Birds and other wildlife create sitting outdoors enjoyable, but birds require a place to perch. If you lawn doesn’t have some trees, then the space is much less inviting to birds. If you have access to tree limbs, like from a neighbor’s lawn, you may add the limbs to your place to mimic a real tree in your yard. Avoid branches that could be potentially toxic, like oak, cherry or pine, or that were sprayed with pesticides or pesticides. For mounting the limb perches, 4-by-4-inch square poles, 4-inch-diameter round posts and 4-inch-diameter tree trunks work nicely.

Gather several straight tree limbs that are 1 inch in diameter and as straight as possible. Choose branches that range in length by 16 inches to 22 inches long so that you are going to have 12- to 18-inch perches. Spray the branches using a hose to remove surface dirt, but leave the bark intact. Cut one end of the branch with a hacksaw so that the end is perfectly right.

Put the 8-foot-long article on a flat work surface, and make a mark 2 feet from the bottom to indicate the amount at which to set the post from the ground. Make a second mark 3 feet up from the first mark to indicate the halfway mark of the post once put from the ground. The branch perches goes above the halfway mark.

Mark one side of the post each 3 inches from the surface of the article down to the halfway mark.

Drill 1-inch-diameter holes completely through the fence post at every mark, with a power drill with a 1-inch drill bit.

Catch a 1-inch diameter branch into the first hole so that the conclusion of the branch is flush with contrary side of the post.

Pack any gaps between the branch and the hole using balsa wood shims. Catch the shims in by hand, if possible, or gently tap the shims with a hammer. The branch should fit quite tightly at the drilled hole, but shims make the match even tighter without the need for glue, which could hurt the birds.

Cut the end of the branch and shims that protrude through the rear side of the post using a hacksaw, if relevant, so that the wood is flush with the article.

Insert a branch through each other hole at one side of the article. Insert branches through the remaining holes on the other side of the article, to stagger the perches across the article height. Pack shims together with all the branches in the post’s holes, and cut off any protruding wood, until you complete all the tree limb perches.

Dig a 5-inch-diameter post hole 2 feet deep using post-hole diggers. Place the article from the hole, and fill in the hole around the post with wet concrete mixture. Hold a flat against the side of the article and fix the article until it is plumb. Screw scrap pieces of lumber to the post using 3-inch wood screws about 2 feet away from the ground, extending the lumber diagonally to the bottom to brace the article since the concrete sets. Eliminate the braces after about 24 hours.

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