Something Borrowed....

The Tree Man gave me a good idea the other day. When he and his son finished dragging the stump out of the raised bed, he suggested that rather than putting it in the trash, I put it back into the garden. And I did.

Recently I pulled out a dying shrub rose and I plan to put an Emerald Arborvitae in the gap it left, but there is plenty of room to do more. So we moved the stump there, turned it upside down, and voila - an interesting item, a place for the birds, and some structure to grow vining ground cover. Eventually it will be rustic, but right now it's just a mess of roots and mud. Mitchell has offered to powerwash the worst of the mud and to help me stabilize it if we need to add dirt underneath for support. It will bleach out in the sun this summer and will be very pretty this time next summer.

I had wanted to do something like this for the birds for some time now. They need the shelter on the ground. We've always provided food and water, but not shelter. Hopefully this will make us even more appetizing to our winged friends. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses.