The Importance of Dead Hedges and Brash Piles for Wildlife

[@judithhope8970]

Our garden isnt massive but we wanted a dead hedge, so we put in a length of posts a foot apart so we can pile our cuttings into it. Its quite tall now, about four foot and quite dense. Its so useful for trimmings of dogwood and willow every spring, not to mention anything else we don't want to compost.

[@patcampton7163]

I have made a dead hedge which is a bit neater for an urban garden using larger branches , two at a time , but slightly apart and then putting brash, etc horizontally . It's looks good and you can keep adding to it. I also have log piles and a stumpery. Saves having to get rid of stuff. Love your videos. They have been very informative.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Pat, thank you, so much :) This sounds perfect and you'll be rewarded for not getting rid of stuff! So glad that you are enjoying the channel, I really appreciate the support. Best wishes, Joel

[@beaulieuc8910]

brilliant info. I have started to make some dead hedges in my garden in Kent. I love to watch it over time.

[@jamesdigby6072]

Two videos in one week- Great!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi James. Next video coming very soon, too….😉👍 Hope you’re well. Cheers, Joel

[@timcarrington5977]

Don’t worry about the traffic. We can hear you fine. Just keep talking. Thanks for the info.

[@markrowland5393]

Very useful. Thanks Joel.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks Mark 😊👍

[@stuartfreeborn1986]

Great video. Lots of useful and interesting information. Appreciate your passion and enthusiasm also. 🙂

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thank you Stuart - I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement, they really do make a difference to me - so many more videos to edit and upload (82 at last count!) but with the workload at present I am having to fit editing/uploading in when I can - but brace yourself for a tsunami of videos later in the Autumn! Best wishes, Joel

[@janestringer7225]

Really informative videos and very interesting. Thank you!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks so much Jane. Lots more to come on the channel shortly 😊👍

[@marie-pierberrouard7725]

We have a small farm in Canada and will be building a dead hedge this coming season. All thanks to you! Cheers!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Marie. That’s so good to hear! I’m So pleased that the channel is proving useful to you. Keep me posted as to how you get on and what turns up 😊👍

[@helenhawkins4054]

I have started my dead hedge this year, since watching your videos.😊

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I'm so thrilled about that Helen, thank you for letting me know, I really appreciate it :) Hope you've had a brilliant weekend - best wishes, Joel

[@simoncordingley3122]

Great stuff, Joel.

[@charliensam]

Joel, THANK YOU so much for sharing this information. I have just started my "wild garden" on our land and all the tips are such a blessing. I look forward to making some dead hedges for the wildlife & can't wait to see who moves in. 🐿🦔🐦

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Michele. I’m so pleased that the channel is proving to be helpful. All the best and keep up the good work 👍

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

Another good one Joel last summer our mature cherry was height reduced. We plan to put the thicker branches up right in the ground. I have always kept cuttings to make a dry pile, my dead hedge is enormous now after the cherry cut back was added to it.

[@laurencemanning1]

Great video! Don't worry about the traffic the voice is louder and does not get cancelled out by the passing vehicles. So no need to stop mid sentence 👍

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks Larry - I really appreciate that :) It's so difficult knowing how videos will be received, I just end up doing most of them ad-hoc when I think what I am doing will be of interest and help to others - I really appreciate your support - best wishes, Joel

[@dogproofwildlifegardening3164]

You are definitely a mind reader. I am just turning a 5m by 1m section of garden at the back of my shed into just such an area. I'm going to line the fence with steel sheeting offcuts I have left over from a roofing project to stop the fence rotting, then I can pile it up😊 Keep up the great work!

