safe trees for branches

I tried doing a search without much luck. I want to start collecting some branches for my cage build. It seems the general rule of thumb is to steralize in boiling water to kill off bugs/etc. Most say to remove bark or less its a more smooth bark and the branches are cut down fresh. My question is about what kind of trees, In south texas most of the local stuff is pecan and oak. Oak also has some nice shapes. So are these two trees safe? What about drying out the fresh cut branches, is it needed? Thanks

do you have crape myrtles in Texas?
that's what i use and they are totally safe! i just cut a limb, strip off the small branches and let it sit outside for a week or so, no problems with this method in 2 years.
i suppose if you needed the branches sooner "baking" them is the way to go. i just keep some available by cutting ahead of need.... lisa