by George Smith
/ on 3rd March 2023 /
in Blog, climate, environment, garden design, Gardens, meadows, planting, Ponds, trees, Watering, Wildlife
FACT: Gardens cover an area more than twice the size of all our national nature reserves.
FACT: One in seven of our wildlife species are heading for extinction and half are in decline.
FACT: 46% of Europe has tree cover compared with only 13% in the UK
While decisions are being made across Britain by members of the Rewilding Network about rewilding their land, as gardeners, home-owners, garden designers and landscapers, the decisions we make now can make a massive difference.
If every garden in Britain was made just a little bit wilder, more carbon could be absorbed, biodiversity increased and the impacts of climate change, like flooding, reduced.
That’s got to be a good reason to go a bit wild, so what can you do?
1. Be kind to your garden
Stop using chemicals to get rid of weeds, pests or to feed your plants.
Instead use a combination of good horticultural practice ie cut your lawn little and often, water enough but don’t drown, hand pick pests where you see them or companion plant to divert pests.
Use organic alternatives such as liquid seaweed to feed and have a go at making your own compost.
2. Neat is not natural
Embrace natural untidiness to create food source and habitat for wildlife.
Designate an area of your garden that can run a bit wild – allow brambles (blackberries are great for birds and small mammals) and nettles (great for pollinators and butterflies) to grow in an un-used area of the garden.
Leave a pile of dead branches, twigs and leaves as they provide vital food and habitat for invertebrates such as worms and beetles and important nesting material for birds and small mammals.
Or simply let the grass grow longer is some areas to offer birds and insects flowers and seedheads.
3. Enhance your wildlife corridors
Leave leaf litter under hedges – small mammals such as hedgehogs, mice and voles will use hedges as safe corridors to move around as well as nesting at the base of hedges and feeding on berries and seeds.
4. Get planting
Plant a native tree or hedge – this is the simplest and easiest way to not only provide habitat and food for wildlife but is also the simplest way to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to help reduce global warming.
5. Water is essential for life
Introduce water in your garden – anything from a bird bath to a lake.
Not only is it vital for the survival of birds and animals all year round, if you establish a pond (natural or ornamental) it will soon be teeming with life and provide a valuable food source for wildlife.
Which bit of your garden can you support going wild this year? Contact us if you would like support in going wild in your garden.
