Re:You Can Turn Your Backyard into a Biodiversity Hotspot
by schiffern on Monday February 27, 2023 @06:17PM
(#34963413)
Similar situation. Maybe sharing my experience might help someone:
We're in a cold climate, so one of our goals is to have more deciduous (leafy) trees on the southern side. This provides shade in summer but solar heat in winter.
Right now in that location is an overgrown ~60 year pine replant. Bad for sun, bad for fire. After taking down a total of 50 (!) dead spindly pines, the building now gets noticeably more sun, but you can hardly notice a difference in forest density. But it gave a lot more room (and sun) for the maples and oaks already coming up.
To choose trees, I took a sun path app and walked back and forth along the south wall. This let me choose only dead pines that were shading the building in winter.
I avoid burning. The pine logs now rot peacefully (waterlogged) on the forest floor, feeding fungus while they buffer rainfall and cover chipmunk holes. Don't worry, there's still abundant dead stand habitat as well.
For ticks, you might consider chickens and/or ducks. Note that they will eat and scratch everything, so you might get one of those cheap solar electric fence enclosures. You can enclose a large area for little cost, leaving some habitat areas where toads and salamanders won't get gobbled up!
So sad to hear about thoughtless clearcutting. I cringe every time.
We're in a cold climate, so one of our goals is to have more deciduous (leafy) trees on the southern side. This provides shade in summer but solar heat in winter.
Right now in that location is an overgrown ~60 year pine replant. Bad for sun, bad for fire. After taking down a total of 50 (!) dead spindly pines, the building now gets noticeably more sun, but you can hardly notice a difference in forest density. But it gave a lot more room (and sun) for the maples and oaks already coming up.
To choose trees, I took a sun path app and walked back and forth along the south wall. This let me choose only dead pines that were shading the building in winter.
I avoid burning. The pine logs now rot peacefully (waterlogged) on the forest floor, feeding fungus while they buffer rainfall and cover chipmunk holes. Don't worry, there's still abundant dead stand habitat as well.
For ticks, you might consider chickens and/or ducks. Note that they will eat and scratch everything, so you might get one of those cheap solar electric fence enclosures. You can enclose a large area for little cost, leaving some habitat areas where toads and salamanders won't get gobbled up!
So sad to hear about thoughtless clearcutting. I cringe every time.
Cheers and good luck