Makes sense. My bricks, as it turns out, are on the heavy mulch I keep under the trees - so no mowing needed.
1 Like
Anne I must’ve been reading your mind this morning. I went outside and spent an hour tying a bunch of limbs down. I used large limestone rocks and was able to place most of them on the mulch below the tree. Seemed to work really well.
I have been using Hobby Lobby’s 100 yard rolls of braided 1/4" thick, USA made “Bonnie Craft Cord” ($10) in both green and tan colors for a couple years minimum and like it a lot for various tying jobs in the fruit tree/bush/vine needs. I commonly light a candle to melt the cut ends when preparing several/ a bunch at a time. So far they have held up fine out in the elements. I have some 15 year old pcs. of 3/16" braided nylon out in the yard that STILL are holding up, so I like that best, but the HL cord sure is cheap and useful when you need a whole bunch and don’t want to invest as much.
1 Like
I ended up buying some lighter twine similar to what was mentioned ed above. It’s thinner than the baler twine I had used before. But after using it I’m questioning it’s strength. The thickness was variable. Sometimes as thick as 1/8" but sometimes seemed about 1/16th. I doubled it up on bigger branches. Seems like something that will likely degrade quickly. We will see.
Speed,
I use twisted jute twine from Lowe’s. Most branches of my trees that need bending are 3 yrs old or younger.
I tie to rocks as we have plenty. By the end of sumner, the branches stay in the position I want. This twine is strong enough and lasts long enough to do the job.
Some twine breaks apart too soon.
I just looked at the stuff I bought. It too was from Lowes but it was called twisted sisal twine. Looks like something a survivalist would make on naked and afraid.
1 Like
I saw sisal, too, but I grabbed this jute because it had an open end that I could pull the twine out and tested its strength.
Some twine I used in the past fell apart as soon as I pulled it. As long as the sasal you bought is strong enough for the job you want done, it should fine,
I have someone help me expanding a mulching area under each tree. So I can keep all the rocks inside the mulched areas, away from a lawn mower.
3 Likes
Does yours have a strength rating? Mine says 10lbs. That seems awful weak. Not sure if that stuff is going to last the entire summer or not.
I too use the twisted sisal twine. It will last you one year and a few months. It does what is needed for me.
Mine is only 7 lbs but so far it has worked well since most branches are small.
Very Nice!!! Thanks
I just completed a couple of full tree conversions to solaxe–more on that later with photos. But I used paracord for my tie-downs. It was very easy to use and knot with a trucker’s hitch. If bought in rolls of 1000’ it is reasonably priced, about 5 cents a foot. You could re-use it. It also has a million other uses.
Marc