Cut branches

wrmnfzy · Post by **wrmnfzy** » Wed May 07, 2014 10:31 pm

Does anyone know what I can treat cut branches with to make them last as we are using them in craft projects?

db5 · Post by **db5** » Wed May 07, 2014 11:24 pm

No treatment. Let the dry. Just cut off everything extraneous (branches) from what you don't want. Let the branches DRY. Cut to whatever lengths you think you want now. If you don't know then just let them dry.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Wed May 07, 2014 11:40 pm

Coating the ends will reduce splitting. There are several items you can use so slow down the drying process and the one I use is a good coat of latex paint. I know there are other products, but at the moment after a long day of processing, I'm too tired to recall. Like mentioned above, remove all extra growth on what you are trying to save.

Mike907 · Post by **Mike907** » Thu May 08, 2014 12:20 am

Anchorseal is what the local woodturners use.

Mike

wrmnfzy · Post by **wrmnfzy** » Thu May 08, 2014 12:43 am

Thx guys for all the info.

"Wild Bad Bob" · Post by **"Wild Bad Bob"** » Thu May 08, 2014 8:33 am

Boiled Linseed Oil

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu May 08, 2014 10:34 am

If you are using them in craft projects just let them dry. My wife does interior designs and got a huge order where the customer wanted two 18 foot tree. We normally construct own trees using dried wood and silk leaves but the height made it impractical for us to attempt.

We sub contracted to a company that built trees in a hangar. They fulfilled the contract and produced two beautiful trees. We picked them up and installed them (no small job).

About a year later the customer called and told us the trees were growing toward the light and could we fix it.

The trees were dead of course so we were fascinated by the description. When we got there we realized the fabricator we had used, had used trunks that were not completely dried and they were warping.

I inspected the trunk more carefully and found that whoever had cut them had sealed the ends before the tree was dry.

My wife being the genus she is was able to hide braces inside the foliage and we drew the trees straight. Then after they were completely dry we went back removed the braces and the tree have been in place for 20 years or so now.

If you are using them in pots make sure after they are dry then do seal the bottoms. You see some people don't realize silk plants aren't real plants and dump old coffee and water into the pots from time to time.

We have had calls about how our plants smell and have gone out and found the pots about full of old coffee, water, milk and other liquids people were too lazy to walk to a drain to pour them out and just dumped them in the trees.

I'm told by live plant people this is a very common reason live plants in offices die. Too much water. Rather than walk to rest room or break room to dump their old coffee they just pour it in tree or plant.