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Circular Economy Gardening: How to Close the Loop in Your Landscape

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4. Keep deadwood standing.

Above: A simple habitat pile tucked away in the meadow at Chanticleer. Horticulturalist Chris Fehlhaber built the stack around a center post. As the stack settles, gaps form around the post. “Bumblebees use this gap to gain access to the interior of the stack, which is likely relatively well-sheltered and dry, to make their nests,” he says. Photograph by Melissa Ozawa, from Habitat Piles: Turning Garden Debris Into Shelter and Sculpture.

Whether you call them snags or tree sculptures, dead trees are crucial to the ecosystem. According to the National Wildlife Federation, they provide habitat for a thousand species of wildlife in the U.S., including woodpeckers, bats, and squirrels. As the tree decays, insects, fungi, lichen, and moss move in, offering a feast for wildlife. As Smithsonian magazine reports, “Estimates suggest that one third of insect species in a forest rely on deadwood in some way—and these insects are food for other invertebrates, as well as birds and bats.”  

Wood “pavers” on Edwina von Gal’s property. She digs about three to four inches deep, embeds the tree slice into the ground, and then fills in the area around them.  Photograph by Melissa Ozawa.
Above: Wood “pavers” on Edwina von Gal’s property. She digs about three to four inches deep, embeds the tree slice into the ground, and then fills in the area around them.  Photograph by Melissa Ozawa.

If you’re concerned about safety, remove any branches that pose a risk. Cut up logs and stack them into wood piles. Or slice 3- to 4-inch-thick rounds to create “tree cookies” to form into pathways, like von Gal does on her property. Tree cookies are especially good in high traffic areas or in places that have struggled to sustain grass or moss.  

For smaller branches and other plant debris, craft habitat stacks or weave “dead hedges” out of branches. These areas offer shelter for small birds and other critters, protecting them from predators like hawks. (To see more examples of habitat stacks, read our story).  

5. Make compost.

Above: Need a tutorial on all the different types of composters on the market? See Backyard Composters, Explained: The Good, the Hot, and the Wormy.

In a designated bin or a pile in your yard, add a mix of green materials (vegetable scraps and fresh garden cuttings) and brown matter (dried leaves, twigs, wood chips, and leftover soil). Each time you add green material to your compost heap, throw in some brown material to keep the pile fresh. If it starts to smell bad, add more “brown” bits. Turn the pile to speed up the process or simply let it be, to decompose gradually. You’ll know your compost is ready when it looks dark and crumbly.  

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