What would you do with a huge pile of sticks?
In an ideal forest garden I probably wouldn't have a pile of sticks. But I started from an nonideal situation and have a lot of pruned sticks ranging from 1 mm to 25 cm diameter.
This post is now a wiki and I've added the ideas from replies to this list. Let's try to make it 101! Feel free to edit directly or reply below and someone else will add to the list.
Burn
1.
Firewood.
2. Use the
fruit woods for smoking meat.
3. Make charcoal.
4.
Biochar.
5. Fuel for
RMH or pizza
oven
6. Gasified
wood
7. Fuel a still to purify
water
8. Campfires
9.
Tie bundles of twigs to dry for kindling
Put them on the ground
10. Leave them where they are and let them rot.
11. Cut them into small pieces and use them as
mulch.
12. Use smaller branches mixed with leaves to create air space in a primarily leaf-based mulch.
13. Piled in a carefully planned location for 6 to 12 months until the wood dries
enough to be snapped for
kindling, leaving the smaller branches for surface mulch.
14. Twigs and branches onto muddy paths
15. Wind break for a
chicken coop
Put them in the water
16. Put in ponds to manage algae and improve habitat for fish
17. Make chinampas
18. Brush dams
Fencing and borders
19. Make a junkpole
fence
20. Wattle
fence or walls
21.
Deer deterrent by sticking branches into the top of fencing to make the fencing uneven and not create too much shade for growies.
22. Garden gates
23. Use the 1 inch (2.5 cm) diameter straight sticks as stakes. (I'm using stakes to hold up my
raised bed borders and terrace borders).
24. Garden bed edging
25. Snow fencing
Bury them
26.
Hugelkultur - especially bigger pieces
27. Soil amendments
28. Create air pockets in compost piles
Give them to animals
29. Fetch/chew toy for dog
30.
Chicken food (limbs with leaves)
31. Give to goats and hogs to chew
32. Twigs and branches as chicken bedding
Use them to attract animals
33. Wildlife habitat
34. Stack as a brush pile to attract birds that will
poop and fertilize the spot
35. Attracting
rabbits ... to eat
36. Use as a bird-feeder - Stick in the ground and hang bird treats from the smaller branches
37. Bug hotel
Use for growing things
38. Propagate as cuttings or graftwood scions.
39. Cut a flat space and use as a garden label to mark recently planted vegetables,
trees, etc.
40. Trellises,
41.
Tomato cages
42. As support or
shelter for young trees
43. Growing
mushrooms
44. Place them underneath grow pots for air pruning
roots
Play with them
45. Let the kids at it.
46. Pick-up-sticks game
47. Pooh sticks game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LX5023PmMU
48. Make a toy raft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll7vSVBhYAE
49. Handmade wooden slingshot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9oWGuKypuY
50. Stick bow and arrow
https://artsycraftsymom.com/stick-bow-and-arrow/
51. Tiny toy chairs
http://oneinchworld.com/blog/index.php/2011/08/twig-chair-tutorial/
52. Stick crown
https://www.mamamiss.com/blog/2014/10/09/julia-donaldson-stick-man-stick-crown/
53. Stick garland
https://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/make-an-all-season-twig-pinecone-garland-for-free/
54. Stick mobile
https://happyhooligans.ca/pinecone-mobiles-for-kids-to-make/
55. Stick instruments
https://nurturestore.co.uk/how-to-make-a-percussion-stick-musical-instrument
https://homemadeheather.com/crafting-shaker-sticks/
56. Stick star
https://happyhooligans.ca/summer-twig-ornaments/
57. Stick and yarn God's eyes
https://nurturestore.co.uk/twig-weaving-autumn-craft
58. Stick Tic-Tac-Toe
https://www.firefliesandmudpies.com/nature-inspired-twig-tac-toe/
Build structures
59. Debris huts
60. Wattle and daub structures
61. Ramada
62. Build a firewood shelter
Crafts
63. Carve them into clothespins.
64. Weave the long spindly green ones into a wreath.
65. Carve Harry Potter style wands.
66. Whittling practice
67. Carving
spoons
68. Make a mallet
69. Make baskets
70. Rustic wood furniture
71. Lattice work
72. Marshmallow roasting sticks
73. Collect for school/kids arts and crafts projects
74. Make a whisk -
http://fredkeandfriends.lu/christmas-tree-recycling-homemade-whisk/
75. Make a baseball bat -
https://www.michaelkusugak.com/the-stories/baseball-bats-for-christmas
76. Make curtain rods/rod holders
77. Bathroom towel racks
78. Hook/peg for my bathrobe
79. Hooks/pegs for a coat rack
80. Pegs for a hat rack
81. Door handle
82. Rustic door hardware including a bolt
83. Chop sticks
84. Knitting needles
85. Crochet hooks
86. Datun/miswak/toothbrush
87. Tent pegs and other pegs
88. Cage for pet cockroach
89. Lizard and snake catching stick
90. Fishing pole
92. Make a measuring stick
Other
92. Pile around the base of a house for insulation in winter (especially conifer boughs)
Many ideas from this list have been incorporated from other threads. Here are some links to those other great discussions:
https://permies.com/t/63272/Wood-chipper-advice
http://www.makeitmissoula.com/2012/01/how-to-recycle-wood/
https://permies.com/t/61382/permaculture-upcycling/ungarbage/Repurpose-Real-Christmas-Tree
https://permies.com/t/15706/Managing-flow-wood-brainstorm