Wildlife garden

Building a dead hedge or log pile with your prunings

Build a dead hedge by stacking prunings between two rows of stakes into a bank about 1 m wide and 1 m high; together with a pile of thick logs it shelters hedgehogs, wrens, toads, beetles and wild bees.

Updated on 10 October 2026

What to do

Choose a spot in a corner or along the edge of the garden, in partial shade, where the dead hedge can stay for years.
Drive two rows of stakes into the ground, about 1 m apart, with a stake every metre.
Stack your prunings between them, thick branches at the bottom and fine ones on top, to about 1 m high. Leave hollows at the bottom for hedgehogs.
Put a pile of logs or thick branches next to it, preferably native hardwood, half in the sun: beetles live there and some wild bees nest in it.
Top up the dead hedge every year with fresh prunings, and let bramble, dog rose or honeysuckle grow over it.

Caution: Never burn a dead hedge or a brush pile without first moving it completely: hedgehogs may be sleeping inside.

Why it helps

Taking away or burning prunings is a waste: in a dead hedge they slowly turn to compost while plenty of animals live and overwinter inside.
Dead wood is home to many insects, fungi and mosses, which in turn feed birds and hedgehogs.

Which plants?

Bramble Rubus Shrub · flowers June–August Native
Dog rose Rosa canina Shrub · flowers June Native
Common ivy Hedera helix Climber · flowers September–November NativePoisonous
Common honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum Climber · flowers June–September NativePoisonous
Hop Humulus lupulus Climber · flowers July–August Native

When?

October–March.

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Take up the challenge

Leave the leaves (October–November)
Leave leaves under shrubs or make a leaf pile: a winter shelter for hedgehogs and insects.

Go to Challenges and badges

Did you know? The wren, one of the smallest birds in our region, likes to nest in dead hedges: the male builds several nests, and the female chooses one.