If you’re facing loads of tree debris from the 2025 ice storms, the Dutch practice of takkenril might just be a way to “make lemonade” from those sad “lemons.”
Like historic stone ledges, takkenril walls made of stacked branches, like those in the picture, can be used to:
- denote boundaries
- define seating areas
- frame paths, or
- break up long slopes.
- Takkenril ledges in southeast Michigan from Google Street View April 2024, copyright Google 2025.
The walls in the picture are visible from Barton Drive just off M14 in Ann Arbor, around the corner below Hilldale Drive.
Higher walls or fences, say to screen utility areas, can be built by installing pairs of tall branches as posts, then piling branches between them. Visit earthtrust.org.uk/living-dead-hedges for beautiful examples, basic instructions, and information on the many surprising benefits of this practice.
Send us pictures if you build some takkenril!