Many animals use brush piles and they are an excellent way to use up yard waste that might otherwise end up in the landfill or be burned.
I’ve gone one step further and incorporated an unused pond liner to give it a new lease on life and make a beefier brush pile.
Even if you’re lucky enough to have some natural areas, and plantings, on your property adding a brush pile or two will give the wildlife even more areas to inhabit. Brush piles are important because wildlife are losing their homes due to habitat loss at an alarming rate. Not to mention it’s just nice sharing your green space with other creatures.
Providing a place for the wildlife will keep them from trying to set up house underneath your home, decks, or out buildings as well.
You will find a vast array of wildlife moving into your brush piles. Wildlife use a brush pile from the top to the bottom, and inside and out, for all aspects of their daily lives. Songbirds, frogs, and lizards use the upper and outer portion of loose twigs to rest, hide from predators, and hunt for insects. Larger animals such as rabbits and raccoons use the bottom portion to make burrows and dens. Some wildlife such as snakes will use the brush pile as a hunting ground and may only be seen passing through once a day to hunt for food. A brush pile is kind of like having a wildlife two story apartment. You get inhabitants on the upper floor and inhabitants on the lower floor.
Limbs that touch the ground will begin to decay and you will be blessed with decomposers such as slugs, centipedes, millipedes and earthworms, which will enrich the soil, keep pest insects in check, and provide food for animals such as moles, and reptiles and amphibians.