Fall cleaning- don't get too fussy

By Beth Sullivan

As we wind up our fall cleaning, we often make piles of leaves that will compost, but sometimes we are left with fallen branches and limbs that are too big to compost easily, and we just don’t want to haul to the landfill. In my own garden I can make nice piles of sticks and branches and always notice that those piles are the first places that Sparrows and Wrens seem to choose when the day ends and the weather gets cold.

A Song Sparrow perches on top of a brush pile but later will find refuge inside it.

We are doing fall clean up on the preserves as well, but we do not try and get rid of all our woody rough debris. Deep in the woodlands, these branches, some still with leaves, would be left to decay naturally. Those closest to the ground will be affected by ground moisture and start to rot first. A log on the ground provides shelter for numerous life forms, from worms and slugs, insects, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and on up to salamanders, small mammals like mice and shrews and voles, and even snakes. The tangle of branches that remain suspended above the ground will decay more slowly. They provide shelter and cover for some of the same creatures, but also larger mammals, including rabbits and squirrels and birds, will inhabit the top levels. Think of a small mammal or bird being pursued by a hawk. The tangle of branches protects the smaller creatures while thwarting the predator.

During the winter, the snow cover helps insulate the pile. 

Brush piles feed the soil

Over time, the leaves, small branches, and pieces of wood continue to decay. Beetles move in, and termites and ants take up residence in the rotting wood. Worms do their part in composting and recycling. Nutrients return to the forest floor and nourish remaining plants.

In Summer, vines and plants grow in the brush pile.

Where tree limbs come down on the trails on Avalonia Preserves, it can be a big effort to remove them and open the trails and make them safe. In many cases we are able to make well -constructed brush piles. Instead of loosely arrayed branches just left on the side of the trail, a beneficial brush pile is denser, more solidly piled. Heavier pieces are left closer to the ground to provide support and structure as well as good sized gaps close to the ground. Mid -sized branches are criss -crossed on top next, and the whole pile is covered with smaller pieces, especially evergreen boughs, to fill in the gaps. Think of the pile covered deep in snow in the dead of winter. The smaller spaces within are protected from biting winds and even retain some warmth from the ground in the face of sub-freezing temperatures. Small mammals can stash food-nuts, seeds, grasses-eliminating the need to venture out.  Birds also will find protection within. Sparrows and wrens in particular make use of man-made piles.

While clearing invasive species, the debris is left to cover the ground in many places.

To make a good brush pile, put bigger pieces on the bottom, making nice holes.

Then pile on brush for shelter. 

Look for brush piles as you walk

As you walk on one of our Preserves, look for man-made brush piles. Paffard Woods has several and Perry Natural area as well. There are piles from Red Oaks and some from White Pine that were toppled by Storm Sandy in 2012 and are still present and providing shelter. The Knox Preserve has been cleaned up and the bigger piles removed to get out of the way of our mowing efforts. You will notice piles along the trails that look messy and off the top of the knoll there is a dense pile of cut limbs. This is quite deliberate. We have cut invasive vines and treated the stumps to prevent regrowth, but the branches were left in place to provide the cover that the birds enjoy. Observe from a distance to see what activity occurs at the piles. Later in the winter, when snow covers the ground, look for tracks and trails leading to and from the piles. Nature does a good job of protecting small creatures, but Volunteers can enhance the effort with great success.

Woodchucks will make their entry holes at the base of a brush pile for greater protection.

I suggest making a small pile in your yard and garden where you can watch from indoors and enjoy the activity.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan. 

Don't forget to support Avalonia Land Conservancy through the Amazon Smile program. 

This post originally appeared November 30, 2015.

Dealing with Windfalls

By Beth Sullivan

Happily ( hopefully ), we still have some lovely days ahead of us to be out in the yard and woods. This year we seem to have an abundance of debris left on the ground by the wind storms of this past month. As stewards we can’t possibly take all the limbs and branches to the land fill. We know there are many good uses for what Mother Nature has left behind from her annual tree shake-out.

A Song Sparrow perches on top of a brush pile but later will find refuge inside.

A great deal of what has come down will stay on the ground, settling closer and closer to the earth and, gradually becoming composted, will re-nourish the soil. Bigger pieces take longer, but before they settle and rot they are of great use to wildlife. The bark and wood remain accessible, and are even more tempting to beetles, bugs and all sorts of creatures, which in turn attract woodpeckers and other birds to probe and poke. Under the wooden debris the earth often remains somewhat warmer and soft, longer into the cold season, making great places to shelter many kinds of invertebrates, salamanders, snakes, and other cold blooded creatures that will ultimately retreat deeper into the ground.

