Tree houses

OK.... I have always dreamed of having a tree house. What boy doesn't? This may be a naive question but I am not the expert. Its seems that a tree house would be harmful to a tree since you have to breech the outer layer of the tree (cambium right?) to anchor the frame. This will potetially allow parasites in, therefore contributing to the possibilitis of disease. Now then if my assumption is correct I have never been a person to accept the words "can not be done" into my vocabulary. So help me think outside of the box to find a healthy way to find an escape from our boring day to day habitat and venture up into the beutiful living statues we take for granted. A tree approved tree house;)

you could use rope/etc to secure the tree house to the trunk/limbs.

TGong, do a search in Goggle for "Tree houses Oregon" and you can learn a bit more about Tree houses construction etc. We had the chance to visit this property during our 2005 Rendezvous in Oregon. Michael Garnier is a great character and has developed techniques that could help you complete your dream of having your own tree house. There is also a large discussion and link from the Treebuzz site that shows cool pictures of other houses custom built in Europe and Canada. Good luck on your dream house.

Depending on what type of tree you're building in, bolts may actually be better than a rope/sling/external type of attachment.

For instance if you're using a live oak (I think I remember you saying you're from Texas?). Live oaks compartmentalize very well (that means they do a good job of fighting decay fungi). A few eyebolts or J-lags are not going to harm the tree much at all, if they are installed correctly. In time the tree will just swallow them up. Rope/slings, on the other hand can do serious damage to the bark and cambium of a branch if they are allowed to rub under load or have large loads pinching in one place, which will cause much more serious and permanent damage to the branches.

I'm not trying to discourage you here. I'm sure there are creative ways to do this without bolting into the tree. I just wanted to give you a little bit to think about. Ropes can hurt trees too.