Hugh mentioned this topcic in another thread, and I decided to give it its own.
I've only been planting wild sim from bought stratified seed for 2 years. In my experience so far a modified hankins type method is giving me the best results. I've noticed a little bit better germination with this method in the spring compared to rake and scatter plantings that I've put in. Also there seems to be less early attrition. I think that both of these results stem from getting the seed a little deeper in the ground.
Last fall I tried planting some with a home made single seed planter fashioned from a spade and an old broken fishing rod. Very similar to one that TnHunter shared on a post last fall. I had pretty good germination from that method this spring, but had a good deal of slug activity in that area. I still have about half of them (as of 3 weeks ago when I last checked). I'm planning on replanting that area this fall with the same method and getting some slug bait out next spring. It is very impractical to put slug bait out in all of my plantings, but this area is close by and the plants that survived the slugs showed very good growth. I had also used this single seed planter to scatter some seed over a pretty big hillside. These were just planted here and there and I've found a few, but its hard to find littled 3 leafers among the rest of the other plants on the forest floor,and it will probably be a few years before I know how well that scattered planting is doing.
I hope to hear some other thoughts and experiences on this topic.
