Blue Naomi Sky

I’m trying to create a garden space in a clear area in the forest. Currently it almost entirely New York ferns. They seem to create a mat of roots that outcompetes other things. Any cool ideas for getting rid of them? I want to do some soil building so I could cover them but they’re so vigorous I worry they’d still come up and then their roots would just be so much deeper that I’d have made more work for myself when it turns out I’ve got to dig them out.

Michael Cox wrote:

I was about to say this. It decays really fast if damp. Really REALLY fast.
We had a beech tree down in our woods about 15 years ago. We left it where it fell. The trunk and limbs have rotted away to nearly nothing in that time.
I have fallen oak and chestnut in the woods that fell 40 years ago. The sap wood has rotted away, but the heart wood is as good as the day it fell.


If kept dry do you think it could be used for construction, or do you think just the moisture from every day in the house would end up rotting it?

Looking at building a 12x24 cabin next year and I want to use the wood I have on the property.  Wondering what species will work, which are better than others, any to definitely NOT use? My forest is mainly Beech, Red Maple, Balsam Fir, Hemlock, Cherry, and Spruce.