Hibernaculum 2016
Hibernaculum is Latin for “winter rooms”. A hibernaculum was installed in January of 2016 in the southwest corner of the gardens bordering the woodland. The hibernaculum is meant to provide safe hibernation spaces deep underground for native box turtles, snakes, toads, frogs, our eighty plus species of bees, many beetles, spiders and possibly some small mammals. It is a construction in a deep pit with logs, twigs, pine needles and leaves, and some other non rotting poly devices to provide tunnels and safe holes and spaces for animals of various sizes. The structure is covered with landscape fabric then with a deep layer of soil in a mound with positive drainage to shed water and keep the inhabitants inside dry. Then it is planted to secure it against erosion, and mulched with pine needles.
