I have a large fresh log from a tree my neighbors cut down earlier this year in my yard. I got it to serve as a bench and grow mushrooms on, with the hope that it would eventually start decomposing and contribute to my garden ecosystem (with bugs that would attract woodpeckers, etc). I'm new to homeownership though, and I'm worried that having a rotting log in my yard ~15 feet from the home (it's a small yard) will spread things like termites or rot to the wood of my house, making it a very costly and destructive piece of lawn decor. Is what I'm doing a bad idea?
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are you in an area where termites are common/normal? – Ecnerwal Aug 17 '22 at 00:57
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1duplicate of https://diy.stackexchange.com/q/254866/18078 – Ecnerwal Aug 17 '22 at 01:17
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Yes, my nextdoor neighbor had had termites in his shed in the past – Empiromancer Aug 17 '22 at 01:19
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I called around to several pest control companies, reasoning that if anyone had expertise on what constitutes a termite risk in my area it would be them. The answer is that 15 feet is definitely not enough to prevent termites finding the house once they've set up shop in the log - once established, they can range over an acre of land. Furthermore, while intentionally placed decomposing logs aren't common enough for a pest company to be directly familiar with, old stumps are basically the same thing from a termite's point of view - and those can definitely attract termites.
The bottom line is this: yes, a large piece of rotting wood in the garden can attract termites, which can then spread to nearby houses. It's not a guaranteed thing though, and there are treatments that can be done to mitigate the risk.
Empiromancer
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Slowly decomposing wood is a great place for carpenter ants to live in. We found that they started living in a neighbours garage that had wood siding and then moved to some pine trees which were over 75 feet away. Then they chewed through the wood frame windows and set up shop in the basement. They were happy to live in fiberglass insulation and tunnel through the joists in the house.
If carpenter ants are in your area and your house is older with possible entry points through wood I would avoid having wood in the yard.
You could elevate the log off the ground with some rocks or concrete blocks which would keep it drier.
kevinskio
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A distance of 15 feet should not be a problem. I had a wooden rain barrel next to a house and termites built a mud tunnel from the barrel to an opening in the brick house. Here I have old wood several feet from the house and no termites
blacksmith37
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