I've read locust trees were OK for fence posts (rot resistant, I guess?) Got a lot of small straightish ones that need taking out of overgrown field. Has anyone used them for that or any other purpose? I suppose the all over wicked thorns will have to be skinned of with a knife or something. If they're good, maybe I'll leave the tiny ones to grow posts for later. Or are they really slow growing? Did I read that they're poisonous (not good to burn,then)?
anyone used locusts for fence posts?
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hoodat
Garden Addicted
The thorn locust will rot out in no time. Black locust will last a long long time but is crooked as a snake. There's a saying in Texas,"Black locust fence posts will outlast the hole".
vfem
Garden Addicted
I'm like you, I have a ton of bamboo around here... so bamboo fences it will be! I hope the locusts work for you!
journey11
Garden Master
We prefer locust posts on the farm. They last much longer than cedar. We have black locusts around here. Ours are nice and straight though and tend to grow in big patches (and are notoriously difficult to remove because they'll send out suckers along the roots). Beautiful blooms on them in early spring, the bees love them.
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OK Thanks. Wiki. shows mine are most likely the honey locust and the pod's pulp is edible. I'll research that more before thinking about trying, as the black locust is toxic, although it said cooking made the beans OK to eat. That might be good , because these guys drop huge beans all over. Haven't noticed any nice blooms like they show though. I'll experiment with using for stakes and small temporary posts for trying to fence out chickens from flowers. And either type's s'post to be OK for firewood.Some toxic trees give of poison fumes, but guess not with locusts. Says they once used the thorns for nails, but I'll stick to Lowe's for that.
hoodat
Garden Addicted
It's easy to tell the difference. Thorn and honey locusts are soft and have white wood. Black locust is very hard (You'll need a sharp chain saw if they're dry) and the wood is very dark all the way through.
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