Nov 172016
 

Orchard View students with teacher Sunny GalbraithTwisted North Mound is a wildlife habitat installed behind Heron Hall at the Laguna Foundation‘s Laguna Environmental Center, or LEC, located at 900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa, California, 95401.  The installation was an outdoor classroom activity.  Date: November 10, 2016.  School: Orchard View School, Sebastopol, California.  Teacher: Sunny Galbraith.  Me: Tony McGuigan, from Spore Lore.

In a nutshell, this wildlife habitat installation is a wad of clay, organic material, topsoil, and new meadow barley plants shoved up against a very large trunk section of a downed oak tree.  A large rock slab, hovering off the ground, snugs up to the tree trunk and earthen, cavity-filled mound.

0- Habitat Landscaper-Instructor for hire — Tony McGuigan — international consulting available — install@sporelore.com , Tony McGuigan, Habitat it!, Spore Lore©, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, soil microbes, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, how to build wildlife habitat, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Sunny Galbraith, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, Anita Smith, western fence lizard, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, avocado leaves, bamboo leaves, woodchip mulch, compost, torrent sedge, weeding, millipede, Jerusalem cricket, meadow barley, Hordeum brachyantherum, garter snake, genus ThamnophisOctober 2013 (three 3 years ago) Stuart Schroeder, of Stone Horse Farm, uses an “implement carrier” pulled/pushed by a tractor to move West Heron Hall Log into place.

Heron Hall Logs East (L) and West (R)The BEFORE.  Heron Hall Logs East (L) and West (R).  One goal of Twisted North Mound is to have these large hulks of wood look more naturally placed in the terrain, for instance, as if the tree had fallen on site.

Habitat Installation Day — Prep before students arrive

c8-20161110-tnm-_0cr-800Habitat Resource Depot (fancy name!) at the Laguna Foundation’s compost (left) and woodchip pile (right).  Pulled from the depot for this installation: tree logs and small rootballs, rock slab (center), old surface compost with fresh grass weeds, and under-the-pile compost soil.

c7-20161110-tnm-_6cr-800Lifting a rock slab for use in the habitat installation, a millipede is disturbed. Note the wisp of spider cob web lower left — a busy underside of the rock that has rested here only a month.

c6-20161110-tnm-_11-800East view of East Heron Hall Log (there are two; the other is West Log), which is next to the habitat installation site.  Note the sun-protected trays of meadow barley starts that will be planted.  The south face of the log is thick with woodchip mulch to suppress weeds.  Lush green grass and weeds in the background — now is the time to plant in Northern California.  We can plant native plant starts now and the coming rains will water them, increasing plant survival despite no irrigation used.

c5-20161110-tnm-_12-800Clear the table!  Top layer woodchip mulch is scraped away from the work site for 4 reasons: 1) to harvest/collect woodchips that will be under Twisted North Mound (AKA “TNM”), mostly between the 2 large oak tree sections, 2) to access soil from under East Log (foreground), to harvest a thin layer of decayed woodchip-rich topsoil from under the scraped away woodchips, and 4) to keep the woodchips clean and usable as mulch (no soil!) while the habitat site is built.

c4-20161110-tnm-_13-800A western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) is well camouflaged on West Log (center, far edge).

c3-20161110-tnm-_17-800Close-up of wary lizard.  Throughout set-up, lizards darted in and out of the Logs’ thick bark layer that has sagged from the harder cambium wood.  Perfect habitat for these small creatures.

c2-20161110-tnm-_20-800Gathering organic material to create a planted mound, here includes shovel skimming ALIVE topsoil and fresh weeds from a dormant Compost Cricket Corral bin.

c1-20161110-tnm-_22a-800A garter snake escapes from one side of East Log (where I was removing woodchips) to the back side of the log.

b9-20161110-tnm-_23cr-800Ouch!  Now I know these Jerusalem crickets can bite.  Allowing this critter to crawl over onto my hand turned out to be a bad idea; luckily the skin of my finger was not broken by the insect’s jaws.  Note that topsoil from under East Log is being harvested for use, and thrown on a tarp, for the West Log habitat mound.

b8-20161110-tnm-_24-800Topsoil on a tarp (foreground) has been harvested from under East Log.

