where to buy?

[bookworm0550]

ok, so my bf and i are planning on making the birds a playgym. i've looked online for ideas and a lot of folks get their wood and branches from people they know, but what about folks who don't know anyone who has an organic farm? where would I go to find branches and wood that no one wants and that is not pesticide treated? do i just go to some random park? i'm also not gonna drive 3 hours to the middle of nowhere for a branch either or is that something i'll have to do?

[dieflying]

good question. sometimes i'm tempted to drive right up into the mountains we have here and cut down some, those i know haven't been treated. but then i'd probably mess up and get something poisonous.

hmm. . . aside from a park or something where people wouldn't mind . . i'm not sure . . . :confused:

[bookworm0550]

seriously!! I see people w/ great natural playgyms and it's always, "Oh i got it from a friend who owns an apple orchard" or something like that. Well, I don't know anyone who lives outside the city. I'm so tempted to go to a park and do it, but too scared I might bring something home or get a branch from a wrong tree cuz I can't tell my trees apart. Oak, Maple, etc...all the same. The only ones I know: Pine and Willow. I tried to look online and see if I can buy like unwanted apple tree parts, but uh, yeah, not that easy!!!

[maya_exquisite]

Yeah, it's hard finding branches here in Hawaii too... especially since I don't know what any of our trees are called, except for the gum trees (but those don't have "fun" shaped branches). I don't want to get a branch that could be toxic to my boys.

I wish we had manzanita here!! I've had to resort to buying manzanita perches on e-Bay... I don't think we have java trees here either :confused: , and I see some AWESOME play gyms being made with that material!!

I need to find out what trees/branches in Hawaii are safe... I look at the Plants of Hawaii page but the list is so long I don't think I can sit and search through them all and cross-reference them to see if they're toxic. :x

[linda040899]

Maya,
In Hawaii, try this site. It might be a resource for you or it just might give you some ideas. http://www.guavawood4perches.com/

[maya_exquisite]

Awesome! Thanks! Now just to look up what the friggin' guava tree looks like in it's natural form... :rotfl

[Pips mom]

Gee, we bought our wood to make playgyms from Home Depot.....they have wood that isn't treated, you know they get the wood from loggers who get them from forests and they don't treat all of the wood....only the wood that will be used outside to prevent it from rotting.