A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Gardener's Chat Help needed- securing bird house

I have some wonderful bird houses and thought that I would like to place them in my trees at the back of our yard. I just don't know how to do it! I don't want to damage the trees by putting a nail in them- any suggestions???
Thanks,
Gail

If possible, it would be better to hang the bird houses from limbs using light chain or bailing wire. Route the wire/chain through a piece of rubber hose before looping it loosely (to allow for growth) around the limb.
If nailing is your only option, you should use a galvanized nail, or preferably a galvanized screw (which will allow you to take the house down for cleaning).
To allow for the growth of the tree, you can slide a short, stiff spring sandwiched between 2 flat washers over the nail/screw and only drive the nail/screw in until it begins to compress the spring.
You should NEVER drive a copper nail or screw into a tree under any circumstance, unless your intent is to kill the tree!

Gail ~ I also crochet or macrame a wide -- 1 1/2 inch -- strip to use to hang things outdoors. If I use bright colors it can be attractive to the critters and if I use browns, it blends in well. These are quite durable but be aware that they will stretch a certain amount when wet so keep 'em short!



Merme

when I had real trees (& not small 15 ft wanna be trees) I hung my feeders on the dead limbs. Used them as if they were hooks. cat hurt the dead limbs.

with my live trees I hooked the rope around a limb & hooked it back to the feeder. As long as I was careful how I hooked it, it didnt harm the limb.