During winter the snow cover helps insulate the pile.

Help Mother Nature

We can assist the efforts by creating brush piles in areas where the autumn abundance has left us plenty of material. Believe it or not there is an art to making a good and longer-lasting brush pile that will welcome and shelter all manner of wildlife through the winter. The CT DEEP has a webpage dedicated to this. Their big projects often require BIG brush piles, but it doesn’t take heavy machinery to make a great protective place for wildlife. In my own woods I know the piles I make are not perfect, but they are always the places the sparrows and wrens seem to find first when the temperature drops.

Instead of loosely piled branches just left on the side of the trail, a beneficial brush pile is more solidly structured for durability. Heavier pieces are placed lowest down to provide support and structure as well as good sized gaps close to the ground. Mid-sized branches are criss–crossed in several layers on top next, and the whole pile is covered with smaller pieces, especially evergreen boughs, to add that final layer of insulation and protection. Think of the pile covered deep in snow in the dead of winter. The smaller spaces within are protected from biting winds and even retain some warmth from the ground in the face of sub-freezing temperatures. Small mammals can stash food nuts, seeds, and grasses eliminating the need to venture out. Birds also will find protection within. Larger predators cannot squeeze into the small spaces of sanctuary in the pile.

When you get out for a hike over these next months of cold, notice places where stewards have left piles along the trails. Some are simply piles which work fine for shelter, but some are more purposefully constructed to give our wildlife an extra hand.

Brush does not need to go to a landfill, but consolidated into useful piles.

To make a good brush pile, put bigger pieces on the bottom, making nice holes.

Then pile on brush for shelter

Watch that pile

If you still have the time and energy to do a bit more yard work, and you are lucky enough to have access to some woody debris left over from November storms, try out a deliberately created brush pile. If you can make it in in a place where you can observe it from a window, you will be rewarded with a new form of winter wildlife watching. Keep your eyes out for birds and check for mammal tracks. One friend had a young opossum find safety in her brush pile for the length of a long cold winter. I like to scatter bird seed, dried fruits and crumbled suet in and around my brush pile. It becomes a glorified bird feeder. Your can report your observations to Project Feeder Watch here. I often get a few unique birds at my brush pile feeder.

You don't need big equipment to make a brush pile but it helps.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan.

Don't get too fussy with Fall cleaning

By Beth Sullivan

As we wind up our fall cleaning, we often make piles of leaves that will compost, but sometimes we are left with fallen branches and limbs that are too big to compost easily, and we just don’t want to haul to the landfill. In my own garden I can make nice piles of sticks and branches and always notice that those piles are the first places that Sparrows and Wrens seem to choose when the day ends and the weather gets cold.

A Song Sparrow perches on top of a brush pile but later will find refuge inside it.

We are doing fall clean up on the preserves as well, but we do not try and get rid of all our woody rough debris. Deep in the woodlands, these branches, some still with leaves, would be left to decay naturally. Those closest to the ground will be affected by ground moisture and start to rot first. A log on the ground provides shelter for numerous life forms, from worms and slugs, insects, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and on up to salamanders, small mammals like mice and shrews and voles, and even snakes. The tangle of branches that remain suspended above the ground will decay more slowly. They provide shelter and cover for some of the same creatures, but also larger mammals, including rabbits and squirrels and birds, will inhabit the top levels. Think of a small mammal or bird being pursued by a hawk. The tangle of branches protects the smaller creatures while thwarting the predator.

During the winter, the snow cover helps insulate the pile. 

Brush piles feed the soil

Over time, the leaves, small branches, and pieces of wood continue to decay. Beetles move in, and termites and ants take up residence in the rotting wood. Worms do their part in composting and recycling. Nutrients return to the forest floor and nourish remaining plants.

In Summer, vines and plants grow in the brush pile.

Where tree limbs come down on the trails on Avalonia Preserves, it can be a big effort to remove them and open the trails and make them safe. In many cases we are able to make well -constructed brush piles. Instead of loosely arrayed branches just left on the side of the trail, a beneficial brush pile is denser, more solidly piled. Heavier pieces are left closer to the ground to provide support and structure as well as good sized gaps close to the ground. Mid -sized branches are criss -crossed on top next, and the whole pile is covered with smaller pieces, especially evergreen boughs, to fill in the gaps. Think of the pile covered deep in snow in the dead of winter. The smaller spaces within are protected from biting winds and even retain some warmth from the ground in the face of sub-freezing temperatures. Small mammals can stash food-nuts, seeds, grasses-eliminating the need to venture out. Birds also will find protection within. Sparrows and wrens in particular make use of man-made piles.

