for them.

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Name: Chris
State: TN
Date: November 6 2005
Comments:

I have several of these beatiful trees in close proximity of my property. The deer seem to love them. I will be testing their insect repelling qualities this year. My children and I collected about a dozen today.

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Name: Teresa
State: WV
Date: November 6 2005
Comments:

It wasn't until we had an invasion of ladybugs that we put some osage ornages on the rafters of the back porch. Within a few days, the number of ladybugs present was drastically reduced. Thank you for your website!

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Name: Charles
State: VA
Date: November 6 2005
Comments:

Hi, Thanks for your website! We were in Shenandoah national park today and it was a gorgeous Indian summer day....and we saw the fruit and had no idea what it was. Many thanks for clearing up our confusion!

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Name: Dawn
State: MD
Date: November 2 2005
Comments:

Sent to this site by (infomercial) book "1001 All-Natural Secrets to a Pest-Free Property" by Dr. Myles H. Bader. I have only read the SPIDERS section (ug!) so farm and Hegeapples are recommended to be placed in rooms where there is a problem with these (yeah, they're benificial, but give ME nightmares) arachnids. It is the first methos listed for elimination of spiders in your home, and the simplist. The sprays are "like work" and the other layabout things are unsightly, or would lool very odd. I REALLY hope these work as stated.

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Name: Vince
State: IL
Date: October 26 2005
Comments:

I have a friend who lives on a farm who told me about using hedgeapples to repel insects, he gave me a couple of buckets of hedgeapples and I placed them around my basement to get rid of spiders. Hopefully it will work.

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Name: Laura
State: PA
Date: October 25 2005
Comments:

I stumbled upon the osage orange at a state park yesterday. I am extremely interested in this tree now because i had never seen one in all my visits to that park. Your website was very helpful because I couldnt find any imformation abot the tree or it's fruit at the state park website. I find it a little odd to hear that these trees grow in the midwest because Easton is in the Northern part of pennsylvania. thank u again for ur site.

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Name: Patty
State: WA
Date: October 19 2005
Comments:

I found your website via Dr. Baders book on pest free properties..I thoroughly enjoyed your website and found it very informative.. I shall be back to read all of it ;) Thanks for such a wonderful site.. Happy Hedgeappling ;)

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Name: Lillie
State: NY
Date: October 14 2005
Comments:

I can attest to the great use of the Osage Oranges. I live in an apartment house in New York, which are known for having little friends from time to time. I was at a Farmer's Market on Union Square when I was first introduced to the strange green fruit witnessed the miracle of forbidding my house guests to return. Anyway after a few years of going to the Farmer's Market in September and October, the vendor did not come back. So my question to you is where in Manhattan, New York can we purchase this strange fruit?

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Name: Ray
State: MO
Date: October 14 2005
Comments:

I have placed hedgeapples in shop, basement for several years and have not been cleaed of spiders, fleas and etc. This year I'm cutting apples to see if that does trick.

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Name: Erin
State: NE
Date: October 14 2005
Comments:

We have hedgeapples on our family farm. My husband will pick them every year for our interior and exterior of the house. I place them on plastic planter dishes for the inside for when they "sapp" it will help keep it from the floor. I was very interested to know if they were toxic. We have a toddler girl and a housecat, after reading the articles I am reassured they are not presummed to be toxic. Thanks for your website!! Go Huskers!!

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Name: Char
State: MO
Date: October 13 2005
Comments:

I happened to find these trees growing freely along some of the rivers in the Ozarks. I took the fruit home, called the Botanical Gardens for advise on how to grow these trees. I was told to keep the fruit in the refrigerator for 30days and then plant the seeds --I did and they grew--big and fast. I just don't know when they are supposed make fruit, does anyone know?

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Name: Jeff
State: NY
Date: October 11 2005
Comments:

I just found the fruit from one of the trees at Central Park yesterday. It was the first time since I was 11 years old that I saw one and I didn't know back then what it was, either. Thanks for having this web-site. It was driving us all crazy wanting to know what it was!

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Name: CHAD
State: OH
Date: October 10 2005
Comments:

DEAR MR. AND MRS. HEDGE APPLES, I FOUND THIS WEBSITE THROUGH A FRIEND AT WORK. WE WERE HAVING BIG SPIDERS ALL OVER OUR NEW YARD, AND ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND SHERRY HATES THOSE DARNED OLD EIGHT LEGGED CREATURES, WE FOUND SOME HEDGE APPLES AND PLACED THEM AROUND OUR HOUSE, SO FAR NO SPIDERS ARE MAKING WEBS ON OUR NEW PROPERTY. HOPE TO KEEP EXPERIMENTING WITH THEM NEXT YEAR. THANKS FOR YOUR INFO. THANKS FOR NOT CHARGING FOR THE INFO. WE HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TRYING TO GET RICH OVER THE INTERNET. TILL NEXT TIME, CHAD A. CHEMA ----- ZANESVILLE,OHIO WEBMASER

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Name: Chad
State: OH
Date: October 9 2005
Comments:

We love the Osage Orange. My children call them green monkey brains. They really enjoyed looking at them. We never knew about the furniture, bows and instruments that could be made from the wood. That is very interesting!!!...thanks for the info....and the cool website...keep up the good work!!!

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Name: Shirley
State: AR
Date: October 8 2005
Comments:

Thank you for your site. It was a wonder for us because we had heard these "myths" about using the "horse apple" for getting rid of roaches but were very sceptical about them. We finally went out and picked some, brought them home, split nearly 40 of them in half and spread them around our home. Let's home they do their job now and we see a great reduction in the menace bugs.

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Name: Cynthia
State: PA
Date: October 7 2005
Comments:

I love your site!!! I'm presently looking to find some OSAGE ORANGE trees here in northeastern Pa. I know there are plenty of trees in southeastern Pa., but don't want to travel that far with the cost of gas now. I just love to have a wooden bowl of them in the fall for decoration! I will try using them for insect repellent though for sure, as I have lots of spiders here in the country!!! There were plenty of trees in rural areas of N.J. many years ago when I was a child. We called them horse apples back then.

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Name: Patty
State: OH
Date: October 5 2005
Comments:

I can't wait until October to go "monkey-ball" picking. We have trees scattered thruout the town. They have become a prized-possession, as people talk about where they go for their monkey balls. Have worked well as a spider chaser.

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Name: Sue
State: MI
Date: October 5 2005
Comments:

I grew up in southern Michigan and would see the hedgeapple laying along the side of the old country roads in the fall. We never really knew much about them. Now that I am in the West MI area a few people have mentioned something about these big green things that are supposed to keep spiders away. I knew exactly what they were talking about and decided to finally look them up. If only my dad was still alive, he would of loved to read all the comments. I'm sure, being an old farmer, he knew exactly what they were. :: What a great FAQ page you have!!!

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Name: Russ
State: KS
Date: October 4 2005
Comments:

I have 100 acres of solid Hedge trees on my ranch. I have a few large trees that were used as a fence row over 100 years ago. These big ones grew to about 50-60 feet and none of them produce any fruit (thank goodness). However the several thousand trees I do have produce more than enough to irritate me. The fruit they produce typically stay around through the winter. quick thoughts after reading these guestbook comments Roundup won't kill a hearty hedge tree. Use Remedy or Tordon. I work every winter and spring to try to kill these trees. If you cut the tree, treat the stump with one of these chemicals. Deer don't eat them but we have the occasional cow that will die because they ate one and got it stuck in their throat. The apples make for good rabbit and squirrel hunting.

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Name: Cindi
State: KS
Date: September 28 2005
Comments:

I have been looking for something to get rid of mice i have gotten all the sudden, and we have several trees that have hedge apples.. and i thought my mom told me when i was younger that they got rid of all kinds of bugs, or anything you dont want.. so i am going hedge apple picking tomorrow, this has been a very helpful site to know where to place them, and also to know that they wont harm my pets that i want in the house. Thank You again.

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Name: Lilly
State: OH
Date: September 26 2005
Comments:

Your websites kinda interesting and helpfull. the first time i saw one was when my 8 th grade english teacher made us make up a name for it, and describe it in a letter to our king. i still remember my name for it was a grenge. when we figured out what it was, we cut it in half and took turns smeeling it. then when it got moldy. we threw it out the window and saw it splatter. though don't you think your a little tooo devoted? though thankyou for making the website. i had to use it to write a paper i can't even remember what the grade was.::::THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!

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Name: Karen
State: KS
Date: September 26 2005
Comments:

This is SO NEAT! What a great idea. It brings back terrific memories of growing up on my parents farm. They have a great pond in the back acreage and there are locust and hedge trees back there. As kids we played with the hedge balls. I can remember getting all sticky from them. I'm so glad we found out about the site. We'll visit often!

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Name: Norma
State: MO
Date: September 22 2005
Comments:

I am really wondering if thhese things are old wives tales or do they work.

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Name: Nancy
State: MO
Date: September 22 2005
Comments:

My husband and I have recently moved to Missouri and purchased several acres of land with an old farmhouse. To my fascination while walking the property I found a huge Osage orange tree. Of course living in N.Y. my whole life I had never seen these trees, much less the large green fruits.I took one back to where we are currently living until the farmhouse is habitable and immediately went on-line. I found your web site and am thrilled with all of the information and stories. I plan on sending some back to NY along with the story from Tom who writes for the Blue Rapids/Watersville Telegraph Newspaper. ::Thank you for an enjoyable insight on my beautiful tree and it's incredible fruit.

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Name: Carl
State: TX
Date: September 20 2005
Comments:

I have one of these trees growing on my property and wondered what it was. Now I know and I plan on trying the hedgeapples out as a repellent in my home. Thank you for the information.

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Name: Maggie
State: TX
Date: August 29 2005
Comments:

There was a random conversation at church one Sunday about horseapples and persimmons. Then the topic of how horseapples are great insect repellants came up. So I went to research it online and found this sight. I love it!! I know where there are some hedgeapples and I'll be getting some soon. Great stuff!!

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Name: Sara
State: TN
Date: August 13 2005
Comments:

HI I GREW UP PLAYING WITH THESE APPLES, AND NOW IN MY FIFTY'S WE BOUGHT A FARM HOUSE ABOUT FOUR MONTHS AGO AND MOVED OUT OF THE CITY. WE HAVE A HEDGEAPPLE TREE CLOSE TO THE HOUSE MAYBE 100 FEET. MY BROTHER-INLAW WAS FIXING TO PUSH IT DOWN TO CLEAR THE BRUSH WE DIDN'T NEED. WELL WE SAW THIS TREE AND TOLD NO ONE IS TO TOUCH IT! WE HAVE ALL THE COUNTRY FAMLY OF INSECTS, MICE, ETC. SPIDERS TOO. WELL I PUT ONE IN EACH ROOM AND ALSO UNDER OUR HOME AND OTHER BUILDINGS..IT HAS BEEN ONE WEEK??? NO PESTS!!!!!!!!!NO SPIDERS NO MICE NO WORRYS!!!!!PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS HEDGE APPLES AND I TOO HAVE ASTHMA AND SEEN I HAVE NOT MUCH ALLERGIES RIGHT NOW AND TAKE NO MEDICINE..THANKS FOR THIS SITE TO LEARN MORE OF THEIR GREAT WORKS. I WOULD SUGGEST ANYONE TO GET THEM!AND SAVE MONEY FOR THEY WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND YES KEEP FROM STOCK ANIMALS PLEASE !GROWING UP ON THE FARM I SAW A COW AND HORSE DIE FROM THE HEDGE APPLE GETTING STUCK IN THEIR THROAT AND CUTTING OFF THEIR BREATHING.THEY CAN'T EAT THEM WITH NO TEETH AND TOO TUFF TO CRUSH WITH THEIR MOUTH.DIED, NO NOT FROM POISON, FROM NOT BREATHING,SO DRIVE DOWN SOME OLE COUNTRY ROAD AND I JUST BET ANY FARMER WOULD LET YOU PICK UP YOUR HEDGEAPPLE FOR FREE FROM THEIR FIELDS WATCH OUT THO FOR THE BULLS AND COWS, YOU MIGHT GET CHASED OUT BY ONE HAHAH. JUST LEAVE US A FEW OK? GOD BLESS YOU

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Name: Maureen
State: IN
Date: July 22 2005
Comments:

I bought my first Hedge Apples from you, 5 years ago, to get rid of spiders. I can't believe people say there is NO PROOF they work. I KNOW they do. Just like mushrooming in the spring - we go hedge apple hunting in the late summer. We just found over 60 this morning. I felt pretty stupid when I realized how many of the Osage trees we had around the county. Thank you for showing me how to protect me & my children from nasty spiders.

