Light Bulb Moment - Let's Build A Stumpery

I think the one at Highgrove is sunken Dawn, and that makes a huge difference. Heres a lovely woodland one..
https://www.google.com/search?q=stumpery&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB591GB591&hl=en-GB&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1w6SJiIbgAhXeSxUIHQDFCyoQ_AUoAXoECA0QAQ&biw=1024&bih=659#imgrc=EJ6MR-cwtX_PlM

Good luck with your new project Dawn ,I think the hardest part may be getting good tree 'stumps' some farmers rip them out of hedgerows but they know they can command a good price for them , I'm keen to see how you get on x

Just think about what nature does Dawn. doesn't have to be stumps per se but fallen trees in the woods produce natural fern/stumperies. So any trunks especially if they still have bark on them will help in the colonisation of ferns and mosses. needless to say damp shade is a useful habitat. So any logs will work.

A member of our HPS group spoke to the tree surgeons who where removing trees felled by storms and they happily gave him logs as it saved them taking them away. Didn't do his car springs any good though, he was a bit exuberant in taking 5 logs :o)
But they weren't diseased and that is an important consideration.

take photos and keep us posted please.

Thanks so much.
I’ll search on You Tube Meadow, thanks.
I see Karen, I will check out the link.
Hi Amy, I need to give if some thought, like you say, I need a big tree root, hmmm

Hi Seaburn, that’s interesting, it would bake it so much easier and I can soon gather good size branches from garden, I guess the planting is the key, you have some really interesting info, thank you.

Dawn, this sounds really interesting so I Googled 'Create a woodland stumpery' and came across many ideas for doing so, lots of images on the Pinterest site too!

Our small log-pile was started in 2003 and has been added to over the years. Stag Beetles turn up in the garden most years! Looking forward to seeing your project progress ...

Thanks Shirley, I'll have a look on Pinterest, stag beetles wow!

Fascinating Dawn - you've really started something here. It's always fun to have a new project, and GoY is obviously a good place to start!

Meadowland, thank you for mentioning Beechgrove Garden. On their website they have a list of Factsheets, and I got excited when I saw that one covered Leaf Mould which my OH and I were arguing about yesterday evening . . . the trouble was, the leaves were shown collected into a wire cage, but no mention of what to do next. Will they rot down naturally, or do they need some form of heat??? Hoping someone on here knows (of course they will!).

Sheila, I don't want you two arguing over leaf mould !

Go to a blog by Spritzhenry titled "A recipe for 'Black Gold' " from October 2009 and you should find some very helpful advice for creating leaf mould. I had to find it in a roundabout way as the Google search box on GoY seems to be misbehaving. Just go to Spritzhenry profile, then her blogs and you should eventually find it!

Many thanks Shirley - I’ll give that a try!

Well I'm hooked on Pinterest now Shirley, just great ideas on there, I've been creating boards and saving pictures, it's amazing!
I remember the recipe for black gold blog, I did it in fact, you had to add water to the bags containing the leaves periodically!

Shirley, I’m so grateful for your amazing memory, and apparently I’m not the first Goy member to be directed by you to Spritzhenry’s blog. Just read all 100 comments, and her advice helped many people . . . excellent, thank you!

(and shhh, OH was right, the leaves need warmth to rot down.)

Years ago, in 2oo8 or 9 a member of GoY in Bristol had a stumpery... maybe a look at his page could help. I don't know if he's still active but if he hasn't taken it down it should still be there. I have a small area that, by default, became a stumpery. The previous owners of our property left a half dozen pieces of a huge ash trunk laying about and over a period of roughly two years it looked like they were too large for the splitter. It happened to be near the forest and in shade of some maples where the spring run-off was heaviest.. soil was a little mushy most of the year which meant that the ferns were already there... I turned the logs (24" across and about the same in length) on end(cut side down) and crowded them together around the existant ferns next to a rock ledge. Their bark had loosened and the fungi were established so that was already accomplished. It took a full season to cook...so to speak..I believe there's even a recipe for instant moss and fern..a slurry of fronds with spores and pieces of moss and yogurt.. and by the autumn of 2012 they looked like part of the landscape and not just a "pile of rubbish".. ferns and aegopodia, english bluebells,ajuga reptans and bracken fern which grew there naturally as ground covers help it blend.

Sounds magical Lori!!
Was it Brian in Bristol? Thanks for sharing your experience Lori.

my memory is not what it was...but I'll take a look back for his comments on some of my earliest pics... will let you know.

Sheila, pleased you found and read the blog. I was directed to it years ago when we built a cage for leaf mould on the allotment. It really was good crumbly stuff and I then used the black sack method in the garden.

Well done Shirley, it’s obviously worth making the effort and being patient.

We don’t seem to hear from Spritz any more, do we?

Good luck Dawn ! I'm sorry I have no advice I can give you ... but please let us know how you get on.

Sheila, I believe Spritz is on Facebook these days, something I don't bother with.

Thanks Hywel, I think it’s going to take some planning!

the local park has chicken wire cages for the fallen leaves and they just leave them open to the elements and it all decays on its own. time depends on which leaves are added. Oak/beech take quite a long time where as ash/willow is relatively quick. how long depends on rainfall, temperature and the fauna that is feeding on it.

That’s interesting Eileen . . . so the cages didn’t have carpet on top (my OH insisted that was necessary, but maybe it would hasten the process without being essential?). Thanks!

No they are just bare. the carpet stops them getting overly wet and retains some heat and will speed up the process in the garden. But mother nature manages by her self doesn't she?

Dawn we created a small stumpery many years ago, not many things we haven't tried.!!!!!! used unusual shaped logs, even bought some back from France, in the days when you could, more interesting the better, then we grew ferns amongst them, with the amount of land you have, it should not be difficult to get some large tree roots. lots of information on the net, under images! looking forward to see how you get on.....

Great idea Dawn can't wait to see what you design for it.

Thanks Dotty, 3d.
It's going to take a while .... Thanks everyone for your input :-)

Dawnsaunt
It would have been about 2009 I wrote about the fern area which was made up with many logs cut down at that time,Last year saw a large part of it remade hopefully completed this spring some ferns had become to large and of course after nearly 10 years the logs had all rotted so was looking a mess ,my wildlife did not help the had pulled the remaining stumps to pieces to obtain grubs and insects.

Thanks Brian, it’s worth considering the logs do eventually rot isn’t it, I need to give this some thought, I am certainly adding lots of ferns though.

I had a tree that was cut down leaving a stump. I just made holes and put small ferns in them with larger ones round it. It looks much better that way.

That’s a good idea Linda, thanks

The fact that the logs rot isn't a total loss, Dawn. I have a lovely young golden birch who came from the rotting log which had fallen and been left to be consumed by mosses and lichens. ..a regeneration of sorts! combined with leaf mould the rotted wood makes excellent mulch which eventually turns into soil by the action of worms, insects and mice. It is the cleanest rot you'll ever find and it's acidic enough to foster the ferns and mosses that create the fairyland you're hoping for. I'm hatching a blog about the reclamation of the forest... I have pics from years back and it's so interesting to see the progression.

Very interesting Lori, thanks