Asleep in heap of grass cuttings

[JAHW]

I did a ‘hay cut’ on the wild section of my lawn last week. I left the mound of cuttings on a concrete path, hoping the insects etc might crawl back into the lawn. Yesterday I noticed a tunnel opening into the mound. Last night the camera showed a hedgehog around there numerous times and the tunnel is even more well defined. I had intended to get rid of the cuttings. Now I’m wondering whether I can build some sort of shelter around the mound as I can’t imagine it would withstand windy weather. Maybe I should pull lots of grass cuttings off the top of my compost heap and create piles of them under the shrubs.

[Nic]

Hi JAHW

It doesn’t sound ideal having a hog nesting in the middle of the path! You might be able to build something round it – difficult to say without seeing it.

But yes, it’s a good idea to leave lots of potential nesting material around, under shrubs, etc. So long grasses, leaves, etc. I tend to rake the leaves of my lawn area into the borders. If the hogs don’t use them, the worms will gradually take them down into the soil anyway. If you are a keen gardener, probably best avoid anything which might take root. But any long ornamental grasses which need cutting, I leave in piles around, as well, for any hog to use if it wants to.

[JAHW]

The crazy thing is that there are a few log/twig piles around the garden, in quiet corners, but this hedgehog has chosen a path. I’ve now ordered a hoghouse, that I’ll place nearby, but in a better position than the grass mound and hope it (or one of the others) moves in there.

[Nic]

Hi JAHW

Sounds like you have quite a character there! Some hogs definitely seem to like to do their own thing! Sounds a good idea to put a hog house nearby. Perhaps the hog will move the mound of vegetation in there – especially if it starts blowing around. Fingers crossed.

[Author]

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