Friday, September 21, 2012

Creating a Log & Rock Piles for Wildlife

by Donna L. Watkins

Log piles, rock piles or stone walls make excellent places for many amphibians, small reptiles, and other wildlife species to hide, find food, and even raise their young. We have seen turtles in ours and I'm sure the bunnies spend some time there in winter.

Here's some ideas on what you can do:

© Donna L. Watkins - Brush Pile
• Build a permanent log pile, rock pile, and/or brush pile in the shade. Now and then we find a rock on the property, so we've been stacking them to provide lizards and skinks a place to run to for safety. We don't find large rocks, only ones you could hold in your hand, but when placed appropriately you leave spaces for them to crawl through.

Brush piles are excellent and fun Fall projects to build. Knowing they will protect and shelter wildlife through the winter is a fun experience for the family. Doing it in Fall gives the wildlife time to know what's available in your yard or property. Here's a great article and video on Brush Piles 101.

• Leave fallen logs on the ground, letting them decay naturally. This is a very important stage of life in a tree, even when it seems dead. It provides life to so many things in the woodland that provide food for birds and other forms of wildlife. Leave your dead trees standing and when they fall, leave them on the ground, even if you have to move them.

• Leave some leaf litter on the ground or in your planting beds. We shred our leaves and use them as mulch in our flower beds and around bushes. I've seen a shrew crawling beneath that mulch, so life goes on in many ways and places in a wildlife habitat garden.

Sponsored by The Herbs Place - Wholesale Prices Always
On Sale Now * Women * Men * Children * Essential Oils * Cleansing * Weight Loss

No comments:

Share This Post