Do tree nets damage trees?
Tree Weaves uses intricate custom made tree protection on all of our tree nets. For every tree we anchor a platform to, we place padding that prevents the tension of the rope from cutting into the tree, a force that could otherwise cause the tree to become girdled. Tree Weaves has yet to see a tree become damaged as a result of living as an anchor to any of our nets.
Unlike Tree Houses, which are rigid and heavy structures, tree nets do not appear to injure the trees. Every tree has its own natural range of motion resulting from its entire life spent blowing in the wind, exposed to all the elements. Trees need this movement, and the rigidity of treehouses takes this away from them. While the tree nets we build do limit the range of motion, the trees are still able to move against one another in a natural way, constantly swaying back and forth in the wind (a phenomenon that actually feels quite exhilarating to a person on the net). In fact, it is our (admittedly unproven) belief that tree nets installed between a network of trees actually reinforce the forest's structural integrity by acting as an above-ground-plane parallel to the anchor system known as the roots. It is possible that trees tied together in nets could be more resistant to destruction from intense storms than trees who stand alone. All of our projects are currently too young to know for certain whether or not such a claim is true or false, and the client should do their own research and form their own opinions if they are concerned about the longevity of their trees.