Ideas Needed for Birch Limbs

Jax and I (make that LumberJax, har!) cut these birch trunks today.The birches are getting really weedy, and I'm thinning them out around my pond. As you can see, they are about 3 feet long and about an inch dia. or more. Too short and thick to make stakes. Does anyone have an idea about something neat I could build with them? I have LOTS more to cut. I couldn't finish today because sawing through your powercord tends to end the day's cutting chores pretty quickly. I cross-posted this on "Garden Art", but I'd like some good ol' Yankee ingenuity here, too.
-Melissa

Here is what's left to cut (when I get the new power cord).

Uhoh! The chainsaw Jax massacre!

How about a little, decorative,rustic fence?

I'm not sure how I would do that.

You could make teepees to grow vines up...just lash at least 3 together at the top. Probably wouldn't use up too many.

Up here, we use birch for pea brush. If you don't cut off the side branches and tie three together at the top (making a sort of teepee), you have a super support for all sorts of vines. Might I suggest a combination of hyacinth bean and old fashioned blue morning glories?

Birch rots very quiclky so don't get too ambitious.

Thanks, guys! I use 6' bamboo stakes for my vines; I "teepee" them and make "rungs" with jute rope. Although bamboo doesn't rot quickly, I pull them in for the winter b/c I don't like the look.
These sticks are short and fat. Maybe I could make some sort of planter??? Or use them to make a raised bed, edging, or...?

I was thinking the same thing Dave. A little fence like the ones they have in New Mexico. I forget what they're called, otherwise I'd google a picture for you Melissa.

Harper

http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00152.asp

The above is a good use for your branches though I'm sure you could build a bigger and better one.

I second the support for vines! Buckthorne thanks for the visual of the hyacintha and morning glories needed that we're getting soo much snow right now!

My wife cuts them down into smaller stakes and paints signs using scrap wood she then fastens to the stakes to help her identify the different plants on our backyard. I've used them as stakes for pole beans. You could also tie a bunch together in a pattern and make a trellis.

I can make lots of supports for vines, but then I still have so many limbs left over. I also don't have much sun for the above mentioned vines. I dedicate my sun to dahlias! If I could make a really nice looking arbor, I would plant climbing roses. I had to give up on the hybrid teas due to DEER. I can grow climbers, though! The deer can only reach so high, and I can plant around the base. Then the problem would be: what to do once the birch rots???

I would love to make a compost bin with them, too (the deer, not the wood LOL); I'm thinking I could staple-gun chicken-wire to the limbs to hold them in place. The ideal way would be to build it like a log cabin; maybe a jigsaw could be used to make notches??? I'm getting lots of ideas from this; thanks!!!

Jax - I'm not 100% sure but birch is quick to decompose so the heat of a compost bin might not be the best use for them. Same thought for the arbor. With all the work you'd have to put into it seeing it fall apart would be tragic.

Or put a flat sealer on it for the arbor.

Or maybe a blind to disguise the bin, which is just a cage of welded garden fencing! If I can get it to be a little sturdy, it could accomodate morning glories along it's length.

I've collected some from the street piles, from the twice yearly town debris pickup, and used them as edging along the garden beds. Since they are in contact with the ground they do deteriorate over time but they are a pretty for a few years. I've made some twig fencing with 4' rebar supports (no ground contact for the wood) and lashed the horizontal limbs in place with black waxed twine or for heavier limbs wire that rusts. Or you can cover the upright rebar with vertical long branches (flat rock underneath to avoid earth contact) lashed in place and attach or weave the horizontal twigs. If you want to weave or shape branches to add to the birch you need to work with fresh cut material or they break instead of bending. Great use for all those Rose of Sharons I cut back continually. These are all temporary structures that deteriorate over time. Have fun.
.

This message was edited Mar 5, 2007 8:43 AM

sempervirens, those are excellent ideas. I'm not worried too much about rot; by the time the limbs rot, I will be ready to re-do or replace any project I made (I'd re-do everything every year if I could!). Edging is a good idea. I usually use stone for edging, but I am planning another raised bed for spring, and this would do until I could find all the stone I need. By the time I dig and move the rocks, the birch would be rotting! That way I can alter the edging if I want to. It's lots of fun to change the stone edging AFTER you've put all that rock in place...

sempervirens, do you have any pictures of what you're describing? Sounds great!

Jax & Sofonisba,
I'll have to go through all of my older photos to find some pictures. None of the newer digital photos show any. The early constructions were done with what was on hand and I didn't use the rebar, as a consequence all are gone. I enjoy changing things, similar to Jaxs' sentiment, but have come to the conclusion a little more permanence is preferable. The reference in pirls post to the taunton press link gives some simple techniques. A book I have used "Making Bentwood Trellises Arbors Gates & Fences" by Jim Long gives excellent clear instructions. A neighbor uses weed tree cuttings from the property near the railroad tracks for young sapling material. It's free for the taking and the Transportation Authority clear cuts it anyway later in the season.
The only structure I have up now, besides some small cross tied small bamboo fencing, is the connecting space between two metal arbors to provide a continuous line for gravpevines.

I see Lychnis in that photo!!! I adore it... my favorite color!
Beautiful garden!!!

Yeah! How beautiful!!!

Thanks Jax and Sofonisba,
The center poles are bamboo painted black attached to rebar or black metal pipes inserted in the ground. This spring I'll spray black matte rustoleum preserver paint on 10' rebar poles instead of the bamboo. The acrylic paint chipped off the bamboo in areas this winter. Unless anyone else has suggestions for painting bamboo?