b7-20161110-tnm-_26-800Mushroom layer has been exposed as the oak-tree-to-woodchip-mulch interface is exposed (at tip of shovel).

b6-20161110-tnm-_36-800Bucket Man collects fresh compost soil from under compost; note shovel under compost pile in background.

b5-20161110-tnm-_42-800Prep for Twisted North Mound wildlife habitat installation.  Starting from west face of West Log, in foreground, moving clockwise: rakes to return woodchip mulch after installation is in, shovels, logs and root pieces (mostly river wood — not salt-cured driftwood), large pond-liner bin of avocado and bamboo leaves, buckets of compost soil, wheelbarrow of old compost and weed surface soil, wheelbarrow of heavy clay soil from under East Log, berm of woodchip mulch, tarp with pile of topsoil from under woodchips, Cold Water Canyon rock slab on rolling cart.

b4-20161110-tnm-_46a-800Site scraped and ready for the students to create Twisted North Mound.  Note the berm of woodchips on the north side — it will be pushed onto the mound when mulch is called for.

b3-20161110-tnm-_50a-800Close-up view of meadow barley plants in waiting.  Note the shelf fungus‘ thriving on East Log’s shady side.

Students Arrive

b2-20161110-tnm-_53-800The students have arrived.  Their first assignment is to figure which pieces of riverwood/driftwood will create the habitat between East and West Logs.  Lots of physics to move the wood around AND not get hurt.

0- Habitat Landscaper-Instructor for hire — Tony McGuigan — international consulting available — install@sporelore.com , Tony McGuigan, Habitat it!, Spore Lore©, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, soil microbes, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, how to build wildlife habitat, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Sunny Galbraith, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, Anita Smith, western fence lizard, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, avocado leaves, bamboo leaves, woodchip mulch, compost, torrent sedge, weeding, millipede, Jerusalem cricket, meadow barley, Hordeum brachyantherum, garter snake, genus ThamnophisStudents deliberate while a great blue heron flies by.  Outdoor classrooms rock!

0- Habitat Landscaper-Instructor for hire — Tony McGuigan — international consulting available — install@sporelore.com , Tony McGuigan, Habitat it!, Spore Lore©, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, soil microbes, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, how to build wildlife habitat, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Sunny Galbraith, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, Anita Smith, western fence lizard, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, avocado leaves, bamboo leaves, woodchip mulch, compost, torrent sedge, weeding, millipede, Jerusalem cricket, meadow barley, Hordeum brachyantherum, garter snake, genus ThamnophisGetting somewhere — this “T-bone” triangular piece of wood will be the habitat’s foundation.

a8-20161110-tnm-_62-800Instructing that we want to snug T-bone up to West Log and to fill it with soil and to be able to plant meadow barley in the crevice.  Note that these pieces of wood between East and West Logs will be completely buried, slated to decompose and ultimately leave organic material in the surrounding soil and to leave cavities for critters to someday take advantage of.  Are we talking about next year, 2 years from now, or ten years from now?  The answer is yes.  Habitat It And They Will Come!

a7-20161110-tnm-_63-800Flipping up T-bone (left) to allow a small piece of old (ready for insects to eat!) wood to snuggle under T-bone.

a6-20161110-tnm-_64-800Back down goes T-bone, over other hulks of wood.  Different pieces of wood mean different resources for habitat critters — different food, different water saturation, different decay schedules and by-products.  Our aim here is to invite DIFFERENT critters.

a5-20161110-tnm-_66cln-800Orchard View students and teacher Sunny Galbraith at work.  (Foreground) Digging out clay soil from under East Log.  East Log is unashamedly laying with its cut end in full view (a problem).  Following the permaculture principle “the problem is the solution”, we use clay soil from under East Log to cover West Log’s exposed corner and Twisted North Mound.  Stay tuned for what happens to West Log.  (Center) Working the clay soil from under East Log in the crevices of TNM.  We want to pack in the soil so the plants will have maximum soil, no air pockets that would kill the meadow barley starts roots.  (Background) Weeding Torrent Critter Crag, giving the torrent sedge plugs a better chance to survive, thrive.

a4-20161110-tnm-_69-800Twisted North Mound gets avocado tree and bamboo leaves over its clay soil base.  The organic layer will break down, while it is eaten by soil microbes and crawly critters, and leave a loose, cavity-filled layer under the barley meadow root canopy.

