You may have passed an occasional woodpile built into a creative arch, a wall or a hut. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, there are practical reasons to get creative with your wood stacking.
Some basic principles will apply no matter what: Firewood needs to be aged, or seasoned, for months until it’s dried enough that it will burn well and won’t produce creosote, which can cause chimney fires.
You can buy wood pre-seasoned or dried in a kiln (which also kills pests in the wood). If you have the room and the funds, you can also buy green wood this year at a cheaper price or cut your own and store it until next year.
Green or seasoned, it’s important to keep firewood off the ground and prevent it from getting wet with a base like a pallet or a premade rack.
Look for a sunny spot with good air circulation at least 20 feet away from your house. Stacking wood against the house makes it easier for any pest such as mice or insects that the pile might attract to get into your house.
Make sure you don’t build the pile on a part of your land where water flows or pools in rainstorms, and cut down vegetation surrounding it, which can also hold moisture in.
When the wood is dry, you can keep it in a woodshed or a dry part of your home like the garage. For green wood, that won’t work because the air won’t move enough. You still might want to keep dry wood outside and bring in a few days’ worth at a time to invite fewer pests inside and avoid mold growth indoors.
One rule of thumb is to avoid stacking the wood more than 4 feet high. That’ll keep the pile stable and will also make it safer for you to remove pieces to use.
If you run the stack north-south, both ends of it will get sun. If you don’t have a cover, leaving the top layer bark-side up will help keep some of the moisture from moving down into the pile.
Using vertical pieces of wood or posts on either side of the stack can help prop it up.
If you’re looking for airflow, the “cross-stacking” method might be your best bet. Stack three or four pieces of wood in one direction, then three or four on top of that facing the opposite direction. Continue that pattern until it’s about 4 feet.
You can make a number of these smaller stacks next to each other, or make two of them with heavier logs to bookend your stacked woodpile, keeping it upright.
In Europe, a number of circular stacking methods are popular — placing the wood facing outward in a wide circle (8 feet or more) with extra, small or weirdly shaped wood in the center, rather than all of it in a straight line.
Some say this makes the stacks more stable, and if you’re drying your own wood, it offers a lot of airflow. You can lay down a tarp, ring of pressure-treated wood or other ground cover underneath to keep the soil’s moisture from seeping in.
The German version tapers upward at the top, looking like the roof of a house, while the Norwegian style doesn’t taper but is covered by longer, bark-covered logs on top. The bark will keep out moisture.
A variation on the German approach called the Shaker or Amish version continues sticking wood in straight out along the top of the structure, creating a product that looks like a ball. This option will hold the most wood and could be more stable.
