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Yep,
Me again. After realising how much fun it was er, 'liberating' willow shoots (see living wall of willow' thread) I have 'rescued' a bundle of logs from an area which had been cleared for housing. I just happened to be driving by, and I noticed that the builders had, luckily, knocked off for the night and left the logs lying, and rather than seeing them wasted as the foundations for the M74 extension, I decided to re- house them.
Anyway, as I wasn't expecting these new arrivals, I haven't had a chance to clear any space for them, and the only free area is in the semi- shelter of my massive tree/ hedges of indterminate species. I'm worried that they'll be sheltered from the rain and the rotting process will be slowed. At the risk of soundig dafter than normal, (I mean, lets face it, I've just referred to re- housing a bundle of logs) should I water the logs during the warm weather to help the decomposition?
Also, are they better in the shade, or does it not matter.
(Jeez, this is like Mumsnet....)
I even love magpies
Hi JM
I had a tree cut down last year (very sadly - neighbours!!!- enough said!)
I piled them up beneath a large shrub on some leaf mould and they are gently taken on the appearance of a forest floor and much loved by all the mini beasts I'd hoped to create a home for.
I'm not sure if this is the right way to do but it does seem to be working.
Eilid
"out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I will meet you there" Rumi
Hello
Have you looked at the Homes for Wildlife section on the RSPB site?
One of the things they were asking people to do was to start a log pile - we saw them making one when we went to The Lodge open day a couple of weeks ago.
I think they will rot down naturally wherever they are - we have a conifer tree stump in our front garden that is decaying nicely . We also had to cut down an old apple tree in the back garden and we left the stump in the ground - that is under a complete cover of trees and shrubs and has now rotted away.
Jazzcat
If you bury the bottom ones in your pile it will help them begin to rot, this also has the advantage of keeping the bottom ones damp. If this is not possible then fill the gaps between the logs with leaf mould or similar.
Another idea is a wildlife spiral see this thread
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/t/6397.aspx?PageIndex=1
Build it and they will come.