Thinking of starting a woodpile

[Snowwhyte]

I'm in the process of clearing an overgrown section of our garden. It's mainly bramble growing around a nut tree. Once it's cleared I'll probably put in a mix of brassicas and squash. There is a shady section at the back in front of the hedge where I would like to place a wood pile as a habitat for insects. I have a mixture of logs and branches i can use but I wondered if anyone else has got a woodpile? What wildlife did it attract?

[veggiechicken]

Mice, rats, birds.....................

[Snowwhyte]

Well, hopefully there won't be rats. I was thinking more of beneficial insects maybe some toads.

[happyhumph]

Woodlice, various beetles, lizards and slow worms if you're lucky

[veggiechicken]

Well, hopefully there won't be rats. I was thinking more of beneficial insects maybe some toads.

I don't look very closely so not sure what lives in them (I have several heaps around the garden).

[Snoop Puss]

Snails, beetles, wasps, centipedes and termites. The very occasional lizard, never a toad.

[jonahjonah]

Interesting. I've made a dead hedge on my plot (aka somewhat orderly woodpile) and I was wondering the same.

We had a pile of overturned dirt clods/ornamental grass/weeds last year and found a couple of newts hanging out in there. (As in my avatar.)

[Snowwhyte]

I was digging in another nearby section of the garden last year. I lifted up what I thought was a clump of soil and a toad jumped away. It nearly have me a heart attack. We definitely have toads and also hedgehogs. I might try a mix of logs, branches and leaves and see what takes advantage of it. It's all interesting to me although I do get a bit freaked out by the spiders and am not a fan of earwigs so I might not inspect it too closely.

[Snoop Puss]

^Sounds like a good plan. The toads here tend to bury themselves in the ground rather than lurk in wood piles. More than once I've been relieved to see one crawl away, very disturbed but otherwise unharmed by the tines of my digging fork.

I would love to have hedgehogs about the place here. I'm positively jealous.

Good luck with the wood pile.

[Small pumpkin]

Log piles are great for beneficial insects. Usually the logs need to be old and starting to decay. So the log pile is a very long term thing. The bugs aren't necessarily going to move in the week after you've put a pile of newly sawn logs in place. So yes the log pile will benefit everything that has been mentioned at some stage in its life and will eventually be right for the beneficial insects.

How about trying a home made bug hotel. There are loads of plans/ designs on the interweb. Also lot of images to get ideas from.


I'm going to try something like this. I like this idea. Sorry image is a bit big.

[Snowwhyte]

Some good ideas there. Once I finally clear away the bramble I will probably gather my materials and see what ideas work best with what I have.

[mrbadexample]

How about trying a home made bug hotel. There are loads of plans/ designs on the interweb. Also lot of images to get ideas from.

I need to move my bug hotels - they're on a southwest facing wall and although they get decent sunshine they also get the rain blown into the face of them. Bees don't like that.



Trouble is the only other walls I can put them on will either be heavily shaded in the morning, or the afternoon & evening. Any thoughts?

[nickdub]

Trouble is the only other walls I can put them on will either be heavily shaded in the morning, or the afternoon & evening. Any thoughts?

Obviously face them away from the prevailing wind, as you have already mentioned. Of the two possibilities you describe, I'd opt for the one with the morning sun, as it will warm up earlier, and then having shade at the end of a warm day will often be an advantage.

[veggiechicken]

Umbrellas?

Or Sidescreens to deflect the rain.

[mrbadexample]

Obviously face them away from the prevailing wind, as you have already mentioned. Of the two possibilities you describe, I'd opt for the one with the morning sun, as it will warm up earlier, and then having shade at the end of a warm day will often be an advantage.

I would like to be able to pick it up and move it about the garden to find the best spot but Hafþór Björnsson would struggle.