Dead wood can be full of life in garden
A READER called this week and asked if he should shift a large tree which had been felled and logged, or could he just leave it in the garden.
I suggested that he make a feature of it, because logs, standing and fallen decaying wood and old plants are very important for wildlife.
Even just one or two bushes, if kept beyond their natural life, are of great value to insects, fungi, mosses and lichens.
Birds feed on insects that make their home in old wood. In large gardens, a decaying tree with a snagged bough or a small cavity might provide a nest site for a bird or bat.
Dead branches also make excellent song and display perches for birds.
Keep decaying wood on trees and shrubs.
Leave dead trees and shrubs standing (as long as they are not in a dangerous place) to decompose naturally.
Unwanted plants or trees can be killed by ring-barking and left to provide a source of decaying wood. Make two thick cuts, about 20cm apart, around the trunk and deep enough to cut through the bark and into the wood. The bark between the two cuts should also be stripped from the tree.
Ring -barking individual shrub stems also produces standing decaying wood without killing the whole plant.
Ring-barked plants will sprout from below any wounds and may need continual cutting of growth to completely kill the plant.
Leave old stumps to decay naturally and only remove them if necessary. Create a woodpile. Take the worry out of disposing of those bulky cuttings and create a home for wildlife. Woodpiles are a valuable habitat for mosses, lichens and fungi, as well as many insects.
Leave woody cuttings from trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants in piles within a shrub bed.
It is best to not cut the wood into small pieces. Leave it in direct contact with the ground, in dappled shade and in compact piles to maintain humidity.
Larger diameter pieces are of most value, but even small twigs and branches should not be discounted, and neither should the cut stems of herbaceous plants.