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Name: TIM
State: PA
Date: July 16 2005
Comments:

I JUST SAW YOUR WEB SITE AND THOUGHT THAT I WOULD PUT THIS IN FOR YOU THAT THE OSAGE HEDGE WAS PLANTED IN PA AS A FENCE TO KEEP CATTLE IN THE PROPERTY AND IT WAS A SMALL BUSH PUT AS WE ARE TALKING THE TREES ARE ABOUT 30+ FEET HIGH AND ALSOHAVE NOTICED THAT EVERY OTHER YEAR THINGS HAPPEN THAT YOU NOR i WILL UNDERSTAND IF YOU HAVE THESE TREES THEN YOU WILL KNOW

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Name: Joleen
State: MN
Date: July 10 2005
Comments:

I haven't been able to find this wonderful fruit in years! Then I remembered that my best friend's Mom sent her a box and just recalled as to how she was able to receive it. Thank goodness~I am so tired of spraying indoors for 'everything' that crawls. This is going to make my life so much easier when it comes to spring and fall cleaning! Thank you!!

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Name: Sue
State: IL
Date: May 11 2005
Comments:

I love hedge apple trees but our conservation district (Macon County Conservation District) apparently does not and is wanting to "purify the race" here and remove them all from a beautiful woods nearby. Please help!! They plan on spending my tax dollars to destroy what I love.

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Name: Charolette
State: IL
Date: May 5 2005
Comments:

I miss my hedgeapple tree. When we lived on the farm the children and I would walk down the lane and pick them up. If it were not for the thorns, I would put it in my yard.

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Name: Mike
State: KY
Date: April 19 2005
Comments:

Just thought you might be interested to know that we have an Osage Orange in our front yard that has a 75 foot canopy and the trunk in 12 feet around at about 5 feet from the ground. I wasn't about to climb it to check the height though. I believe this is a male tree since there is no fruit.

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Name: Steve
State: OK
Date: September 1 2004
Comments:

Just bought a new house with 7 acers found them one day when I took my wife for a walk. Didn't know what they were till she took one to work. Being from Calif.moved to Allen OK.people laugh at us because we did not know.

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Name: Joanne
State: MI
Date: August 31 2004
Comments:

I just discovered hedgeapples at my local park two blocks from my house. I thought they were pretty. I have a problem with ants and I hope they work. Thought you would like me to ship you some at a discount rate. I can collect probably a bushel or so.

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Name: James
State: KS
Date: December 8 2002
Comments:

The Wells family moved from Tucson, AZ in 1998 to enroll our two special needs children in USD497 and to obtain services we couldn't get for them in Tucson and to attend Kansas University. On one of our many outings in the county, I kept seeing these unusual fruit from the road and thought they were oranges or apples. My wife was raised in Southwestern Kansas and knew of the notorious history of the Hedge apple. She assured me that the mysterious fruit I kept referring to was NOT a fruit and not for human consumption. One day we were returning from an excersion to Baldwin City and she stopped the car and pointed out what she thought was a wild orange tree. She asked me to go get some of them from the tree that was in a pasture about 1/4 of a mile from where we were parked. I love adventure and willingly trudged the distance along the tree line only to be disappointed by picking up the knobby, sticky, smelly ball of Osage Orange. My wife was laughing when I returned to the car with three or four of the balls of noxious smelling globes and said, "Well, what do you think of those Kansas oranges? My first thought was, "You're kidding, right." My second thought was what kind of natural fuel or product could be manufactured from these things. There must be some sort of use for them. Then she read your Website and we have placed about 8 of the buggers under our mobile home to repel the ants and cockroaches that seem to use the structure as a vacation destination when a lot is vacated. Will know this coming spring of the results. Many thanks from a desperate home owner who has tried every kind of insect control method in the stores.

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Name: Marina
State: MD
Date: December 3 2002
Comments:

My husband found a hedge apple yesterday while walking our Shiba Inu dog in an old turf farm that is being turned into a small town. It brought memories of my childhood - visiting my grandparent's farm in Central Indiana. What fun we had "playing" softball with them. I didn't remember the correct name off right away and took the hedge apple to my senior's bible class today. Only two others remembered that it was a hedge apple and osage orange. All three of us were from the Midwest! This website has brought back warm memories.

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Name: Tim
State: OK
Date: December 1 2002
Comments:

The correct spelling for the french name of Osage Orange is Bois d'Arc. It is pronounced bodark and means "wood of the bow".

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Name: Jane
State: TX
Date: December 1 2002
Comments:

We just came back from a week out at the ranch. We took along two bags of "horseapples" to put in every corner of every room. We have had a problem with scorpions and Black Widow spiders and are hoping this will resolve the problem as we don't like to spray chemicals inside or out. We see the Osage Orange trees all over here in Texas.

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Name: Lisa
State: MO
Date: December 1 2002
Comments:

I found this fruit while on a search and rescue and had to find out what it was because I had never seen it before. Illinois was not mentioned as one of the ares it grows in, but this particular "hedge apple", or Osage Orange Tree fruit, was found in a small town called Pontoon Beach,Illinois. I found it to be in a location similar to some of the descriptions I found, they were being used as a hedge line around a creek bed. Enjoyed the site.

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Name: Toni
State: OH
Date: November 26 2002
Comments:

As president of our local garden club I am looking for a way to use hedgeapples as a natural decoration to incorporate into Christmas Wreaths. With the size and weight I might only be able to use 3-5 on each wreath. Can you suggest how to preserve them any longer than normal? I am going to try the cut hedgeapples for insecticides for bugs. I know an older ex-boss always used them in his basement to control mice but I never knew they also worked on spiders and other critters. I love the smell. I think it is an earthy clean smell and I usually always pick up a few to place in a basket in my "Country Kitchen". Can you preserve them in a way to have them dried? Please advise. Thank you so much for your website. It was great.

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Name: Pamela
State: IL
Date: November 26 2002
Comments:

My husband is Irish and LOVES anything Green . So when he told me he was picking Hedgeapples for a friends wife for decorations I really thought he'd gone off his Rocker. I had confirmation on that when he cam home with his prized green brains and bloody gouges up to his elbows. I couldn't believe he put so much effort and sacrifice into a favor for a friends wife (whom by the way he had never met)So--Now I found out that they are being sold through ads in the newspaper for $.75 a peice.. The price isn't high enough to justify the medical expence. So, I went out with him in search of the elusive fruit(?) I work smarter not harder I took an APPLE PICKER along and lo and behold I recieve only one small scratch .He praise me on my ability to harvest the prize said I was a natural!!! YA RIGHT!!! He was trying to recruit a patsy to do the dirty deed ,typical Irish tactics!!!! Now we have a pick-up truck full , don't ask me why?? I'm only his wee wife.

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Name: Jody
State: NY
Date: November 21 2002
Comments:

The osage orange has been a big discussion at work with no answers, until I happened upon one at a flea market! thats how I found your web! thanx

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Name: Tom
State: MI
Date: November 14 2002
Comments:

We just returned from my wife's sister's memorial service in Virginia. While there a three year old grand nephew went for a walk and returned with one five inch Osage Orange. He proudly handed it to me and said "take this back to Michigan and plant it." I will follow your instructions and place it into a pan of one inch water and let it freeze this winter. I hope a Osage Orange can survive zone four winters. If so. my wife will have a sweet memorial tree.

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Name: Donna
State: IA
Date: November 6 2002
Comments:

I am overwhelmed by the interest and lore concerning this ugly green fruit that my elderly parents requested for their basement...fortunately I have spotted a fruit bearing tree nearby and picked a bunch...for free! Are there any recipes out there for hedgeapple cobbler!

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Name: Mike
State: IA
Date: October 30 2002
Comments:

I had been picking these up from my front yard and tossing them into the cornfield across the fence. A few days later, I noticed the grocery store here was selling them. So now, I am selling mine to the grocery store. I'm not getting quite as much as Mr. Hedgeapple, but I'm just happy they're not going to waste anymore. Let me know Mr. Hedgeapple if you need anymore. Thanks for the interesting website!

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Name: John
State: WV
Date: October 24 2002
Comments:

I was driving through Kentucky and kept seeing these "big honkin' fruit" trees beside the interstate. We finally pulled over and made a mad dash scross 4 lanes to find out what they were. Can't wait to try to plant some. =)

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Name: Larry
State: OH
Date: October 20 2002
Comments:

DEER DO EAT HEDGEAPPLES BUT NOT UNTIL NOVEMBER

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Name: Judith
State: MI
Date: October 8 2002
Comments:

I pick my own hedge apples every October 1st or 2nd week alongside the roads out in the country. I place them around my home and never have a problem with insects or fleas. As a cat owner, I do beleive that my cat appreciates my efforts.

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Name: Carolyn
State: MO
Date: October 2 2002
Comments:

I have often seen hedge apples painted either gold or silver at home shows, usually around the Christmas holidays. Does anyone know how to prep the hedge apples for painting, and how are they preserved?

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Name: Judy
State: ND
Date: September 29 2002
Comments:

I think these are great. They really work,I haven't had a spider in my house since I purchased them last year.I work in a grocery store and I reccomend them to everyone that stops to ask what they are.

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Name: Jack & Libby
State: NC
Date: September 25 2002
Comments:

What a Beautiful, informative site!!! We have lived in N.C. all our lives, and both of us stay outside and walk in the woods as often as we can. We work in Charlotte, and found an Osage Orange tree at the edge of a beautiful, very old cemetery. For the life of us, we could'nt figure out what in the world these wierd things were. Have a friend that works for the State, and said she had a meeting in Raleigh, N.C. and offered to take one of the fruits with her to try and find out what it was. Sure enough she did! Osage Orange! We are so honored to have one of these trees here! Especially now that we know what it is! Our Yellow Lab insisted it was an ovesized tennis ball, until his teeth and nose got all sticky... Thanks for all the info! Going to pick up a box load to bring home before the Squirrels eat them all! Never seen anything like them. Guess we are never too old to learn! Thank You! Jack & Libby

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Name: Greg
State: MO
Date: September 24 2002
Comments:

I have a large hedge apple tree that produces hundreds of useless balls each year. I have found no use for them at all. I have tried several experiments with them. The best use I can find is to use them as an alarm clock.When the wind blows hard about 2 A.M. and 3 or 4 of them fall on my roof, I wake instantly. I tried using them for cricket and spider control, but had little success. To me they are a pain in the back. Each fall I try to think of a new use for them, and each fall I end up taking then to the yard waste facility.

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Name: Kim
State: PA
Date: September 23 2002
Comments:

FINALLY!!!!!!! i've been trying to figure out what a monkey ball tree is for a few years now and all anyone could tell me was it's a monkey ball. i was fascinated by them and had to know what they were...thanks for the info.

