aaj wrote:

Bird Feeding table

Some of the wood I saved is willow, with the exposed surface about 15" in
diameter. I would like to use this as a bird feeding table.
Because willow is soft, do I need to treat/varnish the exposed surfaces, to
stop the rain soaking in and turning it to mush, or should I just leave it
with the cut exposed.

I would be inclined to use yatch varnish to seal only the horizontal cut
surface after planing it to show up the wood grain. Easy to clean too.
Nothing else stands up to extreme conditions quite so well.

If I do need to treat it, is there anything I can use that once dry, won't
harm any food left on the table when it rains.

It would have to be a pretty awful varnish to leach like that - but
avoid any that claim to contain serious anti-fouling agents.

Water Feature

I would like to sit some of my other logs (beech I think) semi submerged in
my pond. Is there anything I should treat them with to stop the rotting of
the submerged bits, without it dissolving in to the pond and killing the
fish.

If you do that then don't you actually want them to rot to provide
habitat for creepy crawlies and other good pond life?

Regards,
Martin Brown