A Hawthorn tree, adorned with Virginia Creeper, hugs the hillside for nutrients. Hedera helix ‘Sherbott’ covers seasoned cut logs with re-newed shiny green. A wonderful blend of maturity surrounds you in the Log Store, as everything from 400 year old oak off cuts mingle with 3 year old hazel twigs.

At the front of the log store stands The ‘Owl’ box. It was home to an aspiring blue tit with big ideas for his family – no attempt was made to narrow down the 10cm (4 inch) hole.

After the chicks hatch and leave the log store, most of the wood is used on the cottage and barn log fires at the HoBB leaving the log store shelves free for trays of seeds. Over the summer, the store gets a clean down and as autumn approaches we start stacking up the new cut wood up to 15 inch lengths – “because longer ones won’t fit!”

I designed the log store to fit around a leaning hawthorn tree which covers the ground in white hail-like blossoms in spring and red berries towards autumn. The Virginia Creeper is being trained up through the hawthorn so that it eventually “hangs” from the tips of the branches. Ideally, when this growing design fills out a bit more, we should get the autumn effect of a red weeping willow tree as the creeper sheds its leaves.

The picture shows the result after four years of creeper growth. I’ll update this same HoBBlog with a picture of the full effect after a couple of years more growth – shouldn’t take any longer as Virginia Creeper is growing up to 5 ft (1.5m) each year.

Waves from the trees ~~~~~~~~~ <+))))))))>< ~~~ Grant