Log on for wildlife !

Everything in the garden is looking lush after the recent showers and the last few days have seen ferns unfurling - they grow amongst other plants in a ' loggery ' I constructed many years ago in a corner of my garden.

Over the years, I have opened my garden for charitable causes, and the loggery has always caused some head scratching and comments like "What's this then - it looks like a pile of old logs "!  I suppose at worst it is a pile of logs, sticks and branches but at best, with the interplanting of interesting woodland plants, ferns and bulbs, it has become a habitat for all manner of wildlife. Adjoining the loggery is a stream which runs down from the moor and that too provides an extensive feeding ground and shelter for frogs, toads, hedgehogs butterfly's and birds.

It doesn't matter what size garden you have, such a habitat can be included especially if you have a dry and shady area which might be otherwise neglected - why not put it to use ! The construction materials will depend on what you have available and depth of detail you want to create. Generally speaking you will need as many logs as you can handle, silver birch are great for their distinctive, peeling bark and will look attractive amongst groups of stones and chosen plants.
Clear your spot of any invasive weeds and fork over the ground incorporating well rotted compost or leaf-mould. Then arrange your logs and stones in a natural free fallen way, and back fill with with compost. You don't have to go to those lengths, stacks of logs will be enough to provide a quality
home ! Very soon moss will start to form on stones, which will become a great source of fun for birds gathering food and nest building material - especially blackbirds !

                                                              Now, what to plant !

Plants that spring to mind for any woodland setting are ferns - there is something quite magical about watching their delicate fronds unfurling from the undergrowth.

We have so many in the garden I have lost count of the number and names to be honest !! But, you could start off with Polystichum setiferum, it is a survivor of most dry conditions, so too the shiny hart's tongue fern or Asplenium scolopendrium.

Don't over look the smaller ferns which prefer to live in rock crevices, such as maiden-hair spleenwort.
a good plant for ground cover preferring a slightly moister soil is Asarum caudatum. Displaying lovely heart-shaped leaves which conceal small, pitcher-shaped brown to purple flowers with tails it will turn heads !

Enhance with architectural shapes by introducing Soloman's seal and foxgloves. Of course, you couldn't possibly be without woodland flowers such as primrose, bluebells, snowdrops and anemones bringing their refreshing colours to the picture !


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