Using Creativity and Dead Trees to Nurture Wildlife

Volume 29 Issue 4, Fall 2024

by BJ Lecrone, Wildlife Sanctuary Program Ambassador

At all stages of their existence, trees are crucial to the lives of insects and birds. Tree canopies provide habitat and relief from summer heat. Their leaves also support the food web, providing nutritional food for caterpillars, which will either become an important food source for birds or will survive and grow to become important pollinators.

In the fall, leaving fallen tree leaves on the ground protects a vital source of nutrients for many busy ground-dwelling insects, creatures that most people don’t even notice. As a Virginia Master Naturalist, I’ve become more aware of the essential work done by critters such as ants, caterpillars and their pupae, and decomposers such as earthworms, larvae, and snails. Just as we live our lives and do important things, they also live theirs, doing important work that breaks down organic materials.

Dead leaves are crucial to life. But did you know that dead tree trunks are also beneficial? For most of my life, I was taught that dead wood was not tidy and had no place on a property unless it was stored to be burned in a fireplace. But now I see lots of great uses of logs for wildlife. Here are a few examples from my own property.

Natural Planters

In 2020, after we removed a dying non-native Norway Maple in the front of our house, I transitioned that whole area into landscaped wild space. There were so many exposed and underground roots left from the maple that I couldn’t dig into the soil to plant. Instead, atop the roots, I placed log slices with decayed centers and filled them with soil to create natural planters. That provided height for the new plants to grow and also gave time for decomposer insects to break down those tough underground roots.

It was nice not having to use another unnecessary plastic container or heavy ceramic planter. While plants grew in my homemade wooden planters, decomposers were quietly at work below ground — and on the planter itself. I also had a happy surprise about two years later, toward the end of my homemade planter’s life, when I had the pleasure of watching a Pileated Woodpecker search for insects in the wooden planter! My creative move had provided food for this beautiful bird — and now it was time for a replacement planter.

Log ‘Vases’ for Seed Bouquets

I also use those same types of planters to hold cut flower seed heads for the birds along the edge of my meadow. In addition, I have drilled holes into less-decayed upright logs to hold cut seed heads at the church garden where I volunteer. This removes what some consider to be unsightly dead seed heads from the garden and collects them all in one place for the birds to enjoy.

Snags of All Heights

If you must cut down a tree, why not leave some height, as high as you can get away with? Watermark Woods – Native Plants has done exactly this on the nursery’s property. And on my family’s property, we just cut another dying Norway Maple tree to 8 feet. Though I’m sure the birds miss the layers of branches they once perched on, I’m hoping this snag will give years of use for insects and birds.

Leave a Stump

Something as simple as leaving a stump provides food for a thriving community of insects. You may be lucky enough to see — just like I did — a visiting woodpecker pecking busily for bugs at the stump and its sprawling roots.

Decorative Log Displays

Attractive displays of logs can become a smorgasbord of fun for carpenter bees and other decomposer insects. Clifton Institute, a conservation nonprofit based in Warrenton, has arranged an array of logs (short and long) for wildlife. This can offer a great location for carpenter bees to call home instead of, perhaps, a nearby house.

Perhaps you can think of other ways to give back to wildlife. I’m always happy to learn new fun, creative ideas.