Logging into the garden

Given that it is winter, it is no surprise to find me digging in the garden.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that digging is quite an artificial activity, out of tune with natural processes. However, if you've ever seen how Wild Boar turn over large areas of soil with the efficiency of a rotavator, you'll know that it is inherently natural.

In fact, digging is one of the many reasons that I think make gardens such a great place for nature. At a whole field level, if everything is dug and no stone is left unturned, it is not so great, but what gardens offer is an incredible diversity of habitats - bits of this and bits of that. Dug ground means foraging for Robins and Blackbirds, nesting potential for mining bees, open ground for annual flowers to seize. Us and our spades are the human equivalent of Wild Boar creating a tapestry of riches, in a landscape which is now largely absent (bar some feral populations) of a creature that would once have been widespread.

However, that doesn't explain why I was digging a trech in my garden this week.

Or why I then filled it with rotten wood.

It is what I hope will be a perfect nursery for my Stag Beetles - here's a photo from a couple of years ago of one about to take off on a summer's evening.

The larvae feed on rotting wood, preferably underground, and often need to do so for several years, so meagre is their diet.

But what should go over my buried timber? Well, er, more timber!

My new timber wall faces southeast, which is thought to be the perfect aspect for nesting solitary bees. I will drill holes in the cut faces and I'm predicting it will be alive with life this coming spring and summer, so quick are insects to take up a prime invitation.

The gentle odour of the rotting timber should lure in the Stag Beetles. And I bet Wood Mice and Wrens and beetles galore will take up the offer, too.

I should quickly say that I haven't put all my logs in one basket - others are scattered around the garden, some in shady places, some singly, some in piles, again for the diversity of habitats that brings.

Now is the perfect time to make a log pile. And if you don't have logs, make a stick pile instead. And if you see some tree work going on near you, be bold and go and ask if you can bag yourself some prime cuts. It will add a brilliant extra dimension to your wildlife-friendly garden.