In message , Ken Slimmer
writes
On Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:28:42 +0000, Ian Jackson wrote:

In message , Ken Slimmer
writes
On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:53:38 -0800, D. Stussy wrote:

Stupid idea. Trees grow and thus move over time. They're not stable
long enough for construction purposes.

Mark a spot 4-5 feet up on a tree, 20 years later it will still be 4-5
feet from the ground.

But won't the diameter, where you marked, be a lot greater? Anything
tied to the tree will get buried in the wood. Even if you leave 'room
for expansion', this may still happen. A tight loop, buried in the wood,
will also choke off the sap, and possibly kill the part of the tree
above.

Ian;
We have used trees as supports for barbed wire by wrapping it around
the tree. The tree just grew over it, healing itself as it grew around
it.

This indeed can happen. I did say 'possibly'. I have a grape vine
growing up one wall of the house (and, given half a chance, would take
over the other three), and I see it where I have tied it up a bit too
tightly to the support wires. However, I doubt if any plant is as happy,
healthy or strong as it would have been without the strangulation. It's
the sort of thing that needs to be checked every so often, and suitable
adjustments made.
--
Ian