This article forms a series of allotment tips for Biodiversity.
Wood and stick piles in allotments can provide a welcoming habitat for multiple beneficial creatures without which biodiversity would diminish.
Biodiversity essentially:
- Improves the ability to restrain pests
- Increases pollination.
- Gives Better soil quality
- Widens the diversity of insects
The picture perfect garden in which not a leaf or twig is out of position may appeal to some, but in reality is almost like a desert for wildlife.
Wood stick piles increase complexity of our green spaces by providing nesting, shelter and food resources to beneficial wildlife.
Birds, small mammals, insects, and amphibians would be attracted to the spaces. Decomposing wood attracts a wide variety of insects that attract predators such as birds, bumblebees, and frogs. These species depend upon such piles to survive the winter.
Tip: The larger the pile the better though any size would do. Ideally placed in a quiet location of the garden to minimize disturbance. A wide range of wooden material is ideal i.e. twigs, logs, leaves, branches of all different sizes and thickness.