[@tanyastephens3187]

This was really useful info. We have a small field with blackthorn hedge all around it. We also have a fosse septic ( septic tank and sand bed) in the middle of it! Keeping the blackthorn from suckering into the sand bed is a bit of a problem. However we are going to cut the grass less and pile our wood pruning's etc into the hedge. We already have log piles that we started 25 years ago. Our very old quince tree is rotting away having fallen over many years ago. We have left it to mother nature.....all these small projects are making our gardening easier.......which is just what we need now we are getting older....it's a win win. Will be keeping an eye on your site ....keep up the good work.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thank you so much Tanya, really appreciated :) Guessing from the term Fosse Septic I am assuming you're in France? Everything you're doing, you're doing right and gardening with wildlife in mind is certainly a lot easier and less time consuming than "usual" gardening - I really do appreciate your support and there's lot on the channel to keep you amused I am sure. Best wishes to you and yours - Joel

[@warrentravers2408]

Thanks as ever! Ive been converting my allotment with advice from your book for a while now and its rejuvenated my love of the place plus I have a thriving population of lizards now. 🦎😊

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

You’re very welcome! I’m so pleased that the book is proving useful 😊 I’m only slightly jealous of your lizard population! 😉😆

[@charlesrodriguesable]

I came to your channel through Ms Alexandra from the MSG ! I watched your videos and love very much your philosophy… it’s already what I am doing in my garden, here in Switzerland (in a smaller scale) and what my father used to do, too. Thanks again for your videos. Hope you’ll do some more about how to manage meadows… take care.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Charles - I have around 60 videos that I am yet to upload, from garden projects to nature reserves - it's just finding the time at the moment to edit them all. I am so glad that you are enjoying the channel and your kind words mean a lot - I would love to see your garden, please feel free to contact me at [e-mail] - best wishes, Joel

[@RickWeberEcon]

I’ve accidentally done a bit of dead hedgery by putting too many uncut branches into compost heaps. Absolute-sorry about the cars-boon for bumblebees! Now I’m using dead hedges to use up the shady margins of my garden where a pollinator garden wouldn’t survive.

[@beaulieuc8910]

good idea

[@samjoseph7454]

Great video! Since last summer I’ve been putting all the cuttings from our small garden into a pile in a quiet corner, rather than throwing it away. Hoping the wildlife appreciates it this spring! :)

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Sam. That’s great to hear! I’m so pleased you’re already practicing this technique. Keep it up and the wildlife will no doubt reward you 😉👍

[@debbiehenri345]

I have a long dead hedge and several brash piles in my garden - and yes, they do attract the birds very well. (Pheasants like them too, and I had a clutch of pheasants appear in the garden for the first time last year). Interesting to learn of burying logs in the ground to attract beetles. I'll definitely do that one as I know Rhinoceros Beetles live in my area (never seen a Stag Beetle before).

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Debbie :) The Stag Beetles are found more in the South and East, they're trying to hang on - here's a quick video of some I found in a client's garden in the South East: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pneWi55opZ6iZs0 The Rhinoceros Beetles will certainly appreciate the dead log stacks - best wishes, Joel

[@hagechin]

Really interesting and informative video, Joel. The traffic noise didn’t make it difficult to hear you.

[@donnageorge-henderson5419]

Hey Joel, good to see you look well and still hard at work. Ooooh 5 hedgehogs - fantastic!! Great video and will have a go at making a messy patch of dead stuff. Like the idea of burying a few logs this year to create a new habitat too 😎

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Donna! Great to hear from you. How are things in the north?! Thanks for the continued support and for all that you do for wildlife. Lots more to come from the channel soon 😊👍

[@liannesim9558]

Brilliant, I am just cutting and I have a pile of sticks. I am not going to throw them away but leave them in my garden as a dead hedge!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

That’s great to hear, Lianne. Thanks so much. I’m really glad the videos are proving helpful.

[@blasterplayz1494]

U r great bro

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks so much 😊👍 Lots more videos to come soon 😁

[@keithroberts42]

I've been piling fig leaves, and in a corner more woody material just behind my little wildlife pond, hopefully the amphibian population will enjoy it. Keep up the good work, speak soon.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Keith. That’s great to hear! The wildlife will surely reward you 😉👍 Take care and keep doing what you’re doing 😊

[@PaulOutdoors]

