How do you preserve a dead tree branch?

Fingers said my 2 tree branches I cut yesterday are just going to disintegrate. I"m putting them on the porch. They are 2 bound with wire for fullness and about 7 feet tall. I got him to cut me a slice of Oak about 4" thick for the base and I want to keep my "tree" in the corner of the porch permanatly, put Christmas lights on it now, and just decorate it depending on the season. He says it will not last long.
What do you guys think? How would I preserve it? Polyurethane?

[Cyclone2]

I think you can sandwich them between the pages of a 3d popup book....................no?

Why didn't I think of that?

I'm sure glad I wasn't asking about how to put a tourniquet on my arm....

[Crix]

i dont leave my house often, sorry

[Chuckiechan]

I think if you dilute polyurethan to a very watery solution, you can apply several coats over a period of time letting them soak in and it should last like king tut's tomb!

I would not use a water base product here...

Send us a picture when you are done.

[Bovon]

AFAIK, there is no way to preserve a branch or tree for a long time. It depends on the moisture to keep it alive except in the winter when most trees and such have their moisture leave the above ground part and go down into the root system. Once a limb is cut, it no longer has access to the necessary moisture (as needed) and will dry up. The bark will flake off, but the wood itself will dry and be preserved for a long time.

Trees are living things.. you cannot remove a part of one and it continue on as if nothing had happened.

There may be a way to preserve your porch ornaments for awhile by coating them in some kind of sealer..maybe even fiberglass resin. Any leaves will dry up soon and fall off I would think.

There are no leaves, it's winter .
Actually it's one that I picked up from the windstorm, so it was already gone. I was just trying to preserve it for several months or more. I was thinking the same thing ChuckieC. Or using shellac. I'm going to try dipping some pine cones I gathered to make a wreath. Some of the pine combs are really pretty and tiny but they are tender as tracing paper. I also have some on the tips of branches that look like roses. Never seen anything like it, but I used to never see anything

[Warthog]

Use that Thompsons deck sealer...keep the water off it anyway.

[Bizkitkid2001]

A tree branch broke off one of ours trees in back, but it kept growing. We had it sitting out on the pick nick table for about a month, and it grow 20 leaves.


BTW, it was off one of our tropical trees.