Snags in the Garden – Making Use

of Dead Trees

In forestry, a snag refers to a standing, partly or completely dead tree, often missing a top or most of the smaller branches. In life, hitting a snag means coming face to face with an unforeseen obstacle. In the garden, a snag can provide many unforeseen benefits to both the landscaper and naturalist.

The on again, off again droughts we have been experiencing can leave a legacy of weakened, dead and dying trees in many home landscapes. Many times, the dead tree is left in a position where it can create problems for the homeowner, in threatening the house or children’s play areas. Perhaps just as often however, these dead trees, snags, are left in places where they can provide a unique opportunity for the home gardener and amateur naturalist.

Standing snags provide critical habitat for many species. Snags provide food, shelter, and nesting places for many birds, mammals and other animals. Many species of birds in Virginia nest in holes made or found in snags. A woodpecker fashions a hole in a snag and uses it for nesting. If the location is right, chickadees, owls, titmice, wrens, swallows—even bluebirds—may use the cavity when the woodpecker is done. My own observation of hummingbirds in my yard is that they perch most often in dead limbs rather than living ones. Snags provide insect-eating birds, such as nuthatches and woodpeckers, with a reliable food source. These birds also eat insects in the surrounding area. A snag can persist for years, depending on two factors: the size of the stem, and the durability of the wood of the species concerned. Some species of snag can persist for many years in Virginia with little chance of falling.

In and around my home garden, there are two prominent snags. One, a large white pine in my neighbor’s yard provides housing for woodpeckers and bats that frequent my own garden, eating insect pests.

The other snag is a small black cherry perhaps 6 years old and 8 feet tall, that volunteered near my vegetable garden. I was tempted to remove it when it died last year, but instead I planted it with pole beans and now have a “bean tree” that serves as a conversation piece and yields many a meal’s worth of tasty beans each year. In a few more years, it will fall and I will remove it, but for now, it’s fun and useful.

Snags can present you with similar gardening opportunities. Many native vining plants will climb a large snag and create 3 season interest in the garden without unduly taxing the snag with weight. They can also support hooks and brackets for hanging pots. Snags can be painted, carved and adorned with ornamentation to create a “bottle tree” or a “birdfeeder tree” or similar whimsy.

Needless to say, do not leave a snag in place if it can pose a threat to yourself or others. On the other hand, if you have a dead or dying tree in your home landscape, consider leaving all or part of it as a garden feature. Leaving all or most of a snag in place can be far cheaper than having an arborist remove it all and grind the stump. Save money, create habitat and garden beauty all at once.