a3-20161110-tnm-_73-800Covering the leaves with the soil scraped under the woodchips that were pushed back from the habitat site.  Buckets of compost soil at the ready; that layer will be the top layer that the meadow barley starts are planted in.

a2-20161110-tnm-_74-800The rock slab is moved into position.

a1-20161110-tnm-_75-800And down, with the tip of the rock resting on a short length of rootwood (hard, long-to-decay wood) and the rest of the rock resting on the pile of small rocks that we collected while digging under East Log.  The rocks found while digging, a problem, became a solution when wanting to create a space under the rock slab.

9-20161110-tnm-_78-800Another organic layer — the old compost and fresh grasses/weeds, complete with thriving soil microbes and crawly critters, will make a rich layer under the compost soil.  The goal is to have the compost soil and woodchip mulch kill down any of the grasses/weeds.

8-20161110-tnm-_79-800Compost soil is sculpted to create a planting mound.

7-20161110-tnm-_84-800Meadow barley starts are planted.  Note the rectangular root form to the plant in the foreground — these start plants were touseled, squeezed, massaged, and even roots ripped free to allow the plant a non-rectangular root spread.  Free the roots!

6-20161110-tnm-_85-800Meadow barley starts planted among woodchip mulch.

5-20161110-tnm-_89-800And a little water for the meadow barley,

3-20161110-tnm-_93-800and for rock slab.

4-20161110-tnm-_90-800Twisted North Mound wildlife habitat installation is in!  East view of back side.

0- Habitat Landscaper-Instructor for hire — Tony McGuigan — international consulting available — install@sporelore.com , Tony McGuigan, Habitat it!, Spore Lore©, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, soil microbes, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, how to build wildlife habitat, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Sunny Galbraith, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, Anita Smith, western fence lizard, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, avocado leaves, bamboo leaves, woodchip mulch, compost, torrent sedge, weeding, millipede, Jerusalem cricket, meadow barley, Hordeum brachyantherum, garter snake, genus ThamnophisNorth view of habitat’s “front”, that is, the view from behind Heron Hall.2-20161110-tnm-_96-800Students deliberate, time to talk amongst themselves after a successful work session.

1-20161110-tnm-_97-800Brent Reed, of the Laguna Foundation, inspects Twisted North Mound on installation day.  Good thing this habitat was built to meet or surpass the latest Habitat Building Code.

Thank you, as always, to Sunny Galbraith, teacher at Orchard View School, Sebastopol, and her students.  Also, much thanks to the staff and board of the Laguna Foundation, particularly the Restoration and Conservation Science Department: Wendy Trowbridge, Director; Brent Reed, Ecological Program Manager; Aaron Nunez, Ecological Project Manager; and Paul Weber, Restoration Field Supervisor.

Enjoy your wildlife habitat installations.  Habitat it!

Tony

Oct 162016
 

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudada, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreTorrent Critter Crag is a wildlife habitat installed next to Amphibian Amphitheatre at the Laguna Foundation’s headwater Irwin Creek property, the Laguna Environmental Center, or LEC, at 900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa, California, 95401.  The installation was an outdoor classroom activity.  Date: October 13, 2016.  School: Orchard View School, Sebastopol, California.  Teacher: Sunny Galbraith.  Me: Tony McGuigan, from Spore Lore.

In a nutshell, this wildlife habitat installation is a deep clay-lined hole with a large hulk of redwood tree crown/trunk partially buried in it.  A large rock slab at ground surface snugs up to the tree crown/trunk.  Torrent sedge starts blanket the swale of the habitat.

1 Week Before Habitat Installation

Amphibian Amphitheatre at the Laguna Environmental CenterIn the pic above, Amphibian Amphitheatre BEFORE Torrent Critter Crag habitat installed.  The field behind Amphibian Amphitheatre Ravine‘s berm is lush with tall weeds.  Two months have gone by since the area has been weeded.  Today, I weed the area to restore dignity to the habitat installations AND to gather organic material for next week’s installation.