Another marvellous watch and listen Joel. I love dead hedging. There are a pair of dunnocks bless them roosting in the dead hedge/brash pile the other side of my layed hedge. I suspect there are hedgehogs in there also as they have visited throughout winter. Dead hedging is also used to fill gaps and support live pleachers when hedge laying to maintain the lay when live stems are in short supply. Also when coppicing woodland, the brash would be organised in a similar fashion called windrows that were used to protect the coppice stools from browsing as well as to provide valuable dead wood habitat and nutrient flow back to the woodland floor. These windrows would also be a resource of various size and diameter stems that could be utilised at a future time if they weren't selected and extracted for use at the time of the coppice work for use as hedge laying stakes and binders etc. It saddens me nowadays to see some woodland floors littered with criss-cross piles of brash just left where they fell rather than used to form windrows in the traditional way. This is probably down to time and money to do the job as well as a lack of awareness. Let's make brash cool again. Paul 👍😊

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I think I need to come and interview you!! I'm not kidding... so many wise words in your response and they make total sense to me. Thanks so much - Joel

[@PaulOutdoors]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton To meet you Joel would be an absolute honour. I am not worthy but to be interviewed by you would be phenomenal. 👍😊

[@lynnrushton7458]

Great vid Joel.....we were hit by storm Arwen , and had a few trees down. The main one being a 70ft fir in our garden! Obviously we got a load of fire wood out of it for next year, but had masses of branches. Luckily we have land, so we now have a 20ft (length) pile of dead hedge for whichever beasties want to live under it. It was a huge job, but so worth it, knowing it’s providing a habitat for lots of wildlife. Oh! & I’m SOOOOO EXCITED! We’ve finally managed to empty our disgusting stinking pond which has been full of leaves & yuk, for the past 10 yrs.......and will be relocating it down into my ‘wild’ area next to the veg garden, for the frogs etc 👏👏🐸 so chuffed we got it out unscathed 😁 Bloomin love your channel‼️👌💜

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Lynn. I’m so sorry to hear about the fir tree - a knock for the local goldcrests and coal tits that’s for sure. At least the brash will provide good habitat for the local animals 😊 Great stuff re the pond too - a good time of year to relocate 👍 Thanks again for the continued support - it means a lot and I’m so pleased the content is helping people to create more habitats. Stay wild! Thanks Lynn.

[@lynnrushton7458]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thanks Joel.....luckily, still got another 6/7 firs for the gold crests etc 👍😁in fact we are pretty much surrounded by them ( count my blesssings every day ) 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

[@UkAmphibians]

Great work Joel glad to see more content on your channel 🐸💚🐸

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks mate. More coming shortly. Hope you’re well 😊👍

[@UkAmphibians]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton brilliant to hear mate yes all good here hope you and the family are too 🐸💚🐸

[@colinjennings8778]

Great Channel. That hedge next to the road needs sorting, clear away the ivy, lay it, gap up where needed in a few years it will be nice and thick again, if left it will just die off.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Colin - thank you, glad you are enjoying the videos. Yes, this was mooted to the clients but they didn't want a gap there at the moment, we carry out regular maintenance here so we will encourage it in time :) Thanks for your support, best wishes - Joel

[@helenbeynon1769]

Thank you so much for this very informative video, yesterday I did something very similar in a little woodland that runs by our house, unfortunately it does not appear to be managed so I got rid of all litter and just did what you suggested but I didn't understand why it was a good idea. So now I know. 🌷 What sort of trees would grow fast and effectively in a man made container like railway sleepers etc? We are needing some trees that act as a screen and provide a lovely habit for wildlife! Any help would be really appreciated! Helen xx🌷

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Helen, so glad that this video was helpful to you - it will depend on the size of the container of course but I would recommend Hazel, Goat Willow, Rowan, Crab Apple - here's a quick video where I mention a lot of these trees: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJ6ZZmqKnbx9qJo I hope this is helpful to you - always feel free to drop me a line at [e-mail] if you wanted to send a photo of the area you plan and I can help further - best wishes, Joel

[@arialblack87]