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Name: MARCIA
State: CA
Date: September 22 2002
Comments:

I RECEIVED MY HEDGEAPPLES OVER A MONTH AGO..I HAVE NOT SEEN A PESKY ANT OR ROACH SINCE ABOUT 3 DAYS AFTER PLACING ONE IN EACH ROOM....I ALSO HAVE MY SON CONVINCED...HE HAS GOTTEN RID OF TONS OF ANTS IN HIS HOME...AN MY FRIEND IN CHOIR WAS TELLING ME THAT BUGS ON HER DAIRY ARE GETTING IN THE HOUSE AND DRIVING HER WILD...SO..I JUST ORDERED A DOZEN FOR HER TO PLACE IN HER HOME....I WOULD LIKE TO TRY TO PLANT A FEW... I DONT KNOW HOW TO GO ABOUT IT...BUT, SURE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW... THANKS FOR HELPING ME GET ACQUAINTED WITH THIS HARMLESS AND WONDERFUL WAY TO GET RID OF PESTS!! THANKS

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Name: Jean
State: WI
Date: September 22 2002
Comments:

I first bought these for spiders, I also do not see any other inects in the house either. I now have almost everyone I work with using them too. and more want them but they can not get them, stores are out. 100 percent on spiders,great thing.

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Name: Twila
State: SD
Date: September 8 2002
Comments:

I have bought some hedge apples for the first time for decorative use. My mother puts them out to repel insects.

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Name: Christine
State: WV
Date: September 6 2002
Comments:

I'm so happy to have found your site. I always wondered what these weird little fruits were and why the tree looked so odd. There is a huge hedgeapple tree on my family's property in Ripley and I know it has been there since the 60's. I never knew they were so handy. Thanks for all the handy tips.

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Name: Catrina
State: OH
Date: September 5 2002
Comments:

Hello, it was nice to find your site and learn about our "monkeyballs." Olmsted Falls, Ohio has many osage orange trees, which were used by native American Indians in our area to make bows. There is always a huge crop of these monkeyballs down our street. Squirrels feed on them and when the winter is mild, you'll see an exploded monkeyball or two in the snow which has been feasted on by a squirrel for a quick winter snack. Since the wood is so strong, I wonder if it would be safe to use for parrot toys? No need for bows and arrows here!

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Name: Molly
State: GA
Date: August 11 2002
Comments:

Just saw an article on these and their abilities as an insecticide. I have never heard of such a fruit. I am wanting some,but all I can find is that they are out of season. I WANT some bad. Where can I purchase them?? I would love to find a place to purchase the plants. I am from South Georgia and it seems all bugs love this area as much as I do. Any help with finding these would be greatly appreciated.

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Name: Lynn
State: IL
Date: August 10 2002
Comments:

Just found out about the hedge apple and have to try it .Thanks for the great pages.I'm tired of all these non-natural ideas you find in stores & I 'm really anxious about trying this

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Name: Raymond
State: TX
Date: August 8 2002
Comments:

moved into an apt. that was full of roachs papaw (from oklahoma) brought some down from ok and never saw another roach from then on!

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Name: Sherry
State: OK
Date: June 14 2002
Comments:

My dad had always told me as a young girl that the "horse" apples was god's bug repellant. I never doubted him. (he also told me they were poisonious, which I'm glad to find out they are NOT.) I've been telling my friend, Shayla, to use the apples to fight her "bug" problem. She would just giggle. So I will be sending a link to your site to 2 great people, my Dad and Shayla. Thanks so much.

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Name: Shane
State: OK
Date: June 3 2002
Comments:

I have been using hedgeapples for many things over the years. I still have to complete my masters thesis to graduate and I figured what better topic than the common uses of hedgeapples throughout the urban household.

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Name: Kelly
State: KS
Date: May 17 2002
Comments:

Very good site -- loved the toy truck pic!! Have a good day!!

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Name: Deborah
State: NC
Date: May 9 2002
Comments:

I grew up on a farm in Missouri. We had a favorite Hedgeapple tree on our property. Didn't know then the wood could be used for bows, furniture etc. Planning a trip back to the old home area soon, hope to find some wood to bring back, may find someone to make a bow for me. Have enjoyed your site very much and have it bookmarked for future reference.

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Name: Claudette
State: TN
Date: April 24 2002
Comments:

We are in the process of removing as many hedgeappple trees as possible from our yard. The spines ruin the lawn equipment tires, the falling apples are dangerous to anyone or thing underneath, the rotting apples smell, the litter from the squirrels is everywhere - they like to perch on the deck and eat. If anyone wants to dig up the things from my yard they are welcome. Also, let me know who wants the apples and they can come pick them up for nothing!

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Name: Mal
State: MS
Date: April 22 2002
Comments:

I am a woodturner (using a wood lathe) and I love turning Osage Orang, commonly referred around here to as Bodok. I love the beautifulyellow color of the wood. Highly polished when finished, it is almost gem quality. My only problem is finding enough to make things with. should you like, I can furnish photos on e-mail of my finished bowls. I'd be glad to participate in any kind of research that includes cutting and shaping. I keep almost all of my saw dust and shavings to prove to folks that I didn't dye the wood! I would like to see an actual picture of the tree.

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Name: Katherine
State: IA
Date: April 6 2002
Comments:

I have used the Hedgeballs to repell insects in our old country house cellar. (they don't help with garter snakes however!!) It is sad to see the fence row Hedge being pulled out and burned just to get a few more feet of earth to plant .

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Name: Alan
State: WA
Date: March 31 2002
Comments:

We were visiting Fort Simcoe State Park in Central Washington State and found this strange ball on the ground. After inquiring with the Park Ranger we found out the name, and then found your web site. I have never seen a Osage Orange before and now we are going to try and get one to grow. This maybe hard as the Orange Seed has been on the ground all winter. We will try. I was very impressed with your web site. Job well done.

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Name: Jacob
State: CA
Date: February 7 2002
Comments:

We had a hedgeapple tree in the front yard of the house where I grew up in Alabama. We always called them Horseapples. I was telling a friend at work about it and he found your site for me. Wish we had known that they could be used as an insect repellant because we had a problem with roaches from time to time. Also, it was fun playing catch with these and bursting them with a stick to practice batting.

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Name: Ramona
State: NE
Date: February 4 2002
Comments:

I've had a life long (73 yrs)love affair with Osage Orange. The section of land that I grew up on was divided by "hedge" The original settlers there had originated in Illinois. This was in Nemaha County, NE, and the hedge was brought with the farmers when they settled there. Our kitchen cook stove was "stoked" with hedge at night because there would still be coals by morning. How it would crackle and pop as it burned! Dad would make "break away" pins for his cultivator by pounding small pieces of the wood through a metal plate. The fence posts were always of Osage Orange--and some of them are still in place and sturdy still. One year my folks made Osage Orange "flowers". They were beautiful but what a sticky, messy job.

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Name: Aprill
State: IA
Date: December 22 2001
Comments:

Steve from above gave me one as a Christmas present. What a nice friend! So I now have a Hedgeapple dissected in my living room, but no more bugs! They really are a great insect repellent.

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Name: Ray
State: CO
Date: December 7 2001
Comments:

For years, I've spotted one or two spiders in our downstairs sink every morning. Three weeks ago a friend told me about using hedgeapples to repel insects. Since I placed one on a piece of aluminum foil behind the toilet, only one lone spider has been seen in that bathroom. Thanks, hedgeapples, I'll never be without you again! And this is a marvelous web site, Mr. Hedgeapple. Good work.

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Name: Steve
State: IA
Date: December 2 2001
Comments:

I was hunting here for the first time and watched some whitetails eat a strange fruit. I looked it up and they were hedge apples. That answers the question of whether Whitetails eat them. If you need more hedge apples let me know.

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Name: Ed
State: MD
Date: December 1 2001
Comments:

If Hedgeapples (Osage Oranges) were part of the stock market, I'd be rich, as there is no downside to their production. I've seen them for years, and now that I own a house with two trees in front -one on neighbor's side, they drop like rain. I thought there must be a use use for them since passer-by would coyly stop their cars and, NOT INFREQUENTLY ENOUGH, take a few. Oh! Would they only come back for more of the 500 or so one tree seems to produce. The squirrels eat them and leave a mess on the front lawn. Reluctant to intrude on HEDGEAPPLE.COM'S business, next year, all the Baltimore Locals (since they're almost gone for this year) can have all they want.....No need to call, just come by...we're in the ph. book...Please!!!!

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Name: J.J.
State: IL
Date: November 22 2001
Comments:

I've spent eight years trying to identify the huge trees I have on my property. The tree books say Osage Orange are in Texas and grow to 50 feet tall and two feet diameter, so I did not think that was what they were. Then I found a few hedgeapples on the ground and realized that they came from the same kind of tree but smaller. How big is that one in Virginia? I may have competition. I would guess a couple are 90 feet tall and seven or eight feet around. However mine are dying and they look terrible. I have been trying to identify them to know how to remove them. Whenever I try to cut dead limbs it dulls my chain saw. I have green canopies way up there but huge hanging branches below that are dead and like iron. Two-thirds of the trees are gray stone branches. Can someone give me information on how to prune or remove them? They are either too old or all males I have a lot more trees than hedgeapples so they aren't very useful and scraggly as they are, they are very ugly.

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Name: Jayne
State: OH
Date: November 21 2001
Comments:

I thought the trees looked like "Adam Family" trees. Without leaves they are very snarly looking. Glad to find out some good things about the hedge apples. My kids call them monkey brains. I will try the insect theory. Thanks

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Name: Claudia
State: IL
Date: November 17 2001
Comments:

I LOVE Hedge Apples...and the trees that they grow on! The trees are so interesting to look at, the secondary branches seem to grow skyward off of the main branches. I like to think about the Native Americans making them into bows and later the Pioneers using them for fencing. They are unique and interesting. By the way, have you ever cut one into slices and dried it in a slow oven at 250 degrees for an hour? It is beautiful! Claudia Agnes

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Name: Joy
State: TX
Date: November 16 2001
Comments:

I'm doing a science fair experiment and this site gave me loooooooooooooooooots (lots) of information. Thanks. I collected horse apples, dissected it and took out the seeds.

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Name: Ann
State: IL
Date: November 14 2001
Comments:

Hi, Mr. Hedgeapple; Many, many years ago (when I was a kid) I helped my family pick up hedgeapples. Besides using them in the house we fed them to the hogs. . . . they loved them. The only place I see them anymore is when we go thru Kansas on the way to Oklahoma. I have picked some up along the road when it was the right time of year. . . .

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Name: Nori
State: IN
Date: November 13 2001
Comments:

My husband I were golfing and I saw some green things that I thought were apples from a distance. When we got closer I was intrigued by this strange fruit. I took one with me and asked in the pro shop if they knew what they were. They did not! Being a teacher, I took it to school to find out if anyone knew what it was. Nobody had ever seen one before. Then one of the teachers told me she was at an Arts & Craft show and bought some. She told me the name and what they were used for. Also asked if I was golfing anymore because she wanted more and didn't want to have to pay for them. I plan to go back to the golf course and see if I can get some more. Then I can bring them into the classroom and get the class interested in something other than "talking". The rest is history, I looked up "hedgeapple" and found this site. Thanks.

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Name: Zac
State: OH
Date: November 12 2001
Comments:

Have a tree always wondered what good they were and am finding out.

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Name: Merna
State: NJ
Date: November 10 2001
Comments:

Hi Mr. Hedgeapple, Osage Orange sightings in the Whippany NJ area. One afternoon my friend and I took a walk after lunch and came across this fruit or vegetable. We were not sure what it was.. We were puzzle until yesterday, when he told me the name of the tree and Hedgeapple. I have learn so much from your web site.... I live with eczema and pest control is harmful to my skin. I plan to use the Hedgeapple as a insect repellents. I will like to educated myself a little more, before I purchase the Hedgeapples. Thank you very much for all the information you have provide us...

