fencing options?

[dixie_belle]

Well, we have oak wilt at our house.........lost 11 trees over the winter. So the pasture is pretty bare now. I've cut down all the dead trees (that's the bad news) and i have lots of oak firewood, (that's the good news) I had a guy come out and plant me three new trees, 2 cedar elms and one fruitless mulberry. Now, for what i paid for these, you'd think i could hitch a hammock up to them, but they are actually quite small. My boys (aka huge termites) have already started gnawing on them. I've got them surrounded by chicken wire but would like something a tad more, shall we say permanent? Anyone got any ideas to keep my guys from reducing my new trees to very expensive toothpicks?

also, as long as i am asking. i understand that red maples are toxic but what about a silverleaf maple? they are fast growing and put out lots of shade which is what i want. but i don't want to plant something that will harm the boys.

any ideas on fencing would be appreciated.

shelley

 

[xxs]

Shelley, the best thing to do is to fence the trees with board fencing. That way, the horses can nibble the grass under the boards..and you can get a weed wacker in there. But, fence it far enough from the trunk to allow for tree growth, and so the horses can't reach them ....about 3-4' on each side of the tree. In other words, the fence needs to be about 8' square. They will even eat the bark on good sized trees. Just two boards would be enough. If you use chicken wire, you won't be able to keep the grass from getting too high around them.

Silver maple does grow fast, and we have one in our front pasture. But, they are also rather "junk" trees and get hollow in the middle as they age. Then you have to cut them down so big limbs don't fall down and kill somebody. The town my DIL lives in has recently cut down all the trees along the streets. They were large siver maples and someone finally figured out that they better cut them down . Turns out that every one of them was hollow.

Willows are safe...my horses like to nibble on mine...and they grow really fast if there is a lot of water..and are good to dry up wet spots. But, they also are brittle and have pieces break out during storms so they create litter.

Maybe an apple tree...they grow fairly fast and give the horses snacks! lol We had a HUGE pear tree in a pasture once, and the goats and ponies would stand under it in the fall and wait for pears to fall...hahahahaha!!

Pros and cons to everything

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[keeperofthehorses]

Silver Maples do grow fast and are livestock safe. The species is prone to breakage in old age; however, the 'Silver Queen' variety is improved and does not have the problems associated with the species.

Here are some other horse-safe options: Norway Maple (fast growing, dense shade, lots of varieties in all colors), Lindens--Large and Little Leaf (very durable, mine survived goat girdling, very pretty trees, the finest honey comes from bees feeding on Linden flowers), European Hornbeams (tough, narrow so easy to fence), Hybrid Poplars or Cottonwoods (improved shape and strength, seedless/cottonless, super fast growing, heavy drinkers), Ash--Green or White (moderate growth, durable in most parts of the country but are developing serious pest problems in some areas, seedless & improved varieties available, attractive trees, good shade), Honeylocust (not related to Black Locusts, safe, pretty, filtered shade, tough).

Board fencing is probably the best option, unless you are able to put a solar charger on each tree.

: Wouldn't that be cool! Or a less permanent option might be T-Posts and ranch panels. Like the other poster said, make sure you leave plenty of space around each tree, especially if you also have big horses. They can really reach when they want to.