This week i had to make the decision to get rid of an estimated 150-300 year old Norway maple. The thing was a roof over the entire back yard and keep entire yard shaded. It started to show some bad health signs a few summers ago. When talking with the tree service I told them I wanted to build a tree fort ontop of the stump. They left it way higher than I was expecting, I’d say about 14’ off the ground on the left branch. Anyway, I’m going to cut the right branch lower and make a 2 tier tree fort with a deck. what ivy or vine would look good growing up the trunk to the future tree fort?
by Reanimation_11
27 Comments
Why not hang green cargo webbing?
Nuts…
Akebia vine is a good one. Grows fast and covers well without too much maintenance.
Also passion vine and jasmine vine.
I would avoid wisteria and ivy.
That thing has so much potential. I’d start looking for a slide from a playground !
I’d replant a Norway Maple right next to it for the next generation to enjoy.
What growing zone are you in?
Virginia creeper. It will turn a beautiful red in the fall
Virginia creeper (if it’s native to your area). Fast-growing, gorgeous fall color, and songbirds love it. (Some people claim they are allergic to it, but that’s because they mistake it for poison ivy)
Climbing hydrangea
Poison ivy
Kudzu. Check local laws. Illegal some places, and not without reason. Plus, it can be a famine food. Look up uses. Though it’s not considered tasty by many.
A tree house there would be EPIC
Wisteria would be amazing and would get thick and strong enough for climbing up too. We used to have a 50+ year old bramley apple tree with white wisteria growing through it and it was beautiful, wisteria flowers came out as the pink and white apple blossom finished.
Poison
Hops.
Downside is the vine (but not the roots) die down each winter. But it would look AMAZING covered in sweet hops. 😄
Vines native to your region. Surely there’s a native honeysuckle near you. Any flowering native vine will be much more attractive than ivy. If you’re lucky, the native honeysuckle and other vines in your area are evergreen.
A native Wisteria (like Amethyst Falls) would be so damn cool on this trunk!
Virginia Creeper and native Wisteria are the best bets. English Ivy and Asian Wisterias are ecological nightmares. A native grape would work too.
TBH it really depends where you are. The plant that will do best is whatever vine is native to your local forests.
You might go to your local garden center and ask them.
Idk but I see an awesome tree fort happening on that tree.
Ok , not to spoil your dream, but how long for the roots to rot and it falls down, anyone have an idea, for the rotting roots.
Could offer it to a local turner. The burl that comes from that would be highly sought after.
There are some roses that are climbers. You can also do native wisteria. We would really need to know what zone you are in.
hydrangea is doing really good in illinois 6B
Trumpet vine is native, flowering and wildly aggressive. Plant all around the base and it’ll engulf in no time
First I want to say that is an awesome ancient looking stump and I love the two tiered treehouse idea. I have no idea if it will work in your climate, but I wanna suggest hardy kiwi. Maybe 3 plants around the perimeter to fill it in nicely.
Hardy kiwi has beautiful ornamental leaves and I imagine it’d be so cool to hang out in the treehouse and pick its delicious fruits. Make sure you DON’T get tissue cultured plants, otherwise your kid will have left the nest before they ever fruit. Non tissue culture plants fruit in just a few years.
Finish cutting it!!!