Rewilding The Garden.

Dale.

Dale.

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Dale.
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As many of you already know, I've had a garden hide set up for some years now, I think the original hide was set up in 2018. I've since pulled that one down, had a new one custom built and I've also moved the location to the other side of the garden.

Anyway, the new hide sits near my pond. My pond is unfiltered, it's just left to its own devices and now has lots of bug species, foilage, reeds, grasses, wildlfowers etc, the birds drink and bathe in it as well as occasionally, fox and hedgehog.

The section behind the pond is sloped, which gives me good backgrounds from the hide. Our garden is large and grass cutting has become a chore now, I'm advancing in years too, which I'm begining to feel.

So this is now the perfect opportunity to rewild a little more. The whole slope will now be left to its own devices but with 'paths' mown through the middle and around the fenceline but the inbetween parts will be left to go.

We now also have to pay for garden waste bin uplift, which I do grudge as we're alreay paying close to £2k a year council tax. That's another story really but the rewilding will mean less grass to get rid of and also, my mower (a Toro Recycler) as the name suggests, can 'recycle' cuttings rather than collect them.

So, the top half of our garden is going to be left to go wild, I did it last year with the section behind the pond and it didn't get out of hand, to be fair.

I've been following a guy on YouTube, Joel Ashton, who is an advocate for garden rewilding. For me, it will mean less time cutting grass, less grass to be getting rid of but also and most importantly, creating a mini habitat for the local wildlife. Overall, our garden is just a small section of the eco system but I'm going to give something back and every little helps.

The flat bit of garden nearest the house will be kept short.

I think every garden should have a wild bit, if space allows.

Watch this space, we'll see what happens.

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Great idea Dale. Can I suggest you plant some hedging along the fence - blackthorn and or hawthorn - good security and lots of berries to attract the birds. Also a lavender bush somewhere to attract bees. The more insects, the more birds. So the wilding of the lawn section plus flowering plants will take care of that. We did similar one year in our last house and it worked really well.
Now we have a lower section of garden that has fruit trees (I'm adding to that to make it more of an orchard) and I'm going to copy your pond ideas down there too. I think we'll also copy your idea of letting the grass do its thing with just a couple of grassy paths through it.

IMG_1762.JPG

You can see we have a small wooden building to the left at the bottom, which is a log store; I'm aiming to turn that into a hide down there. So your project is very interesting!
 
lindsay said:
Great idea Dale. Can I suggest you plant some hedging along the fence - blackthorn and or hawthorn - good security and lots of berries to attract the birds. Also a lavender bush somewhere to attract bees. The more insects, the more birds. So the wilding of the lawn section plus flowering plants will take care of that. We did similar one year in our last house and it worked really well.
Now we have a lower section of garden that has fruit trees (I'm adding to that to make it more of an orchard) and I'm going to copy your pond ideas down there too. I think we'll also copy your idea of letting the grass do its thing with just a couple of grassy paths through it.

View attachment 480400

You can see we have a small wooden building to the left at the bottom, which is a log store; I'm aiming to turn that into a hide down there. So your project is very interesting!
Click to expand...

Thanks Lindsay.

I'd never really given blackthorn and hawthorn a thought but it's a good suggestion and I will look into that....... more research needed on that for me. I love lavender, it was my dad's favourite too. I've never had lavender here but it's on the to do list. I have tried hydrangea but for some reason, I always lose it. :thinking:

There are currently 2 cherry trees and a pear tree but I am going to add more fruit trees, probably apple. there are also 2 rowan trees and some cherry laurel, to the left of the frame, in it's 3rd year now.

I look forward to hearing and seeing how your hide does, it's a great way to spend some spare time. (y)
 
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Apple trees are very useful. There are loads of varieties and rootstocks so you can have some control over the utimate height. They look good when they flower, small birds check the branches and twigs for bugs, you get some fruit and older/fallen fruit will be taken be some birds and insects.

Dave
 
Blackthorn can also provide you with Sloes - handy if you enjoy Sloe Gin...

An assortment of small birds (tits, sparrows, finches) love the shelter that our Berberis gives them. Seen a Sparrowhawk thwarted by it a few times!
 
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