Garden Waste Dead Wood Hedge
Emanuela
October 2020
Garden Waste Dead Wood Hedge
Growing a natural hedge to attract a whole range of creatures and micro-organisms
I came across this kind of natural hedge when I was looking for a cheap alternative to fence our vegetable garden. I liked the look of it and after I read a few articles on these amazing hedges I realized this idea wasn't just giving me the protection I needed but it was an incredible solution to dispose of our garden waste while contributing to the environment and natural diversity.
It's construction is very simple. I hammered 2 small posts into the ground one in front of the other at various intervals considering that the distance between these 2 posts determines the width of the garden waste hedge. I then filled the space between the rows of posts with branches, twigs, roots, Christmas tree carcass, rotten boards and whatever else I needed to dispose of in the garden. Next I stamped everything down and continued the process as the garden grew and waste accumulated. Due to natural decay, the pile gradually collapses, which means you never run out of space to get rid of garden waste.
Most importantly though, over a very little space of time we realized our hedge was attracting a whole range of creatures, micro-organisms and insects that feed on the decaying wood. We saw birds sheltering in the hedge and acknowledged that it was becoming a playground for all invertebrates as well as a hiding place for hedgehogs and a nesting possibility for birds. Also having disposed of shrubs, pruning and unwanted branches we noticed some cuttings where re-growing either because they were wind-pollinated and their seeds drifted around the air or/and because birds were bringing seeds from around the garden and planted them for us.
We have now had this garden waste hedge for nearly 3 years and we expanded it to confine the chicken coop, the barbeque area and many other places where we needed enclosures and we can proudly and happily say we don't have any purchased or commercial fencing in our gardens!