Saturday, January 23, 2016

A Different Kind of Yard Art

This made my day last week, when I happened to notice it during an afternoon walk!  I have heard of leaving standing dead trees for their wildlife value, and I personally have left standing dead trees well away from our house when we had large yards or acreage and I could safely do so, but I have never before seen the remains of a dead tree left standing in a suburban yard, to decompose gracefully in place.  I truly love it and find it mesmerizing.

I have no idea what species this tree was, whether it was cut down or came down in a storm, or how long it's been quietly decomposing in place.  However, I think it's perfect...and perfectly beautiful, too. Now I know what I want to do with the 3 live oaks in our yard that will probably fade away over the next few years!

2 comments:

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

We did that when we lost a cherry tree in the back garden.

Gaia Gardener: said...

How long did you leave it? Did it develop interesting fungi, attract different birds, etc., etc.? Most importantly, would you do it again?