Hello Joel! On the matter of dead hedges, I'm worried about fire. The area is wet in autumn and winter, but very prone to wild fire in summer (north west of Spain) and i wonder: is the fungi and the general decomposition going on enough to stop it from being a fire hazard or are dead hedges better applied in wetter areas? Thank you so much for your videos, that are getting better and better And again, LOVE your book. I go back to it very often to check plant lists, etc. Full of information, inspiration and lovely pictures. Highly recommended!!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi! Thank you for such a lovely comment! I’m so pleased that the videos are helping and inspiring you and many others 😊 I would say that in all honesty, they would remain a fire risk for some time, as the rate of decomposition would be slow in such dry conditions. I would aim to keep them in wetter areas, or areas that are out of harms reach if they did catch fire, and aren’t close to any other trees etc. I hope that helps and thank you again for the support. I’m so pleased the book is being used as a good reference 😊 Take care

[@markhunter2244]

Hi Joel, excellent video again. I’ve got a few small log piles in the garden, but they are all stacked horizontally so would be nice to see the video showing the vertical stacking 🐝

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Mark. Thanks for the continued support 👍 I’m trying to find the right garden/space for the log pile vid, but I’ll get it done for you at the first opportunity 👍 Hope you’re well mate

[@carolinekloppert5177]

brilliant

[@dcvariousvids8082]

Excellent use of brash. I don’t know why so many people burn brash, if they’ve got somewhere to put it. As to coppicing, I’m a definite fan. Yes nature knows best but the practice doesn’t just cut out good growth, it encourages new growth from old; given enough space & time depending on species, can create new stools, while keeping the original; create an ongoing supply of firewood, pea sticks, carving material, stakes & heatherings, whips for hurdles, materials for woven bee hives & baskets; and dead hedging. Which as you’ve shown, can be a great wildlife habitat & food, not only to existing creatures but also to encourage back lost fauna & flora. And if there’s not a handy live hedge, can form corridors for small mammals. If you’re in a woodland where deer roam, prickly brash together with some small brash, can be loosely piled back on cut stools, to protect new shoots from being nibbled. While allowing nesting birds protective cover. If there’s sheep around and you’ve just stripped ivy from an area or fallen/felled tree. Just pile it up where the sheep can get at it, they love it, (as in the nursery rhyme).

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey :) Great to read this, thanks so much and great advice in your comment - thanks also for being part of this wonderful community and for making complete sense! Best wishes - Joel

[@tuscan440r]

Would it be beneficial to put this as ground cover at bottom of a young native hedgerow?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi. Good to hear from you. Yes you could do that, absolutely 👍

[@alisonburgess345]

Can you make a dead hedge more structured-looking by using posts either side of it to kind of hold the horizontal branches in place? I reckon they could be a really useful windbreak. I'm thinking of setting up one to see how it goes and whether any creatures will use it. This is a terrific video Joel. Hardly noticed the cars and trucks...

[@debbiehenri345]

I expect it is. I have a 'Twig Hedge' hemmed in on one side by an old stone wall and a wire mesh fence running parallel to it, with a gap of 3-4 feet running in between. The Twig Hedge is around 200ft long and works like a dream. It's full of birds, and I have to work hard to keep it topped up with fresh brush as it breaks down into this very dark rich compost at the bottom (I use a little of it to top up containers). So I think some upright posts to keep a heap of brash confined would be just fine. It'll stop storm winds blowing it over for starters.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Absolutely Alison - it's your land after all :) Do try it and do let me know how you get on - thanks again for all your support - best wishes, Joel

[@greycatblue]

Great video Joel. Our dead hedges have been building up nicely for a few years now. Can rowans be coppiced? I planted 3 a bit too close to other trees, and they have never had berries. Thanks, and best wishes to you and your family.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi. Good to hear from you. So pleased you’ve been practicing this for a while. Yes, Rowan’s can indeed be coppiced, but best done before they get too big. It should encourage berries more too 👍 Hope you’re well over there 😁

[@anemone104]