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Name: Carol
State: PA
Date: November 6 2001
Comments:

We recently moved to east central PA - went walking in a local cemetery and found the hedge apples all over the ground... very old and deteriorated trees. Never saw them previously .. a friend from a college told me what they are. What an interesting tree... I'm from northern NY State and I never saw these. I don't think they are very common around these parts!! But, it was a trip back in time seeing these very old trees AND visiting the old cemetery also. I just couldn't believe the size of these seeds (fruits)... they are marvelous.

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Name: Brian
State: TX
Date: November 6 2001
Comments:

I may have found some larger Osage Orange trees than the one listed on your fine website. While the trees I've found are not as bushy, they may be taller. I estimate them at 70 plus feet. Each trunk is about 2 ft in diameter. They must have been pruned at some stage because the lowest branches are 15 to 20 feet above the ground. Each tree is single trunked but some appear twisted or gnarled. Interestingly, these trees form a line along one side of an empty parking lot. I'm not surprised no one wants to park beneath them. Please email me if interested in the exact location.

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Name: Amy
State: NJ
Date: November 4 2001
Comments:

Osage Orange sightings in the NYC area! I was driving down Patterson Plank Road in Jersey City, NJ today overlooking lovely Hoboken, NJ and I saw the little green suckers on the side of the road! I pulled over immediately screaming "Osage Oranges!" knowing exactly what they were. I made my boyfriend grab one off the street, explaining their a natural cockroach repellant! You see, my Dad has a very large Osage Orange tree growing in his back yard in Redding, CT. Since I was a little girl I've been helping my Dad pick em up off the ground and toss them in the woods so the lawnmower doesn't get destroyed. One of my coworkers said he's seen these trees growing in his neighborhood of Northport, Long Island, NY. My assumption, based on the history of these things is that the Native-Americans of this area planted them to make bows.

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Name: Colleen
State: WI
Date: November 3 2001
Comments:

After I put the hedgeapples away in the corners of my house I was kept awake all night because the spiders were slamming doors and packing suitcases.

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Name: Donna
State: KY
Date: November 1 2001
Comments:

I have been a hedgeapple lover for years. Each fall my husband and I go out and collect dozens of them from trees we spy on the edge of country lanes. We pile them up in baskets and use them for our fall decorations along with pumpkins, mums, and hay bales. When I was a kid in Ohio we called them monkeyballs. I usually wash mine with a bleachy water solution to keep them looking nice longer. I'm not really sure it works but I do it anyway.

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Name: Candice
State: MI
Date: October 30 2001
Comments:

Hi, I have been looking all over for information about these wonderful smelling, multi-functional "fruits"! A couple of friends informed me of the name of the tree, and I am hoping to be able to grow some out back. Do I just use a "winter rotted" one and mix it with black dirt and plant in the fall? (or spring?) One more question...If I have some covered in the sticky sap stuff and want to make them "prettier", do you have any suggestions for removing the sap?

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Name: Ellie
State: MO
Date: October 30 2001
Comments:

We have tons of hedge apples because they fall off our trees that are out in the back woods, on our property. What I'm trying to find out are there "seeds" in the apples? We want to plant some hedge along our property line and I don't know where to buy hedge or if I can start them from some of the trees we already have. Please help me.

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Name: Don
State: CA
Date: October 27 2001
Comments:

A very dear friend of mine in Rockford IL, where I was born, 70 years ago, wrote to me that she had gathered some hedgeapples on a recent outing. Now that I see your web site, with the very vivid pictures, (they are great) I do recall picking hedgeapples in my youth and using them, along with friends, like snow balls. Now I shall try them, to rid my home of various species of spiders which have annoying webs where they are not wanted. Thank you for the great information.

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Name: Chick
State: CA
Date: October 26 2001
Comments:

Wow! Thanks - I just visited my old home and 1st grade school in Richardson, Tx. It's the first time in 40+ years. One of the things I remembered were the "horse apples" in our back yard. I've asked others about the strange looking things but nobody new what they were. Now, visiting my old home - there they were again. They really do exist! Thanks for the great web site on them - horse ..... I mean, hedge apples.

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Name: Janet
State: TX
Date: October 25 2001
Comments:

I found out about your sight from Martha Stewart's magazine. I love these things. Here in this part of Texas, we call them bois d'arc trees and bois d'arc apples. Also we call them horse apples. When my son was in kindergarten, his school celebrates Johnny Appleseed and each student was to make something interesting with an apple, such as an animal or something. Because I love bois d'arc apples, we used one of those and made a frog out of it. Of course, that was most unusual because most people thought of edible apples only. Each kindergarten class learns about Johnny Appleseed and the different kinds of apples. We also took to school a tomato because it is considered a "love apple" (in the dictionary)! Deer love these osage oranges (bois d'arc) too!

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Name: Barbara
State: MI
Date: October 23 2001
Comments:

We have several Osage orange trees lining our driveway--we have to park our car far away during the fall! Thanks for all the info on hedgeapples i did not know what they were at all for two years! I have a toddler, are they poisonous? Also, we have so many I'd like to try to sell them if there is a market... Thanks!

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Name: Amy
State: OH
Date: October 22 2001
Comments:

Here in western Hamilton County Ohio we are having a banner year for our Osage Orange trees. The hedgeapples are very large and dense. Unblemished as well. We still have about 2/3's of them on the trees in spite of windy weather this week end. I'm going to put them in the basement to help with the insects. Thanks for the interesting page.

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Name: Terry
State: TX
Date: October 22 2001
Comments:

Your site is wonderful!! I was in Northwest Arkansas and saw my first hedge apple and of course being a kindergarten teacher I had to bring some home to show my students. None of the locals could tell me anything except that they are also called horse apples. I am so excited to show my students. We live an hour south of corpus Christi so this is a new experience. Thank you

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Name: Sandy
State: MO
Date: October 21 2001
Comments:

My daughter is in college and she is renting a house with 3 other students. She mentioned that they have a lot of spiders. I told her to get some hedgeapples and put them around in every room. I've never tried them, but have heard they work. Their college campus in Missouri is loaded with the trees. So she's going to take a sack with her to school and get some and try it. Hope it works. I never see any trees in Iowa but have seen them sell them in the grocery stores.

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Name: Harvey
State: KY
Date: October 20 2001
Comments:

Since learning about Hedgeapples a few years back i have been using them each summer to repel spiders in our home. Would like to start a tree of my own, but i understand you need a male and a female tree in order to produce the apples, If i use Mr. Knapp's method of putting the apples in a container, adding water until soften, mashing them, then pouring them into a row, would that produce both male and female seedlings? Or is there a place where i can order seedlings or sprouts for these trees? Thanks, H. Kiser in Ky.

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Name: Ron
State: CA
Date: October 20 2001
Comments:

I found an Osage Orange tree a while back and picked some cuttings, but have not had any success trying to get them started. Maybe I can find some information here. Thank You. rr

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Name: Leon
State: MO
Date: October 19 2001
Comments:

Great Webpage! However... Richard Jauron, Department of Horticulture, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa states on his page: www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1997/10-10-1997/hedgeapple.html; That there are no scientific facts that supports the use of "Hedge Apples" for pest control! Perhaps someone should do a research paper on this,and earn their Doctorate Degree.

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Name: Noel
State: TX
Date: October 18 2001
Comments:

I moved to Dallas from New Orleans last year. I had never seen a "horseapple" in my life. The parks here are littered with them. At first I thought they were balls, then realized they were a fruit. I came looking on the internet because my daughter was playing with them and I wanted to be sure they weren't poisonous. Thank you for the information, it is fascinating. It's kind of scarry, seems like one could knock you unconscious if you were standing under a tree when it falls.

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Name: Lisa
State: IN
Date: October 15 2001
Comments:

My husband And I first noticed the tree from our freeway exit off 465 to our house. There is a tree right off the exit. I made him stop on the off ramp so I could go pick one of the fruit. To say the least I was rather intrigued by this strange looking thing on the tree. I wanted to know if it is edible in any way. I have been trying to find out what the tree was for many months. So I am so thrilled to find out about it. I cant wait to go collect more and start decorating and repelling with them. Thanks from INDY.

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Name: Campbell
State: TX
Date: October 15 2001
Comments:

Hello to my fellow Osage Orange affictionados. i too spent many years gathering these fascinating fruits to add to Xmas decorations & outdoor wreaths. you might be interested in knowing that they can grow this far north, on the Niagara Escarpment, by Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. they are not common here & most people don't know what they are, but we have our very excellent Royal Botanical Gardens here in Hamilton, where we can identify almost anything that grows... I'm sad to say that the site where i gather my oranges is under some sort of construction, so, I'll have to wait until next year to see if any trees survive.

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Name: Tim
State: PA
Date: October 15 2001
Comments:

Over the weekend I picked about two dozen of these hedgeapples. I have been doing this for a good number of years. I usually take them into my classroom and display them in small baskets. My students, 5th graders, are so exciting about trying to find out what these things are called. They are online researching. Who would have thought that these rough green "Osage Oranges" would have caused so much excitement.

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Name: Brandy
State: CA
Date: October 14 2001
Comments:

I WAS AT MY AUNT AND UNCLES PLACE THIS MONTH THEY LIVE IN SHELBYVILLE, TENN. WE WERE TRYING TO FIND WHAT THEY WERE AND WHAT WE CAN USE THEM FOR.

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Name: LISA
State: NY
Date: October 12 2001
Comments:

I HAVE A THREE STORY MOCK ORANGE TREE IN MY FRONT YARD AND HAVE BEEN DUCKING THESE ORANGES FOR YEARS. IS IT COMMON FOR AN OSAGE TREE TO LIVE IN NYC? HOW MANY TREES DO YOU KNOW OF IN NYC? I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE BEFORE I MOVED INTO MY HOME? WHERE DO THEY ORIGINATE FROM? PLEASE ANSWER

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Name: Howard
State: AZ
Date: October 10 2001
Comments:

Just recently learned about Osage Orange trees and Hedge Apples from my brother in Northern Ill..Can you tell me if the trees would stand the heat that we have in Az.

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Name: DAMON AND TONYA
State: OK
Date: October 10 2001
Comments:

MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE A TREE IN OUR YARD AND THIS YEAR 2001 IT HAS PRODUCED AROUND 1200 APPLES WE WERE JUST TRYING TO FIND OUT IF THEY WERE GOOD FOR ANYTHING!!!HA

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Name: Melanie
State: MI
Date: October 8 2001
Comments:

My family has been using osage oranges for years to control mice. we live in the country, surrounded by corn fields. when the corn is harvested, we would get mice in the house. whenever we have osage oranges in the house, we don't see mice. NOT ONE. I've never heard of using them for spiders or bugs but I know they work wonders for mice.

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Name: KATHY
State: IL
Date: October 6 2001
Comments:

HOW COME THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS WHERE TO FIND THESE LITTLE DEVILS.....I FIND THEM AT CRAFT SHOWS....NOT FOR SALE.....LET'S START A HEDGEAPPLE FRUSTRATION GROUP....

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Name: Sue
State: PA
Date: October 2 2001
Comments:

A year ago we moved into our home and I found these grapefruit sized weird green things rolling down the hill from the top of our street. Quite a mess when the cars get to them first.. No one could give me a clue what they were. Now I know!! They grow in Southeastern PA too. Thanks for the info-I'll share it with the neighbors.

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Name: Sicula
State: MI
Date: October 2 2001
Comments:

Take a look at the September 2001 issue of Natural History magazine wherein you'll find an article by Connie Barlow entitled "Ghost Stories From the Ice Age" that suggests the osage orange (maclura pomifera)has been around these parts (North America) for a very long time. Check it out.

