Dead wood

Dead wood in the garden is a valuable habitat and food source for a variety of wildlife. From fungi and centipedes to beetles, hedgehogs, and birds, dead and decaying wood supports the full web of life in the ecosystem. Not only that, but recycling dead wood in your garden is also a sustainable practice that makes use of the resources you already have.

Here are some ways to incorporate more dead wood into your garden:

• Create damp log piles for toads and newts to hibernate in.

• Bury logs in the soil for beetle larvae to live in.

• Stack branches in a quiet corner or push twigs under the bottom of a hedge or shrub to create a space for mice to nest.

• Leave tree stumps and grow clematis or ivy up them.

• Create a "dead hedge" by stacking old branches from prunings to form shelter for hedgehogs and other mammals.

• Use dead wood as a garden sculpture, it can look very sculptural and beautiful, especially in the winter garden.

Garden designer Nigel Dunnett used piles of logs in wave formations as part of the planting at his private garden in the Peak District. There are many possibilities for incorporating dead wood into your garden, so get creative and see how you can turn something that may seem like a liability into a valuable asset for your garden's ecosystem.