How to store logs and keep them dry for winter

When we moved into our house in 2011, one of the things I loved the most about it was our open fire. It’s such a cosy feature and we love to sit round it in the winter; we sometimes even toast marshmallows on it. Most of our friends have had log burners or open fires put into their homes, so talking about how to store logs and season them is a surprisingly regular topic of conversation.

Our open fire is a relatively cheap source of heat. We get most of our logs from a gardener friend and all we need to do is season them before they’re put on the fire. Seasoning wood just means you need to dry it out. You don’t need to do anything more exciting to it than chop it up into the size you need, stack it up somewhere to dry out and then leave it for around two years. The amount of time you need to leave it depends on the kind of wood it is, but two years is a decent length of time.

How to store logs and keep them dry for winter

For the last seven years our wood has been stacked up in a small shed which came with the house. About a year ago the roof collapsed and the sides rotted and so it was time for a new place to store logs while they dried. We were keen to get something specifically designed to store logs, something which would allow the air to circulate around the wood and dry it out, whilst looking neat and tidy too.

When you’re buying a log store of your own, it’s important to make sure it has slatted sides and a raised slatted floor to allow the air to flow freely through the log pile. Good dry wood will give you a higher heat output and the wood will leave less tar and residue in your stove or chimney. We get our chimney swept every year and our sweep always compliments us on the lack of tar build up. If you burn wood which isn’t dry enough, the build up of tar could be a fire hazard. The tar could also make your chimney or log burner smoke inside the house, which isn’t great either.

How to store logs and keep them dry for winter

We’ve replaced our rotten old shed with a lovely solidly built log store. It’s from Gardensite and is made in Dorset from Swedish Redwood. The log store is guaranteed against rot for 15 years. We opted for the Melbury log store, it’s a nice classic design which would look unobtrusive in the garden. You can choose to have it delivered ready made, or flat-packed. We chose the flat-pack option and it took less than half an hour to put together.

We’ve put ours in our side yard and it takes up less space than the old shed, but somehow manages to hold more wood. We have given the log store a couple of treatments with creosote; we will make sure to treat it regularly to keep the wood in good condition. I am so pleased with the quality of the log store, we’ve already filled it with logs to dry out for this winter.

How to store logs and keep them dry for winter

Once our wood has been seasoned for at least two years, it is ready to burn. What we do is we have two baskets for wood in the house; one by the fire ready for burning and one in the pantry, so it gets to dry out inside the house a little more before burning. We know this two basket arrangement isn’t really necessary, but it does mean that if it’s raining there is extra wood in the house and no-one needs to get rained on to fill a basket.

How to store logs and keep them dry for winter

  • Stack logs neatly making sure they are raised off the ground a little.
  • Make sure air can flow in and out of your log pile, a log store with slatted sides is ideal for this.
  • Locate your log store in a sheltered spot, somewhere out of the wind and sheltered from the elements a little.
  • Think ahead. You can either buy seasoned or unseasoned wood. If you’re buying unseasoned wood, you will need to store it and season it yourself for a couple of years. Seasoned wood will still need to be stored appropriately to stop it getting too wet again.

If you’ve got a log burner or an open fire, it’s important to put some thought into where and how you will store and season your logs ready for winter. Where do you store your logs and kindling?

How to store logs and keep them dry for winter

Disclosure: We were sent the Melbury log store from Gardensite for inclusion in this blog post. All images and opinions are our own.

The Garden: A Bird Gift Box from Boxwild

Living on the edge of the city, near the river and close to a wildlife and nature reserve we are very in touch with nature and our garden is visited daily by a diverse range of garden birds. At night I can hear the owls hooting in the trees near our house and we sometimes spot some of the bright green wild parakeets who live nearby.

As we’ve worked on our garden over the years, we’ve planted things which will encourage bees, butterflies and other insects into our garden, and we’ve build a bird table and hung up bird feeders to help them out over the winter months.

We like to feel like we’re doing our bit for local wildlife and in return they’re giving us something to watch and talk about when they visit our garden. If you’ve got space for a feeder, they will reward you time and time again when they visit, plus it’s great for kids to watch and learn with you.

Boxwild sell wildlife and bird gift boxes containing high quality seasonal seed blends and a range of goodies to attract wildlife into your garden. They currently have three gift options choose from two different gift subscription boxes which are available monthly, quarterly or in 6 monthly packages,  or choose to send a single gift box. These wildlife subscription boxes make the perfect gift for bird lover.

boxwild

The Bird Gift Box is jam packed with three blends of Boxwild’s bird or wildlife seed and goodies such as a feeder or habitat, plant seeds or special Boxwild gift. This box is ideal for bird and wildlife lovers.

The Boxwild Bird Seed Gift Box contains three specially blended, seasonal seed mixes to attract a range of birds into your garden. Choose the monthly subscription and each month they will select three seed blends to give your birds optimal nutrition for the season.

Boxwild have partnered with the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and Butterfly Conservation and for every box sold, Boxwild donate to these charities. 

Visit the Boxwild website for more information or to order.