Black, hard fungi shown are King Alfred's cakes or cramp balls. Beloved of bush craft folk for lighting fires. Usually found on ash, I wonder how they'll fare after ash dieback.... Dead hedges are also great as a one-shot tactic for restoring derelict coppice to keep out browsing deer. Deer, unfortunately, can adversely effect the possibilies of future economically-viable re-cutting of the coppice. Certainly true in the woods in which I work!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey - yes, had a mind-block with that fungi, that's the trouble with doing these videos ad-hoc when I'm on sites and not having any time to confirm my thoughts ;) I bet you have some brilliant wildlife encounters when you're working too - best wishes, Joel

[@anemone104]

I sympathise. My posts are full of halts, spoonerisms and malapropisms. Best wishes right back to you, Nem.@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@anemone104 Hey Nem, didn't realise you had a channel - I've just subscribed though and when I'm back later this evening will have a look, looked full of great info when I sub'd just now. Many thanks - Joel

[@anemone104]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshtonThanks for subscribing. My stuff tends to be on the 'wild' side, trying to present imformation about natural ecosystems and interrelationships between species hoping to get people to observe, question and get more out of their 'habitat'.. Not that any UK terrestrial or marine habitats ARE entirely natural as human kind has modified them all! It's a bit of a grab-bag of stuff as I haven't been posting long and I've not figured out how to edit and I don't script. Hope you find interesting stuff. Best wishes, Nem.

[@NatashaAidinyantz]

That was King Alfred's Cake fungus. Could have been this year they are rock hard naturally. Great for tinder too

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi. I realised as much after I’d watched the video back 😆 Thanks for letting me know

[@natalya4791]

Is Benjes hedge same as dead hedge? Can I locate excessive half wood / half green branches (with leaves and flowers) from pruning hydrangea inside such hedge? As well as blackberry branches as they grow like weeds and lots of them cut and lying down here needing disposal?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Natalya. Any shrubby vegetation, including bramble and hydrangea cuttings will work for a dead hedge 😊👍

[@sallydavies2563]

I stacked a load of prunings at the back of our garden to block a gap in the hedge where our dog could get through to next door’s garden. 6 months later I saw the first of our hedgehogs in the garden. Might be a coincidence but I’d like to think I helped 🙂

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Absolutely it did! A great hiding place for overwintering frogs and toads too, it's such an underrated habitat and am so glad you were suitably rewarded for this - best wishes, Joel

[@wren5291]

Nice video. I wasn't particularly bothered by the cars as I could hear you well👍🏼 Did you say we're in the middle of March now?!😲

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Haha! I am not sure, will have to listen to that one again - this was a video that I took last year and didn't manage to upload in time, then it wasn't appropriate until now so I thought I'd better upload it while I had the chance! ;) Hope you're doing fine, thanks again for the consistent support - best wishes as always, Joel

[@wren5291]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Haha, I did consider that you had filmed it at a different time of year - it made me feel as if I had time travelled😆 Although, the info is still applicable and very much appreciated. Keeping busy bird feeding and watching👍🏼

[@glps6167]

Please add the date/time of the year to your videos.

[@micksmusicchannel]

Great video Joel. These days were obsessed with how things look rather than the benefits that are not always seen. That fungi looks like King Alfred's cakes. Yes, that's its name 😁👍

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thanks Mick. Yes, as soon as I watched it back, I remembered the name! 😆 We do indeed need to be less tidy. Hope you’re well and thank you for the continued support 👍

[@micksmusicchannel]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton you're welcome Joel, I've been waiting for your content because it's always quality stuff. Have a great evening and sending you and yours my very best 🙂

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@micksmusicchannel thank you 😊👍 All the best to you. Next one coming very soon 😁😉

[@PaulyV56]

Cars aren"t going away mate, can hardly hear them, your stopping is more of a nuisance. Great Information. Happy Trails.

[@EdurtreG]

Two things: no need to stop talking when cars pass by, you are still very audible. Second: you look a bit like a deer with your protectioncap upright.😉 Nice video.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thank you Esther, and yes... I have to be careful during rutting season! ;)

[@deidrabrey4043]

I've been waiting for someone to come with a trailer to pick up another load of old dead trees and dead wood but now I think I'll just leave it.

[@carlstoner2012]

King Alfred cakes fungus lives on Ash.

[@lis819]

I coppiced my coffee tree: it died.