One Of The Rarest Habitats in The UK . . .

In this video we discuss one of the rarest habitats now found in the UK and one that is vital for wildlife.
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#WildlifeGarden #Deadwood #Garden #Nature #Wildlife #Woodpeckers #LesserSpottedWoodpecker #Beetles #Wild #Rewilding #WildYourGarden #JoelAshton #WildlifeGarden #gardeningforwildlife #gardeningtips

[@ChopsyMiche]

Absolutely beautiful. A perfect end to my day x

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Glad you enjoyed this Miche - another France episode tonight - I made it to the breathtaking Pyrenees :) Best wishes, Joel

[@ChopsyMiche]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton That must have been incredibly breathtaking, like taking your soul on a beautiful spiritual journey x That is now imprinted on your heart to take with you wherever you go x

[@markhunter2244]

Super video highlighting all the virtues of dead wood, I may not have the space in my garden for a fallen Oak but I do have plenty of log piles. Loved the shot of the hummingbird hawk moth 🐝

[@george-1961]

That’s why we need you to keep on educating us Joel 😉

[@453421abcdefg12345]

I a hot and dry climate these standing dead trees provide habitat for many years, we have them gradually being pecked away for the beetle larvae they contain by the many Woodpeckers we have here, even the Black Woodpecker is active here, and I saw a Lesser Spotted only this morning, the Lichen that lives on these dead branches is a very good sign of the air quality we have here as well, as a side note we had 15 Red Kites in one of our dead Oaks last week, an amazing sight! Stay Safe! Chris B.

[@onemanfran]

We have a dead hawthorn and privet hedge at the back of the garden. The ivy is starting to overtake the dead hedge and fill it in, the wrens live in there. We did have to sadly remove quite a bit of the dead tree as it fell over in a place we couldn't leave it, but we tried to keep as much as we could. I made the mistake of removing a dead buddleia stump and nearly killed two stag beetle larvae, so I'm now very careful.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks for this Fran, there's a video on the channel about stag beetles, you might enjoy it :) So glad that you saw them in time, not so many gardeners are looking out for them (or any other wildlife!) - the ivy cover sounds fantastic and it's proven already that it's a great nesting site. If you have a holly in the garden you'll certainly be visited by the Holly Blue. Keep up the great, and considerate, work Fiona - best wishes, Joel

[@Toxicmindset]

Thank you for sharing! I learned something today! x

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

You're very welcome Kelsey, and thank you for the encouragement, so glad you enjoyed this - best wishes, Joel

[@SnugglesPlays]

"Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, whisper words of wisdom, let it be" as the Beatles once sang! You are so right, I wish everybody could see that. Nature is not neat and tidy! 🙂❤

[@SIC647]

Here in Denmark the official recommendations for the councils have changed in the last 5-8 years and they now leave a lot more dead trees in public wooded areas. It is a joy to see. They have also started to mow roadsides less.

[@amandacundy2360]

Hi Joel, we live in south west France and we are lucky enough to have a good size garden/ meadow surrounded by trees, and we have several areas in the garden where we randomly pile up all the deadwood that falls over the year and just leave it be. We’ve got this beautiful lichen on a lot of our trees, not just the dead ones! I’m really excited to be getting a bee hive soon too…. We will be leaving big areas of the meadow un mown this year too, we have no idea what will grow but hopefully not just grass, next year we’ll add to it once we know what we’ve got.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Amanda, so sorry for the delay, just trying to catch up with all the comments, not a complaint though, it's so good to read messages like yours and so good to hear about the lichen. Keep me updated on the meadow, sounds wonderful, would love to see how it progresses - I hope you find the channel helpful too. Best wishes, Joel

[@debbiehenri345]

I'm afraid a dead branch coming down on my head some years ago has made me somewhat tidier than I used to be. Saw stars for 3 days. I do, however, leave multiple piles of branches stacked around the garden, and have a long 3-4ft high 'twig' hedge made up of sticks, branches and logs sandwiched between my wire fence and stone wall (a gap 1 metre wide). It's quite long, at least 150ft - and is probably the reason why I have so many wrens in the garden. I do have the good fortune to have lots of healthy lichens growing on some of my living trees. SW Scotland is very humid (and seems to be getting more so), and I must have around 4 species of lichen growing on my Alders and Birch. The very fine leaved, fluffy sort of lichen makes a nice tea.

[@helenhawkins4054]

Well said.👏🏼

[@itsmewende]

You give me the ok to be the lazy winter gardener I've turned into. I actually stopped mowing about a 1/4 acre last summer, cut about 20 mins off my mowing time. That tree looks like it has dusty miller silverado growing on it, it's really beautiful. Hope you guys have had a wonderful weekend.

