Planning for an Outdoor Wedding

Starting a fire in your own fireplace or wood-burning stove is so enjoyable. However, in order to have those warm and lovely fires, you need to store your firewood. If you'll be storing your firewood outdoors, here are some tips to make sure the wood stays in good shape and does not cause any other damage to your landscaping.

Create a long stack.

It's better to keep your wood in a long, low stack than in one tall, disorganized pile. The long, low stack, which should be just one log wide and about seven to ten logs tall, does not offer as many hiding places for rodents and other pests. If you have a lot of wood, you may need to make two or three long, low stacks. Make sure you leave a few feet between them so there is not an area for animals to hide or congregate. 

Use metal posts as supports.

You may be tempted to stack your firewood between two trees or between a tree and your shed. But this is a bad idea since the wood may trap moisture against the shed or tree, leading to damage. A better idea is to pound two metal stakes into the ground and use these as the "bookends" for your wood stack. You can find metal fence posts at a local hardware store. They might be with the electric fencing materials.

Consider a pallet.

If you will be storing your wood for more than a year, consider putting your stacks up on a wooden pallet. This will help protect the bottom logs in your stack from rot, which can set in when they are in contact with the ground. The pallet may become rotten, but your firewood will stay in better shape. You can sometimes find old and broken pallets for free at warehouses.

Store the wood far away from trees.

Especially if you do not know where the wood came from, make sure you store it as far as possible from any trees on your property. Firewood can attract insects that may then start invading your trees and ruining your landscaping. Some insects found in firewood can even spread fungal infections to trees. Elm bark beetles, for instance, have been known to spread Dutch elm disease.

If you follow the tips above, you'll be protecting your firewood while also protecting your landscaping and trees from the firewood.Talk to your firewood provider, someone from a place like Ryan's Nature Solutions, for more information and suggestions.