While clearing invasive species, the debris is left to cover the ground in many places.

To make a good brush pile, put bigger pieces on the bottom, making nice holes.

Then pile on brush for shelter. 

Look for brush piles as you walk

As you walk on one of our Preserves, look for man-made brush piles. Paffard Woods has several and Perry Natural area as well. There are piles from Red Oaks and some from White Pine that were toppled by Storm Sandy in 2012 and are still present and providing shelter. The Knox Preserve has been cleaned up and the bigger piles removed to get out of the way of our mowing efforts. You will notice piles along the trails that look messy and off the top of the knoll there is a dense pile of cut limbs. This is quite deliberate. We have cut invasive vines and treated the stumps to prevent regrowth, but the branches were left in place to provide the cover that the birds enjoy. Observe from a distance to see what activity occurs at the piles. Later in the winter, when snow covers the ground, look for tracks and trails leading to and from the piles. Nature does a good job of protecting small creatures, but Volunteers can enhance the effort with great success.

Woodchucks will make their entry holes at the base of a brush pile for greater protection.

I suggest making a small pile in your yard and garden where you can watch from indoors and enjoy the activity.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan. 

Don't forget to support Avalonia Land Conservancy through the Amazon Smile program. 

Building a better brush pile

By Beth Sullivan

The problem with a partial “ beauty makeover” is that the untouched parts really look awful by comparison!! Over the past weeks you read of work parties giving a face lift to the stone walls along Paffard Woods. They look great. But it made us realize the rest of the area needed a face lift too! There was still a lot of post Hurricane Sandy debris, drying and browning all around the parking area. A couple of us decided to continue the make over before things got growing.

This preserve is in a place of high visibility, passed by residents and visitors to our town as they travel North Main Street. It is beloved by hikers of all ages as it has a great variety of habitats and scenery. There are geocaches and fairy houses. Wood frogs and Peepers are making their chorus now. Pine groves line the road on the eastern edge; the trails lead down to a beautiful clear and often swift running stream, Stony Brook. Views of rocky ledges, small caves, large beech trees, glacial erratic boulders and vernal pools meet the eye around each corner. The loop trails follow stone walls with old Oak “Nooning trees”, allow places to stop along the brook and then pass over interesting stream crossings before leading back up and around to a field edge and back along the pines to the entrance and parking area.

Stony Brook in Paffard Woods Preserve.

Beech trees and rock ledges are common features in the Woods.

Sadly it is often a “night time” meeting spot and dumping area so we were faced with an odd assortment of litter and debris. Pretty awful. We decided to dismantle the huge brush pile that was thrown together haphazardly after the storm, in order to get to bigger pieces that needed better cutting to be more manageable. What to do with it all? Well, we made another brush pile! But this time it was created in a way to encourage wildlife. Yes, there is a way to build a better pile!

Dumped garden waste detracts from the beauty of these woodlands.

Starting with the largest pieces, small logs, we laid them down as a base, parallel to each other with at least 10-12 inches between them. The next layer was slightly smaller pieces, but still solid, and laid in a cross hatch manner over the base. The next layer above that was more or less placed the same as the first. This produced great nooks and crannies, holes and openings, near the ground, that tunneling mammals so love. Mice, voles, chipmunks and rabbits will nest inside the protected base areas. After those layers, things get a little less organized and brush is smaller and lain atop the base. It can be angled up from the sides, but the smaller branches on the top then make a denser cover for birds to fly into. Some birds, like wrens, will nest in the piles, but they are essential cover for many species of fledglings. We ended up with quite the wildlife resort!

The base layer should be the largest logs.

The second layer should be cross hatched over the first.

The third layer should make another cross hatch.

Top with brush, piled high for shelter.

There is still more to be done. Some really big pine trunks need to be cut and moved. A work party will follow soon. It still looks pretty brown and broken in places, but soon the green season will soften the edges and cover the winter gray.

There's always more to do, consider helping at the next work party.

Look at the brush pile for signs of life and think of it as a safe haven. Children enjoy making little Fairy houses in the woods. Avalonia Volunteers think BIG…and make more brush piles for wildlife. Get your kids to help you do the same in your yard or wood lot!

Photographs by Beth Sullivan.