AKA ‘Stick Hedges’.
Has anyone here tried to build these?
I saw some photos on a site the other day and would like to learn more about them. The one I saw was just some old skid lumber pounded in about four feet apart to create a basic containment for piled old sticks and limbs. They are supposed to be excellent refuge for birds, bugs etc.
Has anyone any experience with these? Pros/cons?
Thanks!
I have forested acres… I have piled downed/cut branches here and there as near borders (as in, the property line is over there). I didn’t use anything to hold them. Over time they sink together.
There are several long thick downed limbs used to mark the walking trails, they need replaced from time to time.
The piles can be home to a variety, I’m sure they stake out home grounds in different piles, I try to not disturb any pile. Snakes, rabbits, chipmunks, and smaller.
I’ve seen photos of the staked ones, they look cool. I don’t have the physical what all to drive stakes or post hole digger to do that. I’m sure they need to be replenished with new sticks every few years.
I’ve noticed natural brush piles are great for wildlife.
I haven’t tried it but it seems like a very cool idea. I’ve seen several rewilding videos from the UK and they often use dead-hedges as they would a hedge to separate areas but it also provides useful cover for various species. Much more than a fence would.
I’ve made brush piles, which I think are similar to what you’re describing. The wrens love them, and I’ve seen some other bird species around them too. Herps might use them too, especially lizards and maybe snakes.
I love brush piles, I think that the pros definetely outweigh any cons. I will say that they do attract rodents (chipmunks, deer mice mostly for me) so if you have any sort of animal feed in a garage, barn, or outdoor container, you’ll want to secure it.
Overall, it’s a cheap and easy way to provide shelter for wildlife, so I would suggest anyone with even a small backyard to try building one!
If I might add one teeny caveat: we were literally just told to remove such piles here, if any, as we are in wildfire season (super hot, super dry, super windy), so I would be aware of any similar local concerns/directives .
This one I could smell but not see.
This one I could see the smoke clearly (it shut the main access to the fraccionamiento.)
I wish I could build a proper dead-hedge. I’ve made a impromptu brush pile in my pollinator garden, though. Low-key dead-hedge?
You can make a small one pretty easily. Drive in two sets of stakes a couple feet tall and just start tossing cut branches into it. I’m planning to do it in my backyard to make a small one that is like 3-4 feet long, 1 1/2 foot wide, and 2-3 feet tall. Won’t take up a lot of space but should provide a bit of cover for small creatures.
Here in California, it has become common and recommended land management practice to pile branches, downed trees, etc. and (with permits and in the right weather) eventually burn them to reduce wildfire fuel loads. It has long concerned me that these burn piles look exactly like habitat to many animals, and that some of these will be dormant or trapped when the pile is eventually burned.
When we do stack burning around Cape Town, the firefighters on duty are trained to first check the piles for snakes, tortoises etc.
I know of two kinds of dead hedge. This one consists of two parallel rows of stakes and you lay brush between them until it is high enough to keep out whatever it is you wish to exclude. It uses a large amount of material per metre but you can stuff almost any branches in.
https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=dead+hedging#action=view&id=1&vid=517b9a3fe0b4a0d445c90eef3a972da0
The other uses one row of stakes and you weave long thin branches between and around each other. This type is used to protect coppice coups from deer, as coppice is usually the only situation in which you have enough long thin branches available.
https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=dead+hedging#action=view&id=18&vid=12b99724874aea331c872b2136fa5344
The video links are just examples of the many on you tube. I’m not recommending these ones in particular.
We have a brush pile in our yard from old Christmas trees. Better than throwing them out.
I’d be curious to know how they check them. A dead-hedge (or burn pile) is attractive habitat in large part because it is easy to hide in.
I cannot speak from experience. But from posts on FB by the firefighters.
On the other side of a wildfire. When the firefighters say it is safe to go in, SPCA inspectors do a sweep to rescue injured animals who can be rehabbed.
I know we just kick the piles to dislodge inhabitants when checking piles.
I pile up brush around new trees, to protect them from deer.
This I do with blackberry and wild rose branches. In Spring they have lots of ladybugs and other insects, and also lizards love them. And little birds like to perch on them, which I think is the reason why they end up compressing onto the soil.
I also do small dead hedges for wind protection in Winter. When I clear some branches I leave them in a loose pile to dry, and some months later I triturate them with my shredder.
Regarding fires, it is said that is better to make the pile the day you burn it to prevent killing wildlife. I particularly prefer chipping them and use them as mulch than burning, as they help me to protect the soil.
I have made these! Lazily, but anyway. The better fence posts you use and the denser you pack it, the prettier it will be and the better it will stay put when the condiments start to disintegrate. Mine are not very pretty, and one of my neighbours actually got very upset about my dead hedge because of that. She thought I did it out of revenge for something! It was a whole ordeal.
Aside from upsetting neighbours, they’re certainly a refuge for rodents. If your area has a rat problem, I do NOT recommend them. If you don’t, go ham with them. The local owls and day active raptors are loving the results, as the rodents can’t only live in the dead hedge, anyway. Aside from rodents and fungi, I haven’t seen a lot of life around in them, but actually observing bugs from them would require taking them apart and/or rummaging in them, which is something that I avoid for tidiness reasons - and because my fence posts are mostly flimsy, haha.
Anyway, I find them a great way to create a continuum of deadwood on the property while still maintaining some level of tidiness (which in my case mostly means looking not exactly like the forest floor next door, but being more of a meadow instead).
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