On Jun 7, 7:23 pm, mm wrote:
On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:29:18 -0400, willshak
wrote:

on 6/7/2007 12:04 AM Ook said the following:
I am putting up a fence. A small Dogwood tree is right exactly in line with
the house where I want the fence to go. I don't really want to chop down the

I wouldn't either.

tree, so I'm considering running the fence around it. Any creative ideas how
to do this and make it look good? I'm considering zig/zagging around the
tree but don't want to have to dig 3 or 4 extra holes just to go around it,

It will look cute. The bench around the tree will also look cute.

and to angle slightly past it would look funny. The tree is too big to move,
I don't have the resources to move something that would require that big of
a rootball to be dug up. Any ideas?

You have three choices. Listed best to worse:
1. build the fence around the tree. _/\_ or _/--\_

I probably like the second better, even though it requires one more
post.

2. stop the fence at the tree, and continue after, so that the tree
fills the gap. -- 0 -- or you can use a flexible wire fence around the
tree to fill the gap if security is a concern (from kids and animals,
not robbers!)
3. nail the fence to the tree (buttreesgrow bigger).

I have a fence, a 40" high picket fence, and then a tree started to
grow next to it. Outside the fence are some woods, so this was the
natural spread of a forest.

I figured I had at least 10 or 15 years before it interfered with the
fence, and I figured when that time came, I could cut progressively
longer sections out of the picket fence, nailing the stubs to the
tree, or conceivably putting in two more posts to hold the stub ends,
and then just cutting off an inch of fence beyond the new posts every
time the tree grows an inch closer. Although I don't really feel
like putting in fence posts, especially with the fence and tree in the
way.

The fence is decorative, to keep in the dog that visits 3 or 4 weeks a
year, and to keep kids and neigbors from taking a short cut through my
yard. But one hole would not a short cut make unless the path outside
my fence were impassable. My gate has no latch nor springb and is
often partly open but no one walks in.

There had been a rose bush in this spot, but it had died, and maybe
there wasn't any grass to interfere with the "embryonic" tree.

It was about a foot high when I was sure it wasn't a weed. 10 or 15
years later it's about 20 feet high. Thetreesright next to it are
30 or 40 feet. I think mine is a poplar.

During its first year at 1 or 2 inches above the trunk moved an inch
or two farther from the fence, probably looking for light. I think
that gives me another 5 or 10 years. Maybe more. After 10 or 15 years
the radius is about 3 inches. The tree has no branches on the
woods-facing side of it.

Putting nails into trees in never a good idea, never a good reason to
do so, either.
The bench is a wonderful idea, it will minimise the overall
maintenance of the fence and surrounding area.