I’ve been using thinnish twigs from shrubs to run through my shredder (an old, hand-cranked device) and then use as a surface on one of my paths.

Wulf

We use much of our dead wood for what is called a ‘takkenril’ in Dutch. I think in the UK it is called a ‘dead hedge’.
Run a google-search for images of ‘takkenril’ and you get an idea of what I mean…

Thank you LillyPilly, interesting articles. In our vegetable garden, we try to follow the permaculture principles, and we try to use woodcompost when available, but I hadn’t heard of this technique yet.

I use flexible sticks I’ve pruned to make an ugly chain-link fence & gate look like a ‘wattle’ fence (well, kind of). You weave the prunings horizontally and just keep adding more as you have them, from top to bottom of the fence. I started with the ugly gate, and its all a work in progress. On the gate you need to trim to fit, but on the fence, just ‘wattle’ away! Nothing is too short or too long.
My neighbor thinks I’m slightly addled, but gives me his prunings anyway!

I can’t upload pictures at this moment, but I have used prunings for a low fence once, and I did post a picture in this blogpost

Edit: the upload did work…

LilyPilly, sorry no photos yet, but I’ll try to get one posted. Remember tho, I just started it this year so it’s a bit ‘unfinished’. Plus I have yet to get the ugly scrolly-thingy off the top of the gate. Definite spoils the illusion.
AnneTanne, I love your low fence — I wonder how high I’d have to make it to keep the deer out and then get rid of the ugggggly chain fence.

That colored stuff just adds insult to injury, doesn’t it? Yeah, I do have vines covering parts of the fence, virginia creeper (I have to train it up),sweet autumn clematis, & others, etc. Other parts I’ve kind of ‘masked’ with oregon grape holly and shrubs, but I still know it’s there. If it weren’t for keeping the deer out and the dog in (which also keeps the deer out), the fence would be gone, gone, gone!
I can get the ugly scroll off, it just attaches with screws, I just haven’t done it yet. But your alternatives sound almost more interesting to do. I like!!! Thank for the ideas!

I cut down a huge hedge of roses and used all the branches and shrubbery for sheet mulching, aka a lasagna garden. Sounds a lot like Hugelkultur. I downed the hedge last fall and planted in the spring. I think the location had a lot to do with it, but I got the best produce ever from that new bed this summer.

Sounds like we have a little bit to talk about hugelkultur & takkenril — I’m really new at this, but should we start a new group or topic? What do you ‘experienced’ people think?
Also, AnneTanne, I think my neighbor has been creating a takkenril (probably without even knowing what he’s doing) — we both have about 1/2 acre with about half of that being woodland edge, and he’s diligently taking actual dead tree trunks, etc. and carefully putting them into a half-moon shaped pile at the back of the property. Some are small twigs, some are bigger limbs. He’s a bit OCD so I just figured this was part of his syndrome. But he’s actually building something for wildlife it seems! The ‘pile’ is probably 15×25-25 feet, and growing. I am sufficiently impressed to congratulate him!

mcav0y, had a look at your journal photo and that was a fair bit of rose to get rid of. Did you build the bed where the rose was? As an aside, did you have much regrowth from the roots still in the ground? I had a bear of a time getting out the roots when I removed a rose, it continued to sucker for a few months, despite digging down over 2’.

Mamabluestem, I’m equally new at this, but yes, we may have strayed off topic, though hugelkultur does fit in to the category of what to do with dead wood and cut down shrubs. Probably not a new group, so many orphaned groups here already. I don’t have much to contribute to a specific discussion on HK/takkenril except for the reading I’ve done and what other gardeners have told me. It might make it easier for people searching if the topic heading had those names in it, or was in a different group more closely associated with the topic. If you want to start it as a new topic, please go ahead, but let us know so we can follow you over?

I don’t know why it slipped my mind, but I also did a bit of plant weaving when I had to get rid of a yellow Banksia rose that was taking over the world. The long, thornless lengths were easy to weave, but they shrank a lot more than I expected. Probably the only problem in this sort of construction is the upright stakes. Plenty of plants will use it as an opportunity to take root. Planting them head down might be wise, unless you want a living fence.

Looks great!