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Name: Chris
State: MI
Date: October 2 2001
Comments:

My Dad and I would occasionally see these when out hunting. We thought they were the strangest looking fruit we'd ever seen we nick-named them brain-fruit. I found a site earlier identifying the tree as osage-orange, curious I searched and found this site to actually learn more. Thanks for the great info. Wait till my dad hears about this.

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Name: Julie
State: WI
Date: September 30 2001
Comments:

I know why jeff goodwins trees didnt survive..... they need to be planted male & female trees together. the female tree is the one who produces the fruit..... its the chicken and the egg concept here.

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Name: Sarah
State: WV
Date: September 29 2001
Comments:

We have had these trees in our neighbor forever. I never knew what they were. Everyone I asked always called the monkeyballs. I am so happy after all of these years to finally know what things are. We played with them as children. Thank you for your great site.

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Name: Marty
State: OH
Date: September 23 2001
Comments:

Hello! My house in S. Ohio had been invaded for many years with ladybugs, the convergent ones. They winter-over in the soil. And stay in the house, get in your hair, food and vacuuming three times a day doesn't really help much. Last year I put 40 green hedgeapples around the house, and one in each room on a dish. This year I have had no ladybugs in the house. It is just past the season for their beginning to come in. Not much for scientific research but I am a happy camper.

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Name: DAVE and LISA ERNEST
State: PA
Date: September 15 2001
Comments:

My husband and I live in central Pennsylvania. We often go for evening rides though the country. We came across these funny looking green balls laying on the ground. Not knowing what they were, I decided that they would look nice mixed in with my fall decorations outside. My husband and I gathered some up and brought them home. Dave said he would take one to work with him and ask some older people if they may know what they were. He came home and said the were "Horseapples", but they didn't know what purpose the had. They just knew that some animals had choked on them and died. I have gone for a year or more wondering about these strange balls, so I went searching on the Internet!!!! I couldn't believe there was a whole website dedicated to the "hedgeapple"!!!! I couldn't believe all the info that was there and had no idea you could use them for dried decorations. My husband told me go for it "Marthat" he knows I love to decorate!!! We have these trees all over the place. I could be Rich!!! Thanks for all the info. Now my husband won't have to here me say again "I wonder what the are???" Thanks Again, Dave and Lisa Ernest

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Name: Shannon, Cassie, Jeff, and Glenn
State: KY
Date: September 11 2001
Comments:

All of use here at Hultman Signs say thank you so much for the use full information. We learned something new today. Glenn has a hedgeapple tree and is planning to bring an apple for each of us here tomorrow!!!! He promised!!! Thank you again.......and if you ever need a sign.........

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Name: Jim
State: MI
Date: September 8 2001
Comments:

I had been told to use Hedgeapples to repel spiders. I placed an apple in each of the areas where the spiders had been seen. Including three under out bed. I placed them in late July, not until October did we start to see spiders reentering our house.

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Name: George
State: NE
Date: August 20 2001
Comments:

We lived in NE Kansas in the 20's and 30's, grandad was a blacksmith and in the winter months used osage orange to make beautiful small furniture, foots stools etc, as I remember he used metal working tools for this. Wish I still had some of his handicraft, mine was burnt in a house fire.

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Name: P.
State: OH
Date: August 18 2001
Comments:

This is an interesting site. Hedgeoranges grow all over the place in Southern Ohio. Even wild yet. I'll be back here more then once.

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Name: Luann
State: VA
Date: August 16 2001
Comments:

I recently found some of osage oranges along side a road near my office. I knew what they were and immediately picked them up to take home to dry. I am very close to Colonial Williamsburg,VA and the oranges are used in Christmas decorations (wreaths, etc.). How do you dry them? the first batch I brought home turned brownish/black when left in the air to dry. Thanks for the info. Thanks especially for the info on where to buy other oranges and the trees themselves. p.s. My mother is from Charlotte County, VA where the largest Osage Orange tree is located at Patrick Henry's home Red Hill.

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Name: Philip
State: MO
Date: August 9 2001
Comments:

Hedge will burn up a cheap wood stove. Dead hedge dulls chainsaw blades. Dead hedge thorns will make your hand or knee puff up like you have been poisoned, if you get stuck. Hedgeballs get to 8" round, not just 6". They will dent any car or pickup when they fall. Cattle choke on them fairly commonly. We lost a few cattle that way. Hedge wood is beautiful when finished. NOW! If you buy some cheap, hollow-point, .22 shells and pop the hedgeballs before they soften, they will explode and shower you with green sticky! 20 g. shotgun shells will turn the balls into a fine mist of green sticky! Around here we have "Hedgeball season"! My boys love it! No limit! "Shoot all you can eat!" HA! Later, Philip

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Name: Red
State: AL
Date: July 17 2001
Comments:

Good info. I use bodock (osage orange) to make ballpoint, fountain pens. beautiful wood.

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Name: Laura
State: TX
Date: July 13 2001
Comments:

We just moved into a newly constructed house and were lucky enough to have a big tree in the front...only no one knew what it was. I did some research and came across the word "Osage" and thought 'hmmm that sounds like it could be that' and then, driving to my house, I was at a stop light and noticed the name of the street, "Osage" and there were some trees just like ours. Whammo, an Osage. I've been quite interested to learn all about it and I feel very lucky, ours is the only house on the street with one!

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Name: Nguyen
State: KS
Date: May 9 2001
Comments:

Hedgeapples are the bomb!

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Name: Helene
State: TX
Date: May 2 2001
Comments:

I thought that you might be interested to know that my husband was so impressed with the Hedgeapple, when touring America in the early '90's, that he named our web solutions company after it. In July I hope to be able to order a hedgeapple from you so that I too may experience 'the hedgeapple'.

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Name: TJR
State: KY
Date: April 16 2001
Comments:

Wife & I went out for a walk one autumn day. She pointed up in a tree and asked, "What's that green ball?" I went for a closer look from underneath, the thing fell and just missed me! Next fall we might just wear hard hats on our walks. One note: Mockorange is a midwest ornamental shrub

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Name: Rob
State: IA
Date: February 13 2001
Comments:

I think this site is unique,but my brothers and myself have been selling hedgeballs for many years,here in Iowa.Everytime we told someone that we sold hedgeballs,we always got the same question. What do you do with those things. We were always told that it was just a old wife's tale. but it seems we sell more each year. I really like the truck with the hedgeball on it. COOL SITE!!!

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Name: Terihoward
State: MO
Date: January 15 2001
Comments:

I cant believe that I found a website for hedge apples. A year ago last October we built a new home with 10 hedge apple trees in the backyard. We were overwhelmed this year by the number of hedge apples that grew and fell from the trees, the lawn fertilizer probably didn't help matters much. We probably sent at least 1,000 pounds to the dump. Next year we would really like to do something different. Do people sell these apples at local farmers market? If not, I think we will be putting an add in our Home owners association newsletter and encourage neighbors to come pick and enjoy. I didn't realize they were such a good natural repellant for bugs.

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Name: Andra
State: OK
Date: January 12 2001
Comments:

I grew up with hedge apples everywhere and had no idea of their use. Thanks!

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Name: Lynn
State: DE
Date: January 9 2001
Comments:

Had the wrong email address a couple down the list. I wrote to some people who had signed in already and have had good responses. I'll definitely have some HEDGEAPPLES next year. I cant wait. This is a great web page and very informative. Thank you

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Name: Mr. Ed
State: OK
Date: January 8 2001
Comments:

yes here in Oklahoma we call them horse and hedge apple.there are millions of trees here. the rabbits eat them so when rabbit hunting look for osage trees.the indians made their bows out of them.its some hard wood good for burning like oak but pops.when we were little we cut the apple in half and stuck a candle in the middle and under the porch light. it worked i thank a little bit.but there is nothing like seeing a apple explode up side some ones head,car, truck,cop car,curb,building,trash can,front door,or anything that is hard.thanks for reading this and have a better day today from oklahoma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Name: Wade
State: CA
Date: January 7 2001
Comments:

Hello.... Hello Mr. Hedge Apple! Nice to know your true name after nearly 43 1/2 years. I have my older brother in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania to thank for the formal intro tonight. It has been a long acquaintance between us and finally we formally meet. For so long I had no idea of your true name and purpose just my childhood alais identity of you as a "Monkey Ball". My story is quaint yet somewhat brief about you. I moved to California 22 1/2 years ago and long lost your acquaintance in my mind until today. I had no idea back when I was younger that I was assisting along with my other two brothers and the other neighborhood boys such senseless murderous act against your brethren by throwing them out onto our country road for the sheer giggles of watching them get squashed by Coal Trucks as they passed on by. And Oh!! I cannot also ignore the fact that we used your other round bumpy green skinned buddies as make believe grenades in our make believe game of "WAR" against the neighborhood boys that would pretend to be our make believe "German Enemy". Sometimes you were used as "bombs" or "ammo" or whatever other purpose we could contrive to keep the "American" side of the many Neighborhood "Wars" you helped win....thus keeping safe and alive so that on another day we could all once again pick sides and have another battle. I never got to say Thank You before so now I say that to you. Thank You for all the fun we had with your brothers and in helping give the minds of young over imaginative boys a release for their innocent adolescent play and testosteronal musings. I have no idea who "taught" us your slang name of the "Monkey Ball Tree". Oh....you know....acting like they were grenades when playing "WAR" lobbing them at our fictitious ENEMY and all. Such childhood memories. As an adult....your information on this website is very informative!! Thanks for finally replacing those adolescent ramblings with useful thoughts about "what" you really is and what purpose you had and have in this world. I just thought I would share a bit info on how kids years ago found use for you. Somewhat typically cruel but no one ever seemed to get hurt by you in the end. Thanks now for filling me in on the truth behind you after all of these years. The Internet truly is a sea of information.

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Name: Lynn
State: DE
Date: January 3 2001
Comments:

I was reintroduced to Osage oranges this past Christmas as they were used in a house decoration. There aren't many lest in my neck of the woods, at least I cant find any. They are fascinating and I'll keep looking till I find some. I'd like to find some seeds or small trees suitable for planting. Is there such a thing? Thanks for any info you can send me.

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Name: Lou
State: AZ
Date: December 13 2000
Comments:

I grew up in central Ohio, and we had Hedge-apple trees EVERYWHERE. In fact, we had one about 20 feet from the house, in which we built a very fine tree-house. Unfortunately, the tree blew over as the result of a near-by tornado. Regarding Osage Orange useage for bows - the sap-wood and heart-wood of the tree make a very good natural laminate for construction - the sapwood will end up on the face of the bow, with the heartwood facing the user. Just be prepared for a lot of saw sharpening!

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Name: Shannon
State: TX
Date: November 26 2000
Comments:

I've seen horse apples growing-up but never knew their American heritage. Thanks for the very informative site. I plan on planting a few Bodark trees in my backyard next spring.

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Name: Lenore
State: CT
Date: November 20 2000
Comments:

Here in central CT we have 3 Osage trees that grow on the edge of a now historic site. My Dear Old Dad was the Police officer directing traffic when a construction crew was on site, planning to cut them down!!. He knew what these trees were and how rare they are up here in CT. and stopped the crew. He alerted the town and now these lone Osage trees continue to thrive on the edge of a busy road and right in front of a Burger King! Next spring I plan on planting seeds from these historic trees throughout the state. In the spirit of Johnny Appleseed, wish me luck ;) Thanks for all the hard work and useful info that went into this web site. Gratefully yours, Lenore

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Name: the osage girls
State: NY
Date: November 20 2000
Comments:

We have several trees growing in our village. As children we used to roll them down an hill and let the cars hit them. We also used to throw them at each other. They are quite interesting looking and "brainy" - this is why we named our group of girlfriends after them. We are still friends and occasionally collect them and dry them - thirty years later.

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Name: Jeremy
State: KS
Date: November 13 2000
Comments:

let me get this straight, you actually sell hedge apples. and people buy them. Jim online today looking for a way to kill hedge trees. they are the biggest menace dive faced in my life. they're a danger to anyone walking down my street or driving and they are denting the censored out of my roof. to censored with hedge apples....

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Name: Frank
State: NY
Date: November 10 2000
Comments:

My father found hedge apples growing on the side of the road In Cutchouge, on Long Island, NY and it took us a week to figure out what he had found. Thanks for all the information!

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Name: Keith
State: WI
Date: November 10 2000
Comments:

Wow, thanks for the informative web-page. A co-worker found a hedge-apple on the ground while driving through Whitnall Park, here in the Milwaukee area, and brought it back to us. We were all amazed by it and didn't know what the heck it was. Since I live with a horticulturist, I quickly found out more on the interesting tree. My friend from work insisted that the tree was not in the area he found the fruit, but told me the general area. I just had to look, and low and behold, there was a tree, right next to the roadway. Awesome! A little further down from there, was another. Yes, they even grow way up here in Wisconsin! Now, after having found out how useful the interesting greenish-yellow fruit is, I'm dying to put it to use! Thanks again!

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Name: Naida
State: NY
Date: November 2 2000
Comments:

I have ordered 4 hedgeapples (they apparently don't grow in Long Island, NY), and wonder how to dry them. I'll use them now in a Fall arrangement, but would love to save them to use as a Christmas decoration as well. Help, please!

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Name: Beckie
State: WV
Date: November 1 2000
Comments:

I have a beautiful Hedgeapple tree in my back yard which stands about 55 feet tall and is about 6 feet in diameter. I was wondering if there is anything I can usefully do with the Hedgeapples that fall from this tree. It seems like such a waste to bag them up and give them to the City every week. I've placed about 150 bags of these Hedgeapples at my curb over the last 4 weeks. I still have more on my tree too. Help me out here if you know of something I can do with these. Thanks.

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Name: Marcia
State: KS
Date: October 26 2000
Comments:

I checked out hedgeapple.com on impulse today and was greatly surprised to see the picture of the "giant hedgeapple" on the flatbed pick-up. It looked suspiciously like a photo from a farming magazine from a couple years ago of a "giant pumpkin" on a flatbed pick-up. Anyway, whoever took that picture is a true artist, and the man who made that truck out of a Prince Albert tobacco can as a boy is obviously a genius. I can only imagine how incredibly gifted his grandchildren are.

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Name: Dian
State: OK
Date: October 25 2000
Comments:

This may be a different comment from most. But I think this is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. You people are buying "horse apples" (this is what we call them here, no our brains are not green!) for $2 each. Come down here, I'll give you a whole pasture of them for free! I don't see how this "company" can sleep at night. These are the nastiest "fruits" that we have around here. Believe me, I wouldn't but a whole tree for $2!!!!! This is NOT worth however much money either of you are spending. I can believe there's actually a web site for this!

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Name: Lewis
State: PA
Date: October 24 2000
Comments:

I enjoyed your informative site greatly, and will also go too many of the off shoots. I will probably try growing some of the trees myself. I bring home several bags of fruit each year, and spread them around in my garage and basement. There are three orchards within a mile or two of my place. Thanks again for all the information. You have one of the best web site I have been to. Good Work !

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Name: Joanne
State: CO
Date: October 23 2000
Comments:

I saw my first osage orange just a year ago while camping at Canyonlands National Park, Utah. My husband and I were walking with our two dogs not far from the Visitor's Center. I saw what looked like a dump site for tennis balls - they were round, yellow green, scattered around the base of a tree, and lying on top of a picnic table. I moved in for a better look and realized from their rough and convoluted skin I was not looking at tennis balls. Having never seen such things before I picked up one and stopped at the Visitor's Center to ask a ranger what they were. The chap I spoke too said he had grown up with them and as a kid called them "monkey brains" - not a very attractive name I thought. He then told me its true common name - "osage orange." For a California girl from Orange County, I liked that name much better. I kept the fruit I picked up that day (the ranger also told me they are inedible), and it now rests on a shelf in my study. It is desiccated, more brown than green, the size of a walnut, and hard as a rock. Since that visit to Canyonlands I have seen the osage orange mentioned only once - as a small photograph with caption in a decorating magazine! I had no idea the plant fascinates so many people, and has such a wide range. Thanks for you web site!

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Name: Janet
State: SC
Date: October 21 2000
Comments:

I learned about Osage oranges from my mother-in-law last year when she told me her mom used to use them for decoration during the holidays. I have researched the internet and found a place to order them, but would love to plant one in my yard so that I can supply them for her every year. Do you know if a tree would survive in SC? If they would, can someone point me in the direction of where I could find a tree to plant? I have ran into blank stares when I ask for Osage orange/Hedgeapple info. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Happy holidays:)

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Name: Julie
State: MI
Date: October 20 2000
Comments:

Found some along a road and am going to use them to repel spiders and ants.

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Name: FRANI
State: PA
Date: October 18 2000
Comments:

My mother and I stumbled across this type of tree many years ago. Not too many people know its location because we enjoy the fruit it bears. We are located in the central part of PA and I know of no other trees in this area. They do help with spiders. I didn't know until I read your home page that they are not poisonous. Thanks for the info.

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Name: anne
State: PA
Date: October 18 2000
Comments:

My sister-in-law found a fruit on a rural road near our home near Chestertown, MD. I told her its name was osage orange and that the Native Americans made bows out of it, but if she wanted more information, check the Internet. I decided to look myself and I'm glad I found your informative site. At this time, in Chestertown, a wooden ship is being constructed by hand and guess what wood they are using? Osage orange! The name of the ship is the Sultana. I knew of the osage orange as a bush and was surprised to find out they grow large enough to make planks for ships.

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Name: JS
State: NJ
Date: October 12 2000
Comments:

I found this strange fruit in Westchester County, NY...apparently way outside its home range. I didn't know what it was, but a call to the NY Botanical Gardens identified it for me immediately. I found your site via GO Express.

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Name: H.T.
State: IN
Date: October 4 2000
Comments:

Spiders come out of our woodwork in the fall! Hedgeapples worked last year and it looks like it's time to get some more!

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Name: Ray
State: NE
Date: September 24 2000
Comments:

When camping we play hedge ball by throwing them in the fire pits and adding points

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Name: Edye
State: TX
Date: September 19 2000
Comments:

Found your site while looking for flower making instructions on the Hedgeapple.... Have been amazed at the different pest it eliminates...I picked my hedgeapples in Ok. little over a week ago for the large water roaches I was having a problem with and now little more than one week I am not seeing any of them, I cut mine in quarters and placed in a few flower beds around my back porch and threw some under the porch and pesto..........no sight of them....So if anyone out there has the instructions on how to bake them and create flowers from the slices let me hear from you....I have seen instructions on them several years ago and misplaced......

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Name: Kristen
State: LA
Date: September 8 2000
Comments:

Hey Don't forget they also grow in Louisiana. We have mean trees out here. Few people actually know what they are.

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Name: Kincheloe
State: TX
Date: September 4 2000
Comments:

Although the word is pronounced 'bodark', the correct spelling is 'Bois d'arc', which obviously is French and translates 'wood of the bow'.

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Name: Dufour
State: ID
Date: September 4 2000
Comments:

Have found a tree in our town in norther Idaho. I am going to try it out on the spiders and grease ants. Also we are going to try to transplant one in a back corner of out lot....let you know

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Name: dm
State: TN
Date: August 30 2000
Comments:

Found them along side a road. Had never seen or heard of them before. Your website proved very educating! Interesting!!

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Name: Mark
State: FL
Date: August 19 2000
Comments:

My bare-root osage-orange seedlings from Spandle, which I planted in pots with potting mix (all 100 or so of them) are growing like weeds. I plan to plant them out sometime, perhaps waiting for dormancy first in a few months. Anyway, yet another source seems to be www.musserforests.com. It seems that SOME PEOPLE recognize the utility of these trees and sell them to nuts like us.

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Name: Ginley
State: CO
Date: August 11 2000
Comments:

GREAT SITE KNOW MORE THEN I EVER NEEDED TO TO BUT VERY INFORMATIVE. I WILL LET YOU KNOW IF IT REPELS SPIDERS BECAUSE MY GIRLFRIEND IS TERRIFIED OF THEM . THANK YOU VERY MUCH I WISH OTHER WEB PAGES WERE AS GOOD AS THIS ONE GINLEY

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Name: GFedele
State: PA
Date: July 19 2000
Comments:

In my younger days, before I could drive, we rolled them down a hill which connected to a well traveled hi way and watched the cars and trucks try to avoid hitting them. I apologize for any mishaps that may have occurred.

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Name: Mike
State: KY
Date: June 11 2000
Comments:

I enjoyed the site. Is there a list of old Osage Orange Trees? I have one in my front yard that is about 50 feet tall and the canopy is about 80 feet. I measured around the trunk(4 feet from the ground) and it is 16 feet around. If you have an idea how old this tree is, please let me know. Thanks.

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Name: Thomas
State: PA
Date: June 8 2000
Comments:

Here in Southwestern PA, they are usually called "monkey balls." One uncommon local name is "Irish snowball. I never heard the name, "hedgeapple," either in forestry college or on the job. One year I grew some easily by mixing a rotten fruit with wet sand from the creek behind by house, spreading the slurry on a seedbed, and covering with a thin layer of soil.

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Name: Becky
State: AR
Date: May 5 2000
Comments:

HIGH FIVE on a website loaded with info of the Osage Orange--Great JOB!! Am trying to find a source of Osage Orange Burls to buy or Lumber 4" thick. If you know of a source please email me direct. Thanks again!!

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Name: Jude
State: IA
Date: April 28 2000
Comments:

We build heavy duty lifetime garanteed indoor\outdoor furniture from Osage Orange!

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Name: Chris
State: ME
Date: April 9 2000
Comments:

For those of you (see below) seeking a source for osage orange plants: ARBORVILLAGE, 15604 County Road CC, P.O. Box 227, Holt, MO, 64048 sells 'White Shield', a mostly thornless male selection, in two sizes, for $9.50 and $15.00 plus shipping. THIS IS MY FAVORITE NURSERY. Also, FOREST FARM, 990 Tetherow Road, Williams, OR, 97544, has 'Whiteshield' as well as unsexed seedlings ($15. and $8. respectively. (OR MAYBE THIS IS MY FAVORITE NURSERY) Both catalogues should be in the hands of everyone who is looking for plants beyond what your local nursery sells.

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Name: Mark
State: FL
Date: March 20 2000
Comments:

I've found two sources for small osage-orange trees that have websites. Try Spandle Nurseries (800-553-5771, or check out http://www.spandlenurseries.com/seedlingprice.html before you call) for year-old bare-root seedlings (minimum order 25 at $1.00 each, price break to $0.50 at 100). Right now they're still shipping, but the ones they have for sale are being kept dormant in cold storage (they're in Georgia).They might have some in containers: I didn't ask when I ordered today. Another place offering small trees online is Adams Nursery (in containers; they should ship trees for a while if they have them in stock): see http://www.wegrowit.com/adams.catalogue.html. I definitely have my work cut out for me, trying to get 100 little trees to survive here in the drought and sand...

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Name: Mark
State: FL
Date: March 18 2000
Comments:

The largest osage-orange tree known in Florida is aboutten miles from me -- I'm told. I've never seen it. NowI'll have to 1) make a pilgrimage to it and 2) see whetherI can take cuttings in season from it (might require somenegotiations with the owner...). I've never seen treesoffered by nurseries, not even the "thornless" (not really)male cultivars bred by various universities.

