Posted: Friday 11 January 2013
by Kate Bradbury
Dead wood makes a wonderful habitat in the garden, providing food and shelter for huge numbers of invertebrates including wood-boring beetles, solitary bees and woodlice.
Last summer, while doing a spot of gardening at my mum’s, I was disturbed by the sound of chainsaws as tree surgeons pollarded a huge oak in a neighbouring garden. At first I thought the tree was being chopped down, and I watched as men the size of ants scaled this giant, slicing through branches with their machines.
I was quite upset but, ever the optimist, I used the opportunity to collect some local, native logs to make a nice wildlife habitat in my mum’s garden. I was sure she wouldn’t mind. The tree surgeons and house owner were only too happy to oblige, and before my mum could say “what’s a stumpery?” I had filled her car boot and back seats with as much tree as her car suspension could manage.
Dead wood makes a wonderful habitat in the garden, providing food and shelter for huge numbers of invertebrates including wood-boring beetles, solitary bees and woodlice. It can come in many forms: a tree stump left to rot into itself can provide a rot hole for the larvae of Eristalis hoverflies; a pile of sticks can offer shelter to passing beetles, dead twigs left on trees may be colonised by lichens and moss; and a log pile – partially buried and made using local, native wood – makes a complete habitat, which can cater for anything from invertebrates to amphibians, hedgehogs and even birds.
A stumpery is similar to a log pile, but you can have a bit more fun with it. It consists of upright logs half buried in the soil, allowing moss, lichen and fungi to grow. Some gardeners plant ferns in and around the logs, adding to the interest. You can even plant a climber or rambler to grow over the wood.
The best location for a woodpile or stumpery is in partial shade, where the wood will remain moist and therefore support more life – including amphibians. Wood left in full sun will dry out quicker and support fewer invertebrates, but may be used by nesting solitary bees or as a basking site for insects and reptiles. If you have the space, why not make dead wood features in several areas of your garden? Leave the bark intact so small insects can take shelter in the cracks.
My mum’s stumpery isn’t very glamorous, consisting of a few logs placed on the ground and one upright and half buried (they were too heavy to do anything more creative with). I didn’t plant any ferns but they have already been colonised by a few mosses and lichens. I can’t wait for the wildlife to move in.
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