permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

Many species of cedar are good for fence posts; all the western ones are,
but I know less about the eastern varieties; maybe someone else does. Osage
Orange and Black locust are fast-growing and excellent. The old story about
black locust is, you set the fence post, and when in 40 years the base rots,
you turn it over and stick the other end in the ground for another 40 years.
For live posts, though, the suckering of locust may be a problem (although
if you have a use for the suckers--more posts, firewood, wattle--they would
be a nice multifunctional choice).

Less sustainably (but not involving a 5 year wait, and that's the trade,
isn't it--fossil fuel to speed up or slow down the clock), the folks who
make T-posts sell a set of clips that allow you to use T-posts as corner
posts and diagonal or horizontal braces, I did this with used 10-foot posts
for a quick deer fence at a client's property, and it worked pretty well.
The 10-foot corners get a little bendy under all that tension, and the
manufacturer recommends doubling the posts at the corners, which we didn't
do, but if you set horizontal braces and tie wires up high, they work well.

The late Ken Kerns, in "The Owner-Built Homestead" (part of his amazing
owner-builder series; find 'em used) gives instructions for building
concrete fenceposts; again, not so sustainable, but they will last until the
sun burns out.

Roxann, T-posts seem like a decent solution for the time being if you will
have another use for them, can find them used, or if a friend will need them
when your trees grow in. I've also used just any old wood--fir poles, old
2x4s, etc, for posts when I know they will be replaced in 5 years or so.

Toby
www.patternliteracy.com