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Name: Shirley
State: MI
Date: March 17 2000
Comments:

A fond memory from childhood is hurling hedgeapples over the back yard fence into the field behind our yard. Alas these trees fell victim of the chainsaw. Does anyone know a place I can obtain seeds or trees that are located near Grand Rapids MI? I am glad to know I am not the only fan of these wonderful trees.

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Name: Rose
State: MN
Date: March 16 2000
Comments:

Last fall my place of business sold, what we call spiderballs. Most of us didn't know what they were. I purchased several and put them in my basement, and never had a spider for almost a year. I sure wish they were easier to get a hold of up here in Minnesota. Your sight was real interesting and informative. Thanks.

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Name: jack
State: IL
Date: March 10 2000
Comments:

I did not know the name of the trees,on our farm we called them hedge trees as most farm people did. I have been surfing the net looking for info on the trees. Their origin,use,history. I have a lot a want to plant some. When I was small we had a row on our farm,it was full of pheasants rabbits,birds of all types! Thanks for the info Jack

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Name: Roger
State: KS
Date: March 7 2000
Comments:

I think hedgeapples are really unique. I harvest around 1000 per year on my property.You have a great and informative website!

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Name: Jay
State: NJ
Date: February 18 2000
Comments:

I knew nothing about hedge apples until this morning. I was actually looking to find information on PawPaws, and this was also mentioned on one of the sites. I find it very interesting, and wonder where I can get my first taste of a Hedge Apple, as it seems they are not really native to Jersey. I am sure I will figure something out.

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Name: Cheri
State: IN
Date: February 2 2000
Comments:

I just fought a losing battle on my campus to preserve a stand of osage orange trees. The head of the grounds keeping didn't like them and no matter how I explained that they were part of our history and were left when we built the school I lost. I did not lose well, I ended up apollogizing to a number of people for my inappropriate language but this fat old hippie gal did win the second part of the battle. They have called a moratorium on the cutting of any more trees on campus. I called the local woodworkers and found homes for most of the wood that the idiots were going to make mulch out of. Love your site, love osage orange trees too. When I get moved I will but one in the middle of my yard and treat it right!

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Name: Jackie
State: PA
Date: December 9 1999
Comments:

In PA they are called monkey balls and the only use for them is to put them in a cup in your basement to keep away spiders, it really does work.

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Name: Melissa
State: PA
Date: December 3 1999
Comments:

I was driving down the back alley behind my house,and I saw these big green balls that were smashed on the road.I always wanted to know what the heck they were so I looked it up in my tree book,and now I know that they are called hedgeapples. This page is cool, and it's pretty funny too!

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Name: HERMAN
State: FL
Date: December 1 1999
Comments:

I HAVE COOKED HEDGE APPLES TO USE THE LIQUID AS A THIN PAINTABLE LIQUID TO USE IN MY KITCHEN CABINETS. THIS LIQUID DOES REPEL ROACHES. BEST TO USE AN OLD POT TO COOK THEM IN BECAUSE IT IS VERY HARD TO CLEAN THE GLUE LIKE RESIDUE.

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Name: Ellen
State: IL
Date: November 30 1999
Comments:

Loved this site and everyone's comments and enthusiasm for these native trees. I think they are fascinating because they are a fruit that has not been "commercialized". They are little known and one has to seek out info such as on this site. They instantly take me back to third grade memories of a friend sharing her discovery of these mysterious green oranges at the edge of field near her home. She told me they were called "monkey oranges". Thanks for answering some questions.

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Name: jimmie
State: KS
Date: November 29 1999
Comments:

Enjoyed your site a whole bunch thanks for all the information. some guy outside of wichita makes great pens with the wood from the OSAGE ORANGE. i remember reading about it in the Wichita eagle a couple of years back, he even sent one to the president and it was used in some sort of paper signing of some kind. will try to locate it and pass the info. to you. my brother tried to cook a bunch of hedgeapples down to make glue out of the when he was younger. he didn't have a lot of luck. so maybe he would be better at building a outhouse i'll send him a picture of yours and sugest he put his wifes name on the top of course thanks agin jimmie

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Name: Jim
State: MD
Date: November 28 1999
Comments:

Recently returned from Ohio with several Osage Orange fruits that are green, how do I go about planting the seeds? Please let me know! Thanking you in advance. Jim

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Name: Jenni
State: MI
Date: November 25 1999
Comments:

Stopped at Grandma's to drop off some tables today and she told me the trees up the road were covered with Osage oranges. So on the way home me and Mom stopped and grabbed about nine of the things. Funny thing was, I think I saw one laying on the ground with part of a spider web on it. Must have just been a defective one. :)

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Name: Dee
State: VA
Date: November 24 1999
Comments:

We purchased an old building that was supposedly built in 1797. It was used as a Judge's Chamber many years ago. To my surprise, this fall we had all these strange green fruits which I had only seen once before. Thanks for the info, we get lots of questions that we can't answer. Now, maybe we can answer a few. Would like to know what part is the seed?

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Name: Ken
State: MI
Date: November 22 1999
Comments:

I have seen lots of Osage Orange trees here in the Detroit Suburbs. They just look like any other ditchbank and fencerow tree until this time of year. I stopped and harvested several of the fruits this afternoon for my eight-year-old, and he had lots of questions to ask. I lived in Missouri for a few years and we actually had some old hedge fencerows. I would take one of those over an electric fence any day, and probably over a barbed wire fence, too. I used Osage Orange for wood sculpture some years ago. One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is the way osage orange burns. It is the hottest fire that I have ever seen, but really only good in a stove, because of the almost continuous fireworks and sparking explosions as the wood burns. It would be a real trial in a fireplace.

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Name: Jim
State: MI
Date: November 20 1999
Comments:

Superb site, I am truly impressed at the recent repliesduring this harvest season. I might be the only person on earth who knew what an Osage Orange was BEFORE ever seeing one. About two mileswest of my home, many years ago, I spotted my first one. My ten-year old (or so, my recordkeeping is not verygood) tree bore fruit for the first time this year. I givethem to neighborhood kids for "show-and-tell" or otherschool projects. I also tell them about this website. Yes, thornless and fruitless Osage Oranges can begrown, just take some scion wood from the crown of a mature male tree, then graft to your heart's desire.Personally, I appreciate the fruits and thorns. Birds have already nested at least twice in my youngtree. The immature Cedar Waxwings get extra protectionfrom predators with all those thorns. I read that earlier this century, George W Carver triedmany experiments at Tuskeegee with various products derivedfrom plants. The Boll Weevil was ruining the south'scotton crop, and he saw the need to diversify (soybeansand peanuts). He experimented with our beloved hedgeapples,too, but he did not keep good records, and his modestnature stopped him from submitting patents. Frankly, I am a bit saddened that we have wandered toofar from our agrarian roots. Upon showing people in myworkplace an Osage Orange, only one, Cliff (age 85) wasable to recognize it! A few years ago, I was lucky to find a hedgerow thatwas trimmed by utility crews. I took a piece home, putit on my lathe, and made a Chess King out of it. Allmy friends were impressed by the beauty of the wood, butI knew it would darken with age. And my turning toolswon't last with such ornery wood. Take your hedgeapples, and plant your seeds! -Jim Kulbacki, Lake Orion, MICHIGAN

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Name: Bill
State: UT
Date: November 20 1999
Comments:

As a relocated Kansas'n I brought several "hedgeapples" back to Utah a number of years ago to confound the natives here. I don't know why but they don't seem to be any this far west or at least not in the moutainous regions. Maybe the altitude. I'm sure it's not the temperature. Anyhow I am enjoying you page thanks to my Brother-in-law Bob Schmidt of Emporia.

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Name: Cindy
State: PA
Date: November 19 1999
Comments:

I remember osage oranges from elementary school (1960's). Someone would bring them in and lay them on the windowsill. It wasn't until recently that we found a tree a few miles away. We gathered some up and wanted to do something with them. Not knowing exactly what, until we saw your website. We really appreciate the info you had to share. Thanks! (although we, too, would like to know how to grow them--is there other ways then the one you mentioned?)

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Name: Chris
State: PA
Date: November 19 1999
Comments:

Around hear we call'em Monkey Balls. I enjoy throwing themat cars from atop an overpass or sticking them in peoples mailboxes just to "censored!" them off!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!~Too Sweet~

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Name: Frank
State: GA
Date: November 19 1999
Comments:

What a great site! I grew up in Nashville TN and "Mock Orange" trees were plentiful through-out our neighborhood.I haven't seen one here in the Atlanta area, though I'm sure there must be some. Seeing the photos here bring back memories of wheelbarrows full of hedge apples gathered from the yard and dumped in a pile, bowling them down thestreet, having "Mock Orange Wars" in the fall, and sitcky and stained hands for a week. Thanks for an informative andfun website.

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Name: Ron
State: WV
Date: November 18 1999
Comments:

We have thousands of old trees as historical fence line. can i just plant an orange to get new trees? march after the thaw? how about making wine?

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Name: Doug
State: NE
Date: November 16 1999
Comments:

You have a wonderful site about these impressive trees. Are there any other ways to plant these seeds and start our own hedge row than soaking, mashing and planting the syrup?

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Name: Shelby
State: OH
Date: November 15 1999
Comments:

Happy to find your website as we have used hedgeapples for a goodly number of years to deter spiders. We either put them in a small dish and place that in a corner somewhere or sometimes hang them from the ceiling of the basement. They last the winter and really do work to keep spiders under control.

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Name: KATHLEE
State: MI
Date: November 13 1999
Comments:

Thanks for your web site. Discovered these green balls yesterday and did not know what they were. My husband wanted me to jump out of the car to see what they were. Some were squished on the ground and I did not what to pick them up not knowing what they were. Funny thing is we have drove by these trees for four years and never paid any attention to them on the ground. Today then, I went to a craft show and someone was selling them and thats how I found out what they were. On my way home I picked up a few and will get more tomorrow. So I needed to know more about them and was glad I found your site.

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Name: David
State: SC
Date: November 13 1999
Comments:

Just learned so much information from your site.While working around Chattanooga, Tn. I found these odd lookingballs on Lookout Mountain and picked up some just because they were soodd. For 3 weeks I've been trying to find out what they were.I went to a Flea Market in Pickens,SC Wendesday and a ladyhad some for sale. She gave me the only information she knewand called them osage oranges. I came straight home, put this in searchand found your site. Thanks for such a load of information.

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Name: Alice
State: IN
Date: November 11 1999
Comments:

Like Vickie from Troy, MI, I had never seen one until a week ago. Naturally, my father and husband know what the hedge apple is but neither one knows its purpose until now. Thanks for your web site.

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Name: RJDavis
State: KS
Date: November 11 1999
Comments:

Try spray painting the hedge apple a bright gold and setting them in sprigs of evergreen, add a gold ribbon bow. Great holiday center piece decoration

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Name: Vickie
State: MI
Date: November 10 1999
Comments:

Thanks for the site. It took me a couple of weeks asking anyone what it this friut was. My husband came home from work with one he found on the side of the road. He thought it was a large walnut. To his dissapointment, I told it was not & did not know what it was. We asked around & no one knew. We happened to be up north & I described it to my Dad (who was from MO.) & he knew exactly what it was without seeing it. If it was not for your Hedgeapple site, I still would not know much about this fruit. I also would like to grow a tree. My question would be, how do you preserve the fruit to be able to use in the spring & summer when the bugs are more abundant? Can they be frozen?

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Name: Jim
State: KY
Date: November 9 1999
Comments:

What about propagation? I would like to be able to start some of my own, and have a couple of hedgeapples and seeds drying right now. Will let you know how it works if I don't hear from you soon!FYI -- Kentucky has several areas where you will find the Osage along fencerows and naturalizing in the edge of woods and draws, particularly in central and western KY. Watch the roadsides -- they're hard to miss!

