log piles???

We have a log pile at the end of our garden which has been rotting nicely for about 7 years now.

My question is do you add to the rotting pile with fresh logs or do you start a new one?

The reason I ask is that after a while the bugs will use up all the food supply we put down and then no more left. We would like as a ongoing project to keep the log pile in situ and keep the bugs coming back for the garden and wildlife which frequent it for meals.

Any help will be used and thanks in advance.

 

In my experience the more old and rotten the wood is the more the bugs like it.

 

Miraflores,

When the pile has rotted down there must be more to replace it.
I am going to add more rotting wood to the pile which will keep the bugs coming and the birds will not go hungry.
I do have a collection of wrens that will spend ages there picking through the wood for food.
Even the feeders are being used by all sorts of birds.

 

I think the point of the log pile in the wildlife gardening context, is to mimic as closely as possibly what would happen in a natural woodland if we ignored it.

Trees mature, and old brittle wood sometimes breaks off in high winds. It falls to the floor. All manner of fungi, moss, and creatures turn it into a home. Over years, that wood will rot down to nothing, and will be incorporated into the soil (where it will continue to support a range of flora and fauna for years). Meanwhile, Some plants will grow over it, many autumns will pass, dropping dead leaves on it, many winters will pass, with storms busting more bits of old wood off and dropping it onto the pile.

So I guess to achieve the best balance, there should be old wood in various stages of decay.

 

I do realise that branches and tree trunks do not fall in the same place all the time. But to keep the bug area in perspective, I would like to ensure that the wrens and other types of bug eaters are kept to the rear of the garden thus not being disturbed by people or pets.

 

I think you'd be fine either way, adding to the existing pile or starting a new one, whichever is more convenient. Or do both if you have enough wood - the more piles the better. It's probably a good idea to have multiple piles so that frogs, newts, ground beetles etc. have more choice of places to shelter, and can then come out to feed at night on slugs etc. all round the garden.

I wouldn't worry about disturbing the wrens - they're always moving around looking for food anyway, so they'll have plenty of opportunities to go and forage all over the garden when it's quiet enough. If there's food there, they'll find it.

 

I once built a small 'log' shed purposely for wildlife, it was only about 4'x4'x4'; I basically built the mini shed with no front, first I built an entrance tunnel to access the void and then filled it in with logs, covering the tunnel, I also put in a small shelf at the back at the top with a low lip on it, I left a few small gaps between the roof and the top of the logs so wrens and the like could get in and use the shelf for nesting. The void I left was filled with dry leaves and some straw.

I put it in a quite corner of the garden next to a hedge and with some cover from vegetation etc...

Within months I had a pair of hedgehogs using it and most satisfying actually having young in it. I also had a wren nest in it once and a pair of dunnocks the following year. Also saw wood mice using it along with a multitude of insects etc...

Just writing this has inspired me to make another one I think :D

 

Sorry for getting you thinking Bilbo but these things creep up on us all.