Garden bench – tree house siting

There are many things to bear in mind when choosing the location for a tree house. For a start – snow and rain! Many people remember to think about wind, but forget that snow and rain may very well add to the weight of the tree house and cause problems with slipperiness too. Here are some others.

Height

The higher you go in a tree the greater the sense of freedom and the better the view, but you must also think practically - in terms of safety in the case of a fall and also the effect of wind speed. Children's tree houses are usually better near the ground – three metres or less, to minimise the danger from a fall. Trees can move quite a lot in the wind and adding a tree house, which is essentially a sail, will only help to increase the wind effect.

Branch thickness

The points where you fix supports have to be strong enough to hold the weight of the part of the building that they are supporting. Branch strength varies between trees – the best supports are provided by oak, beech, maple, fir and hemlock.

Building between different trees or trunks

If you are planning to use two or more branches, trunks or trees, you must take exceptional care when fitting supports. In strong winds any tree will twist and sway and you have to avoid restricting this movement because it is necessary for the tree’s survival but too much movement, of course, could destroy your house. Different trees and different branches will move differently, so the supports must be able to cope with any tension or compression.

Tree damage

Most mature trees can take quite a lot before they die, but you are definitely best keeping caution on your side. Preserving the health of tree extends the life of your tree house. If you put a lot of metal into the tree, it probably will damage it, but in practice more damage is caused by loose supports than by the fixtures themselves because they rub against the tree and can cause damage to bark or even to the branch. Galvanised metal fixtures are better than standard steel because they do not rust.

Garden tree house location photograph by timbomb, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

 

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