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudada, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreNote the collected water — our berm (created during the Ravine installation) works!  Downside: the water is most likely the result of an irrigation line leak.  Upside: critters and plants have a swimhole.  The next three photos are close-ups from this area on that day of weeding.  The dragonfly was at the water’s edge on the tree limb surfacing from the water (far right of the pooled water).  The lizard was under the figwort plant in the foreground.  The California mantis, Stagmomantis californica, was discovered while weeding golden dry grasses — note how well the mantis is camouflaged.

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudada, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreA dragonfly rests alongside the pooled water below Amphibian Amphitheatre Ravine’s berm.  Perhaps this is a female Meadowhawk (and there are many species).  Can you ID it?  Try Kathy Bigg’s, our local Sonoma County dragonfly expert, pages on dragonflies.

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudada, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreA western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) is well camoflouged in the woodchips below this California figwort, or Scrophularia californica.

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreYikes!  Almost weeded this California mantid Stagmomantis californica in Amphibian Amphitheatre.  Nice color match on the camo outfit.

juvenile California mantisClose-up of California mantid, which are typically 50-60 mm (about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches) long.

2 Days Before Habitat Installation

rock slabs make great critter homesShopping for rock.  These rock slabs make good critter homes.  The stack here is Cold Water Canyon rock, local to northern California.

walking a rock slabRock slab being “walked” to the habitat site on the other side of Heron Hall Logs.  View is north to Lower Stone Farm and Irwin Creek (line of trees beyond field in background).

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreA pile of weeds, in right foreground, has been processing all week.  The weeds were pulled from inside Amphibian Amphitheatre and from the downslope meadow.  Soil clumps were not shaken from the weeds — many weed clumps had a good sized clump of fresh, healthy, alive topsoil attached to their roots.  Weeds (organic matter) and topsoil (soil) were used to make a compost pile (right foreground) that would have only one week to sit before being planted on as a berm.  The weeds were thickly covered with layers of woodchips and a scattering of compost.  Normally, woodchip mulch does not include compost soil, but this wildlife habitat installation is on the cheap.  Materials on hand are ALL the materials we will ever need!  The woodchips used were collected from the remnants of two piles — one woodchip pile and one compost/planting mix pile.  So, the woodchips have a high component of compost mixed in — perhaps the berm we create for the installation will be a perfect mix to propagate the wild spreading rye already thriving in Amphibian Amphitheatre.

sorting the compost pile The compost pile is pretty much sitting on top of where Torrent Critter Crag habitat will be installed.  The heavier soil and woodchips are pulled to the back of the pile, creating a berm that extends Amphibian Amphitheatre’s berm — more water will be trapped in Amphibian Amphitheatre when the rains come.  The lighter decaying weed pile is pulled to away/uphill from the berm; the weeds are moved uphill from the hole to be dug for the habitat.  After the habitat hole is dug and the habitat’s wood feature is installed, the weeds will be tucked into the remaining hole to create a cache of underground organic matter, AKA buried treasure!

prep before students workThe redwood tree crown-trunk is brought on site.  Note the two distinct piles sorted from the compost pile — soil and woodchips right (which will become a planted berm) and one-week-old dead weeds left (which will be buried alongside the crown-trunk).

mud!Digging produces heavy clay mud quickly.  Note how some of the mud was used to build up the berm in right foreground.  Note the black plastic landscaping tarp used to keep the hole’s mud separate (and movable) from the ground below the pile.

please stay to your leftStakes, string, and flags used to safely leave the hole overnight (left) and protect the rye grass that was planted last year (right).

 Installation Day

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreWater in the hole!  Lucky me, there won’t be any more digging today.  The water has seeped in through the surrounding clay basin — note the pooled water in the background, which is water held uphill by Amphibian Amphitheatre’s berm.  Note the materials layout: left = organics (weeds) pile and redwood crown-trunk for burying; foreground = mud pile for surounding buried organics and crown-trunk; right = berm to receive torrent sedge planting; background left (out of view) = woodchip pile to mulch the new planting and suppress weeds over the habitat.  Time for the students to take over.

Carex nudata is torrent sedgeTorrent sedge Carex nudata plants for this habitat have been grown at the Laguna Foundation’s Native Plant Nursery.  Torrent sedge grows in mounds below the high-water mark in marshes and on river banks — perfect for this swale area that is expected to gather and hold water.

