‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:31
When a tree dies, it starts providing shelter. Where else would birds hide their chicks than in tree holes? Half of Florida’s birds – from wood peckers to wood ducks to owls – need dead trees to nest. And they are losing them. Dead wood is where butterfly pupae find rest. Dead wood is where colorful beetles feast on fantastical mushrooms. Yet most of us remove all of it from our yards.
When you are hiring a tree care company to get rid of a tree, ask them NOT to grind the stump. Instead, tell them to leave a tall habitat tree and a little pile of branches. Tall dead stumps will soon be occupied by woodpeckers and mushrooms, just watch! And the wood pile? That’s where most of Florida’s ground critters like to hide. By leaving some dead wood in you yard, you are providing a home for the needy.
Worried about what the tree maintenance guy will say? Don’t worry. Times are changing, and most arborists these days know how to create tall stumps safely, and when to come back to take them down.
And by the way, this is no revolutionary idea. There are countless institutions, states and countries where protecting dead wood has been the norm, from the U.S. Wildlife Federation to neighborhoods in London. It is us, here in the South East, who are a little unusual in that we still like to grind our stumps.
This billboard will soon be installed on Highway TBD in North Florida.
