Keep That Dead Wood Around!
Snags, Dead Branches, and Stumps Add Habitat and Natural Beauty, Too

By Leslie Cameron, Extension Master Gardener

An earlier version of this article was published in the
Arlington Regional Master Naturalists Notes on Nature (November 2023). 

Trees work hard providing food and habitat for wildlife and hosting services for butterflies and moths. They clean the air, produce oxygen, soak up stormwater, filter out pollutants, and store carbon. They also cool the ground and the air around them.

Trees keep on working as they die and decay. Dead tree trunks left standing (snags), downed logs, fallen branches, and stumps continue to provide food and habitat, sometimes for years. Snags provide birds with places for nesting, roosting, foraging, perching, and territorial displays. Birds and animals store food in cavities and use snags to protect against predators. Woodpeckers, flycatchers, warblers, chickadees, owls, hawks, and bats are just a few common snag users.

In fact, snags have been referred to as “habitat trees,” in recognition of their value to the ecosystem. Although the idea of saving and protecting snags, or habitat trees, hasn’t always been universally accepted, more recently, preserving these habitat trees has become a part of many conservation plans for public areas.

Dying wood also attracts insects, fungi, lichen, and moss. These decomposers help return nutrients to the soil and build healthy soil structure, and the invertebrates are food for birds and other wildlife.

Leaving snags and other dead wood in our parks

In Arlington’s parks and other natural areas, unless there is a risk to public safety, dead trees are left standing, and downed logs, fallen branches, and other woody debris are left in place to decompose naturally over time. Arlington’s policy requires approval from the park manager and takes into account the impact on sensitive ecosystems and safety for people and structures. Fire risk in our area is generally low, so leaving woody debris on the ground in our parks is typically not a fire risk problem. (If a tree poses a problem, residents are asked to report it; see more info here: https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Topics/Report-Problem?fbclid=IwAR2DGgMJ312LhqyeeGCtzMHW8TbIXwM7gX6B9n4yUf15V3SERHmHlGppS3Q.)  

Leaving snags and other dead wood in our gardens and landscapes

While it’s easy to see the many wildlife benefits of native trees and plants and other sustainable practices, homeowners often see dead trees, fallen branches, and stumps in their yards as problems to be removed. But snags and other dead wood can contribute to the ecosystem on private property as much as they do in parks and other natural areas. The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia recommends leaving dead trees up—as long as it’s safe—to help our birds. 

Leaving a snag (rather than having a tree company take out the tree and stump completely) can also be substantially less costly. One condo association in Northern Virginia saved around $2,000 per tree by leaving the snags rather than taking them out.

Before removing a dead or dying tree, consider creating a snag. Some signs that a tree may be stressed or dying include sap running on the bark face, splits in the trunk, main branches dying, fungus on the bark, or holes and cavities from animal use. When considering whether to keep a dead tree or part of one, it’s important to assess safety, including whether any bark, remaining branches, or the trunk can fall without damaging cars, structures, or people.  Removing big limbs might be recommended, for safety. (See https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2073/2020/09/Landscaping-with-Dead-Trees.pdf).

A certified arborist can help decide whether a tree is a candidate and if so, may be able to help create one safely.  The Virginia Department of Forestry has resources to locate certified arborists. The International Society of Arboriculture also has a tool to find certified arborists.  Some arborists have received additional training (Tree Risk Assessment Qualification) for property owners concerned about the safety of leaving part of a dead tree standing. 

Keeping dead wood around . . . creatively

There are lots of ways to use this dead wood in a garden landscape, including in creative and artistic ways. Washington State University Skagit County Master Gardener Kathy Wolfe suggests adding birdhouses or perches to a standing snag, using nooks and crannies in downed logs or stumps for plants, or leaving trunks with a jagged top to look more natural. Dead branches can create borders or line paths. Oval cuttings from the trunk can be used to create paths.  Cut pieces of trunks can be left as seating. A dead tree can be carved into an art project or sculpture.  A native vine growing up a snag adds color.  

At Garden in the Woods at the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, MA, fallen logs are arranged in an artistic zigzag pattern.

At the Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary in Wales, MA, branches and twigs are woven together and left on the ground as a kind of border. See the photos for ideas.

Or use stumps to make a stumpery. Stumperies have been used by gardeners in England for quite some time. One of the first documented stumperies was created at Biddulph Grange in England in 1856. Stumperies are a collection of uprooted stumps in a planned arrangement, as part of a landscape design. They typically have nooks and crannies for plants, and as they decompose, they create food and habitat for wildlife. See the article “Creating a Stumpery” for ideas on how to build one. It includes a photo of the public stumpery at the Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania.

Here are a few more ideas for how to use dead wood to create more garden habitat: 

• Creating Wildlife Habitats with Dead Wood
• Garden Inspiration Using Dead Trees and Branches
• Low-Cost Habitat Improvements  

Dead and decaying wood is as much a part of the ecosystem as trees are while living. We can take advantage of all the benefits that snags and other dead wood offer wildlife and the soil by taking a second look before getting rid of that dead tree. Keeping a dead or dying tree, if it’s safe, or keeping fallen logs, twigs, branches, and stumps and weaving them into our gardens and landscapes adds habitat and can add natural beauty, too.

Resources:

• Cardoza, Monica. (2023). 5 Reasons to Keep Some Dead Wood in Your Gardens. Washington Post.
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/09/12/gardening-dead-wood-stumpery-benefits/
• Espindola, Anahi. (2023). The Value of a Pile of Sticks in Your Yard or Garden. University of Maryland Extension.
  https://marylandgrows.umd.edu/2023/03/10/the-value-of-a-pile-of-sticks-in-your-yard-or-garden/
• Megalos, Mark; Moorman, Christopher; and Bowen, Liessa. (2019). Snags and Downed Logs. North Carolina State Extension.
  https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/snags-and-downed-logs
• Miklas, Lois. (2023). Creating a Stumpery. University of Pennsylvania Extension.
  https://extension.psu.edu/creating-a-stumpery.
• National Wildlife Federation. (no date). Trees and Snags.
  https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Cover/Trees-and-Snags
• Sullings, Michael. (no date) Artificial Tree Hollows for Animal Habitat. Sustainable Gardening Australia.
  https://www.sgaonline.org.au/artificial-tree-hollows-for-animal-habitat/.
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. (no date). Snags – The Wildlife Tree:  The Importance of Snags in Your Neighborhood.
  https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/snags-the_wildlife_tree-1.pdf