[@alfonsdepalfons]

In Holland the concept of leaving dead wood in the forest insted of tidying it all up is now common practice in most local authorities. At least something among all the things they still do wrong.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Alfons, that's brilliant to hear re the deadwood. I hope you have had a chance to see the wildlife friendly town that I uploaded a few days ago, it really does show what is achievable and how some towns/residents think of nature in everything they do :) Best wishes, Joel

[@AmirsAllotment]

Great video Joel, makes us stop and think about how even a fallen tree can provide the ideal habitat for birds and mammals. Reminded me of the Keane song as you came across a fallen tree 🤣 sorry couldn’t help myself

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

“I felt the branches of it looking at meeee..” 😆 Good reference Amir! Love Keane! 😁 Yes indeed though, we need to be encouraging deadwood, everywhere! 😊👍

[@AmirsAllotment]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton lichen what you did there 🤭

[@louiselund2419]

today we have made fences with cut branches, and saved some that we can place elsewhere in the garden. the posts for the fence are two types of wood that are not treated but simply dug into the ground. And hope it's better than nothing, and yes we have plans to make a pond

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Fantastic Louise, comments like yours really can change a hard day :) It's so good to read that so many people are doing their bit, and more - it's the simplicity that will work. Well done, you will certainly be rewarded - best wishes, Joel

[@louiselund2419]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thank you for the kind words. It is wonderful to have a garden where you can decide for yourself and can hopefully do a lot for nature, even if it will probably take a few years. Could you make a video on how to improve a lawn with a lot of moss in it.

[@seanhammond8537]

My garden is not big enough for trees .but I have dwarf fruit trees in pots and set up bird feeder in big pot I mostly get starlings but this morning I had a squirrel eating the nuts such a buzz also bought your book cheers and keep up good work Joel 👍

[@SisterDogmata]

Hey Joel! Great video, I had never even considered leaving dead wood standing. Great to learn something new and a way to make another difference. Hope you and yours all doing well, Nice to be getting out and about with grandkids again seeing everything coming back to life after the winter. Spring has sprung! Best wishes.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hello over there! So sorry I've been tardy with the responses lately but it's quite difficult to keep up with all the notifications, I sometimes forget there's so many more videos on the channel and comments need answering on those too, not just the latest :) Anyway, I am so glad you're spending more quality time with the grandkids and spotting those first wonderful signs of Spring. Glad too that this has given you another idea for dead wood :) Good to know you're all well - best wishes, Joel

[@markorop]

great video

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thank you Marko - I hope you are doing well, we really must catch up properly :) I expect Slovenia will be looking like a fairytale in the next month or so, best wishes as always - Joel

[@albertogarciasewjee4965]

Very true video!! Deadwood in forests (and other ecosystems) is as important as live trees, it's a pity how each time they are becoming scarcer. Thanks for making others (and me) conscious about this!! Carry on educating!!

[@UkAmphibians]

Great advice joel it’s amazing how much life lives there. It goes for the left over seeds on plants too which I leave to overwinter then when I collect the remains I put in an open tub in the garden before I use the wildflower seeds and you should see all the insects climb out back into the garden.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Absolutely spot-on, as always :) Thanks for adding this, love that you sure your knowledge - hope you've had a good weekend, Joel

[@spencersanderson1894]

Great video Joel! We do need to leave more dead wood and standing dead wood! France seems to be a lot more relaxed and doesn’t seem to want everything all neat and tidy, great to see! Take care.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks Spencer, I really appreciate your continued encouragement. I knew you'd know about the importance of this :) Yep, France certainly isn't perfect (is any country?) but they seem to have such a different attitude, and as you say it's not about neat and tidy but at the same time you see no littered motorways or verges, just wildflowers - wondering if people in UK might feel "guiltier" if they were throwing things onto wildflower verges rather than scalped grass with no pleasing aesthetic?...

[@spencersanderson1894]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton That is ok, it’s my pleasure! Yes it is something we try to do on our site I work at, very important habitat! And no certainly not, haha you’re right, I don’t think any country is perfect. But yes they certainly do seem a little more relaxed, we could take a leaf out of their book. I think people probably would be a lot less likely to litter if it was full of wildflowers and wildlife, if people find something attractive I would hope they wouldn’t want to ruin that.

[@williammallender8391]

I love lichen, am I right in thinking that it's a good indicator of air quality?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I believe some are, but others can grow in more polluted areas, I'm not too hot when it comes to identifying them unfortunately, but I love lichen too :)

[@biddiemutter3481]

It saddened me that the grounds people have dug up a whole lot of top soil to remove wild garlic outside my home. I hope they aren't planning to pave the area... I don't have a say in it

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

That's pretty awful, are you in the UK Biddie and was it on public ground? Such a shame and it's heart-breaking to witness such wanton and cavalier destruction. I'm sorry. Best wishes, Joel

[@biddiemutter3481]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton yes, Sussex. I live in rented accommodation and the landlord is a company. The contractor seems to know little about what they're doing!