non invasive way of mounting birdhouses?

got a request from a private landowner to climb his trees and mount a whole bunch of pre made birhouses, ranging in size form lil ones to big ones. He stipulated though no nails, and does'nt wat them hanging by wire off the branches, but rather mounted securely against the trunk, so they dont get blown around or off the tree.

Any ideas for mnounting these?

I've always wanted to do this!!! COOL!!!

Okay, you put some brackets onthe sides of birdhouse. Sew on a velcro strap, it's sewn to one bracket, goes around the trunk, through the bracket on the other side, then doubles back onto itself, held together by velcro.

It'd require maintenance in that in a few years they'd all have to be loosened to allow the tree to grow, but it would definately hold, minimize damage to the tree, and be not-that-difficult to do.

Gimme some measurements and a little $ for supplies and I'll sew the straps for you!

love
nick

Watch for rodent attack on the straps. A little Vaselene with ceyene pepper mixed in really slows the knawing if it turns up as a problem. I have used this formula on lines hanging bird feeders.

I've had discussions with various arborists and tree care people about this. The consensus is that stainless steel screws put into predrilled holes in the trunk will work well and will not damage the health of the tree. The drill bit that is used should be cleaned with alcohol between trees so as not to innoculate disease from one tree to another. The screws would have to be loosened and the boxes reset periodically.

Here is a particularly beautiful way of attaching a bird house using rope:
Ivo's birdhouse attachment

-moss

Moss...that doesn't sound non-invasive...I am not arguing it's not a great way to do it, but it's just not non-invasive

well, i'm going with the method that Moss posted

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22614692@N00/14338804/in/set-438098/

the owner looked at the site and eally liked the manila rope mounting method.

THANKS!!

Originally posted by NickfromWI
Moss...that doesn't sound non-invasive...I am not arguing it's not a great way to do it, but it's just not non-invasive

Agreed. Just wanted to put the option on the table. If I was doing an installation for a person who requested non-invasive birdhouse attachment I would offer this as a safe option to consider.

Great news that the landowner likes the rope attachment idea.
-moss