First Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge: I Challenge You To Use Find a Use for Tree Debris

 

 Dear Middle Tennesseans affected by ice storm Fern,  I challenge you to find a use for some of the twigs, branches and tree trunks that are all over your neighborhoods and yards. Although the ice storm was in late January there are still piles of tree debris on many streets. 

 

 

To Recap what happened in Nashville and much of Middle Tennessee in January

Winter storm Fern caused catastrophic damage to our tree canopy.  Metro Parks estimated they lost more than 6000 trees throughout the entire park system. I can't even imagine how many trees have been lost across Nashville neighborhoods. Driving through my neighborhood and beyond I see very few yards that aren't affected by tree loss or damage. 

 

Tree debris is still piled everywhere. It's devastating to see the tattered and thinned tree canopy.

If I had the back and a truck I would grab so much of this wood

 

 

I've been especially concerned about how the loss of trees will impact bird populations.

Loss of the tree canopy means:

• Habitat disruption: birds have no familiar places to nest or roost
• Food scarcity: Trees provide important bird foods-sap, nuts, dormant insects
• Humans must provide more nutrient rich foods
• Nesting challenges: Loss of traditional nesting sites for returning migratory birds means a huge impact on migratory birds. Think about what awaits Purple Martins since many of their preferred trees were lost in downtown Nashville.
• Loss of nesting and food means reduced productivity-No baby birds
• Loss of cover and safety issues -Many of the trees downed were evergreens. Fewer evergreens affects safety from predators and harsh weather. 

 

Here's some thoughts on what we can do and to prepare for ice and wind storms in the future (source) 

•  Regularly Prune: Hire an arborist for "crown thinning". That's a selective pruning method that removes 10-30% of interior branches to increase light penetration and air circulation throughout the canopy, reducing disease risk and wind resistance without changing the tree's size or shape. It strengthens branches, reduces weight, and improves tree health. It is not tree topping.

• Structural Support: If recommended use steel cables and bracing for trees with co-dominant stems (V-shaped unions).
• Young Tree Care: Structural pruning when trees are young creates to create a strong framework
• Watering: Ensure trees are watered deep into the soil before winter, as hydrated, healthy trees resist ice damage better.

And now suggestions for the challenge!

If a tree needs to be cut down leave a snag

source

Snags in my garden.

 

dying Ash that was left as a snag

Oak damaged in storm left as a snag

 Use fallen limbs to line your garden beds

 

Allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.

 Twigs and branches play a crucial role in promoting healthy soil: adding essential organic matter to your garden soil, improving soil structure, enhancing water retention, and providing nutrients as it breaks down over time.

Use smaller twigs and branches as filler in the bottom of large containers. They act as a sustainable filler that improves drainage, boosts aeration, and reduces the weight of the pot. It's my mini-version of Hügelkultur, turning yard waste into a nutrient-rich foundation for my plants. 
 

branches and twigs stacked between metal poles and an old bed frame

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are also good bird, toad and small critter food.

 
Use a tree stump as support for a larger container.

a slice of cedar with legs 

 
Use pieces of downed branches and trunks as benches in your garden or to make trellises and arches.

Be creative and have fun...We found what arborists call cookies (above) and we plan to dry them add legs to make tables. And look at the critter we found (below) last year that makes us smile every time we pass by it.

Have some fun, feed your creativity, help nature and feel free to add more suggestions and to share your ideas with everyone! xoxogail

 

Here's a recap of what the First Wednesday Monthly Challenge is all about.

 

Want to Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?

The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post it? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

• Gone are the lightening bugs.
• Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
• Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
• Gone is plant diversity. 
• Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
• Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
• Gone is a healthy foodweb.
  

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.