Come see at the LEC!A thriving clump of torrent sedge in the Pond swale at the LEC.

Ready, set, plant!Torrent sedge prepped for the students to plant.  The plants were cut out of their 4X4 pots and stored under a Heron Hall log for easy, quick access.

The Students Have Arrived

Help has arrived!Two hours to wrap up this project!  Students prepare the torrent sedge transplants by giving them a “haircut” — trimming the sedge stalks will ensure that the roots will not become overwhelmed and will increase the transplanting survival rate.

Look!  A habitat.Deciding how to place crown-trunk in the habitat is a collaborative student decision.

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreAll hands on deck, working together to find the wood hulk’s center of gravity, which will help us know how to move it into position in the hole.

flipping rather than liftingFlipping the crown-trunk into position — sure beats lifting it.

1, 2, 3  LIFT!The crown-trunk is headed to the digging bars straddling the hole.  The digging bars will suspend the wood over the hole in case we want to make any last minute position changes.

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreAlmost there!

surf's upThere!  A student presses crown-trunk into the muddy hole.  Note how the students have decided to bury crown-trunk’s thin end, leaving the bulk to breach (yes, like a whale!) out of the soil.  Also, the west facing slope of the wood is designed to attract sunning reptiles that might live under the habitat’s rock slab (in background, waiting to be installed).

heavy clay mud!Opps! The log is flipped to the side of the hole to move the heavy clay mud pile from underneath it.  We moved the mud to the planting berm for temporary keeping.

Log finds a home.The crown-trunk log is secured in place with clay mud.  The cardboard “dropcloth” used to keep the site natural looking is removed.

work the soil!Clay mud is worked around the base of the wood to secure it in place and to create a base for the torrent sedge planting.imagine!Students hold the rock slab vertical while design elements are discussed.

making a path for the rock slabMoving some of the weed pile into the hole so that the rock slab can rest up against the log.

heavy clay mudTime to fill the hole, grade the habitat soil.  We are skimming the clay mud off the top of the berm, stopping at the layer of woodchips that will become the planting surface.

grading the soil, by hand!Final grading of the planting mix.  Note how little of the log is visible above ground.

planting torrent sedgePlanting plugs of torrent sedge with 18″ spacing.  Some day, these sedge bunches will spread together, hiding the rock slab (right of log).  Plenty of critter homes to be had!

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation,  Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreWoodchip mulch to surround the sedge plugs.

more mulch!And more woodchips.  This is the fun part — our mud hole is beginning to look like something pretty.

Aaarrggg!Okay Class, put your paper and pencils away and take out your digging bars.  Outdoor classrooms rock!

teacher on the sceneTeacher Sunny Galbraith calls in the cleanup.

Torrent Critter CragTorrent Critter Crag wildlife habitat installation is in!  Northeast view.

we are done!Torrent Critter Crag, southwest view.  Teacher Sunny and her students, in background by the Laguna Foundation’s office, visit habitats installed by previous students.

2 Days After Installation

Tony McGuigan, Spore Lore, Habitat It And They Will Come, garden, soil, Soil Under My Nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, wildlife habitat installation, environmental education, ecological landscaping, Animal Habitat, garden, ecological, landscaping, wildlife garden, biodiversity, native plants, outdoor classroom, nonvirtual education, touch the soil!, wildlife habitat workshop, Orchard View School, Laguna Environmental Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, environmental conservation, Stone Farm, western fence lizard, Bee Plant, California figwort, scrophularis californica, redwood, Cold Water Canyon rock, Carex nudata, torrent sedge, Meadowhawk dragonfly, Kathy Biggs, Amphibian AmphitheatreTorrent Critter Crag enjoys its first rain.  Northwest view.

And more rain will come this winter season, perhaps pooling at the base of crown-trunk log and flooding the torrent sedge.  Rain on!

Thank you, as always, to Sunny Galbraith, teacher at Orchard View School, Sebastopol, and her students.  Also, much thanks to the staff and board of the Laguna Foundation, particularly the Restoration and Conservation Science Department: Wendy Trowbridge, Director; Brent Reed, Manager, Aaron Nunez, Tech II, and Paul Weber, Tech I.

Enjoy your wildlife habitat installations.  Habitat it!

Tony