marking problem

[master036]

i am trying to mark out a circle to build a low wall, around a tree but the tree has a 'Y' split below the ground too much to dig out. so it looks like there two trees above the ground, but it is one tree if that is understood :confused:

also they both grow slanted, so it makes it hard to use a string and the tree as the centre post.

the circle has to be around 4 foot in diameter
does anyone have a method to mark out the circle? thanks

[digger]

I think you need to get the tree checked out first my friend from your description it does not sound too healthy,

[Paul Narramore]

Yes. Go to a flat concrete surface such as a driveway. Get two 4ft x 8ft sheets of thin plywood. Put them side by side so you have an 8ft x 8ft sqaure of plywood. Find the centre. Bang a nail in. Get a piece of string with one enf at the nail and a pencil 2ft from the nail. Scribe an arc. Cut the arc with an electric jigsaw. You will then have a template for cutting a 4ft diameter trench around the tree. Easy.

[silverrod]

Or you could calculate the circumference of the circle (remember 2 pi r?) and cut a length of string or better still old garden hose and lay that out. Not as neat or precise as the plywood method, but hey this is gardening!

My calculator says 150.85 inches or 12.57 feet so it might be easier to use the string.... Just to be safe.

I've often wondered what all those funny formulae we had to learn in school were for - but I still remember them after all these years!