25 Jun Get Creative With Deadwood
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Get Creative with deadwood
Have you got a pile of sad looking logs or perhaps a dead tree stump, sitting looking forlorn coincidentally on your lawn? Maybe you feel as though you want to give back to nature, or find a clever way to make things look a little more purposeful? We have a few suggestions up our sleeves. For the new gardeners – deadwood is simply parts of a tree i.e. branches, logs etc, that are dead.
1. Log Piles
There are some small guys that you might’ve forgotten about. They would be very thankful to you for taking up this suggestion… Mini beasts. A throwback to primary school? I think so. Some of them may be cute, some quite… ehem… unappealing, however, mini beasts are vital for your gardens ecosystem. So how can you make your deadwood benefit them?
You might be underwhelmed or feel perhaps a bit mis-sold but, simply having a pile of deadwood on the ground is enough to create a habitat for them! (I promise there are some fun ideas that are not a cop out to follow…) They are raging fans of log piles. You can try placing one in the shade and one in a sunny spot in your garden to attract different types of creatures and mini-beasts.
Feel free to get artistic and spice up this suggestion. You could create logs piled in certain ways, plant ferns around or in them and other plants.
2. Stumperies
To take this further you could also make a stumpery; similar to a log pile. A stumpery is a place where you put logs, stumps and old wood. Generally part of the log or stump that is dead is part buried upright to create a damp environment for creatures such as beetles, woodlice and bees.
The key to attract bees is to drill small holes in the upright log to create a bee hotel for them. It’s handy to note that if you want bees to start inhabiting your stumpery you will need to place it into a sunny place. Holes that are 2-3mm will attract small yellow faced bees and holes that are 8-10mm will attract bigger bees.
Be sure to plant flowers close by as well! Over time lichen and moss will grow on the stumpery and perhaps even mushrooms creating a nature haven.
3. Stump Planter
Want to make a stump less of an eyesore but don’t want to remove it? Ding ding! A stump planter is a unique solution. As well as jazzing up your garden, it will nourish the soil with nutrients whilst decaying. It’s quite common to use woodchips as fertiliser for plants. So, essentially you’ll have a self-sufficient planter!
The most popular way to make a stump planter is to hollow out the stump, leaving a perimeter of about 2-3 inches, however you can make a small hole in the middle if you’d prefer. In terms of drainage this can easily be solved by placing a bed of gravel in the hollowed out part of the stump.
The next step is to fill it with compost, or if you’d prefer you can put the plant in a container to place into the hollowed out section, however this would take away the benefits of the nourishment the stump can provide. Finally, plant what your heart desires and watch your tree stump bloom.
4. Stump/Log Outdoor Table & Games table
Time to get a bit more hands on with the DIY! A fun way to use your tree stump can be adding a table top to it to create an outdoor table. Depending on the height you could make this a small side table for your garden table and chairs or a use it as a main table.
Something to bare in mind is that some tree stumps may not have been cut the straightest; in this case it will make your life a lot easier to use a chainsaw to straighten it up. You might be able to use a normal saw if the tree stump is a little softer from decaying over time.
Once you’re happy with your table leg/trunk secure your table top down with some screws and voila! Another idea is that if it’s a big tree stump, you can even paint the top and depending on if the level is even, draw on a board game such as snakes and ladders.
5. Wattle Fences
Get in touch with your ancestors by creating a rustic looking wooden fence out of deadwood called a wattle fence. This attractive style of fencing is great for your wallet and for the environment. A wattle fence is made by weaving thin branches or even strips of wood in-between posts. This is a great way to use branches from any pruning or cutting of trees. You will also need some sort of posts, whether that be rebars (reinforced steel poles or bars), fence posts or you can even go the full way and use long logs that you have lying in your garden. If you’re using branches/logs as the posts, it’s important to bear in mind the strength of the logs/branches you’re using. It’s generally advised to use hardwood as this will be stronger and more durable.
To sum up; to do this DIY you will need:
- Mallet
- Secateurs/pruning saw
- Guide (i.e. hosepipe)
- Deadwood
- Some sort of posts
1. The first step is to map where your new wattle fence will go. You can do this using a garden hose pipe or by using some string and metal or wooden pegs as a guide.
2. The next step is to secure the posts in the ground with a mallet 1ft-1 ½ foot into the ground for stability. Place them however far apart according to your taste but bear in mind that the closer the posts are together, the stronger the fence will be. This will also depend on the flexibility of the deadwood you have available to you. Less flexible deadwood means you won’t be able to bend it around closer posts as easily so it might be better to place them a bit further apart if this is the case.
3. Onto the satisfying part, get weaving! Alternate each layer to create durability. It’s likely that you’ll have some branches that are not long enough for multiple stakes. This can easily be resolved by staggering the start point of each row, making sure that there’s not a solid break line in the fence.
If you need more in depth instructions that are plenty of eco-builders willing to share their skills and secrets. Rural sprout have a very helpful and in-depth how to guide on building a wattle fence – click the link here to check it out.
As you can see there are plenty of options for using up your deadwood and tree stumps in your garden if you’d like to embrace nature. A majority of these suggestions come from the frame of mind of using what you have whilst also being in harmony with nature. Generally tree surgeons will take the waste away for you to a green recycling centre so if it’s not your jam, not to worry!
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