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Name: Janet
State: CT
Date: November 7 1999
Comments:

growing up in missouri hedgeapples or osage oranges were a common site. I haven't seen one in years and did not think there were any around here. Today at church a member of the congregation brought one in and no one knew what it was but me. Other than using them as an insect repellant and that they are inedible, I couldn't tell them anything. This site is great. I will pass it on.

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Name: Lindsey
State: NJ
Date: November 5 1999
Comments:

Love the site , you know alot about them. Do you think the orange would drive cat crazy like catnip?

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Name: Eric
State: MO
Date: November 5 1999
Comments:

Wow! What an informative web page! I just finished licking a hedgeapple and was very happy to discover, thanks to this web page, I am in no danger of being harmed.Keep up the good work!

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Name: R
State: VA
Date: November 4 1999
Comments:

WOW! I'm thankful for your sight! I took my children on a fieldtrip yesterday to the Shenandoah Valley National Park, aka, Skyline Drive.We came across a tree that had "hedge apples" on it and I couldn't tellmy kids what they were. So, we took one home and disected it and told them wewould look it up on the internet. My husband, who is from Colorado, told methat it was a "horse apple." And that he had never seen them this far north or east before.It just goes to show you can find ANYTHING on the internet.Thanks!

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Name: Chris
State: ME
Date: November 2 1999
Comments:

Maclura pomifera struggles here in coastal Maine (zone 5, but with a long winter and long stretches of deep below zero cold that hurts plants which can take typical zone five minimums for a night or two a winter, but not two weeks at a stretch). My best tree is about twelve feet tall, maybe an inch and a half caliper, and has required probably ten years from an eighteen inch seedling to get there. There is always some tip dieback each winter, typically about a third of the previous season's growth. I would be pleased to receive seedlings or whips dug in the spring from the colder, higher elevation, or more northerly parts of its range, and will construct such cash deals or plant exchanges as anyone wishes to propose. I drove to the Arnold Arboretum yesterday (zone 6) for my annual collection of fruits. I have no idea if my tree is M or F, so wish to promote several healthy trees to guarantee fruit. This is a well done website. Most sites are shallow or stupid or poorly organized. May I also suggest readers visit nyow.com for a nicely laid out site by enthusiasts of the New York Ontario and Western railroad, which has nothing to do with osage orange but is the now defunct railroad which ran past my boyhood home in Guilford, NY (sugar maple country).

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Name: Carol the Weedlady
State: PA
Date: October 30 1999
Comments:

Hi!As a Maclura pomifera fan from 'way back, I very much enjoyed your website. (Followed a link out of curiosity from the "ID This Plant" Forum at Gardenweb.com)I thought this story might interest you:When I first moved to rural western PA several years ago from the eastern part of the state (where I had readily found hedgeapples growing aloong roadsides), I began looking for them as usual in the fall. I could not see any anywhere (though I have since located some) and began asking around. I used all of the "common" names I knew, which included Osage orange and hedgeapple, bois d'arc, and even the botanical name, out of desperation. None of the names or my descriptions availed me until one older lady suddenly realized what I was describing. "OH! You mean monkey balls!" she exclaimed triumphantly. Never, anywhere else (which is not a large "anywhere," just parts of southern Illinois, eastern PA, and Michigan), have I ever heard them called that! I do not even want to consider the etymology of the name, but thought you might like to add it to your collection! Thanks for an entertaining website!Carol

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Name: Jerry
State: KY
Date: October 30 1999
Comments:

One of the "Knuckleheads" on the biker forum I participate in asked a question about "brainballs". I referred him to your site and now he is ALMOST as smart as me. Thanks from and old retired Sailor.

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Name: Pete
State: CO
Date: October 29 1999
Comments:

Living in an arid climate with extreme temperature swings I get tired of the limited vareity of trees available, so I planted one in my yard! The tree is developing into a wonderful looking specimen. It is now about 3" caliper, 15' tall & 6' wide. I purchased it in Texas as a supposed Fruitless and thornless selection that has so far proved to be true.

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Name: Patricia
State: IA
Date: October 28 1999
Comments:

I live on the north shore of Lake Erie up in Canada and we have these trees growing too! I had no idea until today what they were. Great site. Thanks for info.

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Name: Shirley
State: IN
Date: October 27 1999
Comments:

We just bought our dream land. On it are several HUGE Hedgeapple Trees. I had no idea what we had until I found your site. Thank you so much for the great information!

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Name: Chris
State: TN
Date: October 27 1999
Comments:

I think this is a very good web site. I had to get on here and get the other name for the hedgeapple and here is where I found it. Thanks for having this site to use for information and for curious people to find out about odd tings such as the HEDGEAPPLE

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Name: Shannon, Cassie, Jeff, and Glenn
State: KY
Date: October 27 1999
Comments:

All of use here at Hultman Signs say thank you so much for the usefull information. We learned something new today. Glenn has a hedgeapple tree and is planning to bring an apple for each of us here tomorrow!!!! He promised!!! Thank you again.......and if you ever need a sign.........

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Name: Dan and Barb
State: NE
Date: October 26 1999
Comments:

I just discovered these amazing looking fruit, I never knew about them, until this week, with all these wonderful things you can use them for , my husband would like to know if they can cure baldness? Please reply asap as time is running out. HELP!!!!! DAN

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Name: Marilyn
State: GA
Date: October 21 1999
Comments:

I was looking for uses for the Osage oranges/hedge apples gathered in Kentucky a couple of days ago. My hostess makes flowers from them, slicing and drying the slices in the oven. Tje pieces curl and change color.Their liquid is sticky enough to become a commercial glue. I was told they repell rats, dried slices, but the formal literature suggests that mice adore the trees.

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Name: Marilyn
State: KY
Date: October 21 1999
Comments:

We have an abundance of hedgeapple trees here and I have been fascinated with them as far as nutritional aspects. Can you tell me how to find the composition? Are they edible and are they high in trace minerals, possibly calcium? If anyone knows, please send info.

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Name: Kathy
State: MI
Date: October 20 1999
Comments:

We have purchased property in Mo. and have seen our very first hedge apple. How interesting. I am looking forward to learning more about it.

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Name: Chuck
State: KS
Date: October 17 1999
Comments:

We have quite a few of these trees around here and many people think that the apples do repel spiders. I'm giving it a try for the first time this fall. Cheers!

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Name: Fatjack
State: PA
Date: August 12 1999
Comments:

There're some people in tidewater VA or MD using osage orange wood in building a (reproduction) old boat design.Apparently there's a lot of old osage hedge wood availablethere, and it is really TOUGH!!! [also used for hunting bows and/or arrows.] So it must grow well there too.

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Name: Lora Morgan
State: NC
Date: August 8 1999
Comments:

When I was growing up in East Tennessee, my Grandpa Charlie had a Osage Orange tree on his farm. It was a huge tree and it would bear a lot of hedgeapples every year. I enjoyed playing with the big, green, bumpy, weird-looking apples. My parents, aunts and uncles would tell me, my brothers and my cousins not to eat them because they were poisonous (which made the apples that much more of a mystery to me). For some reason I remember calling them witch's apples. I think one of my brothers or cousins came up with that name. I also remember my aunts saying that if you put one in your kitchen, it will keep the ants away. During visits and family reunions my aunts would take some of the hedgeapples home with them and they would get a few extra to give to friends and neighbors. Any truth to my "aunt's ant" story? If so, how do I go about finding a hedgeapple for my kitchen? Could I find them at the local farmers market? My Grandpa Charlie's farm was sold several years ago and I am not sure if the tree is still there. Besides, the farm is in TN and I am now living in NC. Please help! These ants are driving me crazy! I have to use an ant spray about twice a week. I don't like to use the spray; it stinks and makes a mess. I would much rather look at a handsome hedgeapple sitting on my countertop. Besides, it would be a constant reminder of my wonderful childhood, growing up on my Grandpa Charlie's farm. Those were the best years of my life.

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Name: Jenny
State: MD
Date: August 7 1999
Comments:

I was interested in the history of hedgeapples. I found some information on your site.

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Name: EarthLady
State: AZ
Date: July 25 1999
Comments:

I found two small trees in a local park and didn't have a clue what the 'brainy' looking green fruit was! After my father (who was raised in TX) suggested I look for 'horse apples' online I was led to your site. You learn something everyday. ;) Thanks for the site!

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Name: Thomas Compter
State: OK
Date: July 22 1999
Comments:

All I'd really like to know is, is there anything USEFUL you can do with a hedgeapple (the fruit)? All they seem to be good for is dulling the blades on my lawnmower.

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Name: Gary Woodall
State: IL
Date: July 21 1999
Comments:

Nice site. I am a fan of the hedge also. I have made three stringed instruments from hedge, two guitars and a mandolin. As I have discovered, osage is one of the most attractive woods when finished in clear nitrocelulose in the world. It has accoustic qualities that rivals rosewood and surpasses it is most reguards. If any are interested I could share a .jpg of my instruments. I would eventually like to construct a sailboat from hedge because of the superior resistance to fungus/rot. Any input in this respect is sought and welcome. Thanks

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Name: JULES CUTTER
State: KS
Date: July 18 1999
Comments:

THE LARGEST LIVING NON TYPICAL OSAGE ORANGE TREE IS AT FT. HARROD ST. PARK IN HARRODSBURG, KY. IT'S REALLY A MAGNIFICENT TREE!

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Name: marty kreis
State: TX
Date: July 12 1999
Comments:

I TAPED OSAGE TREE TODAY THAT WAS 14FEET 9 INCHES AROUND. DO YOU KNOW OF ANY BIGGER TREES?

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Name: Mike Dresher
State: KS
Date: May 26 1999
Comments:

Dear Mr. Hedgeapple, Do you mind if I call you Hedge for short. Great Site! One of my favorite pasttimes is to juggle hedgeapples. The only drawback is after awhile, as any hedgeapple enthusiast will know,\the white nectar of the hedgeapple become quite messy and sticky on yourhands. Nonetheless what an experience to juggle your favorite non ediblefruit. Could you tell me if juggling hedgeapples could get me into theHedgeapple games. I am working on getting some sponsors and diligentlytraining.

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Name: Scott Smith
State: KS
Date: May 21 1999
Comments:

Dear Mr. H.A. aka O.O.Im interested in your seasons. More specific your migratory season.There seems to be about 4,000 of your cousins on my domian, and imkinda of wondering when they will kindly get their wrinkly green asses out of there. They must be biblical, because one begat 2, and then2 begat 4, and after a whole lot of begatting my place looks likea natural brush pile that lays green eggs.The other season im interested in is HedgeApple hunting season. It has been rumor that after a extremely slow day of hunting, people resort to shooting them out of trees. If you are really good & have a automatic shotgun, you may attempt to shoot one out of a tree and then hit it again before it hits the ground.This feat is hard enough as it is, but then compound it withalcohol influence(because one must have been drinking to resort toshooting hedgeapples) and impair reactions, it is twice as hard.Hope i dont incur the rath of Mr. Hedgeapple.Scott

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Name: Eddie Volmer
State: MO
Date: May 19 1999
Comments:

The only thing I know about Hedgeapples is they really make a cows milk taste bad. As they eat them off the trees when they can reach them . I also like to throw them as far as I can. They say they also drive the crickets out of your house if you place them on a lid or paper on the floor.

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Name: Sandia Schley
State: CA
Date: April 14 1999
Comments:

How does one propagate a hedgeapple? I have a little windy hillside I'd like to grow a hedge/windbreak on, and want to get some plants/seedes/cuttings...Any ideas?

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