If you have a garden you love, you might have spent a lot of time and energy making sure it looks spick and span. You could even have invested in landscaping, ensuring your garden is guest-ready and beautiful at any given time.
The latest gardening trend, however, is a little less pricey, and offers you the opportunity to create an eco-haven. Rewilding has become a highly popular renovation project for many homeowners who want to add a rustic, environmentally friendly feel to their garden.
Read on to find tips for rewilding your garden this year.
The definition of “rewilding”, in basic terms
“Rewilding” has become a commonly used word in the gardening world, but its definition remains unclear to some. You might be wondering: “is there a specific definition of rewilding, and could I even achieve it in my garden?”
Simply put, rewilding involves allowing the natural plant life on your property to grow undeterred, while also potentially introducing other plants and wildlife-friendly installations to help get things growing again.
So, rather than planting your garden based on aesthetics and routinely cutting it back to create a beautiful tableau, rewilding involves letting go of rigid “garden beauty standards” and allowing nature to run its course.
Rewilding your garden can offer wildlife a chance to thrive
One of the main reasons for rewilding your garden is to attract wildlife and increase biodiversity. It might shock you to learn that, according to research by the WWF, over the last 50 years more than half of world wildlife has disappeared due to the climate crisis.
Indeed, landscaped gardens might look beautiful, but they may not have the most successful levels of biodiversity, due to the somewhat limited variation of plant life that exists within them.
However, by letting your garden grow wild, there may be further opportunities for wildlife to make their homes there. This wildlife could include:
- Bees
- Slugs and snails
- Butterflies
- Birds
- Hedgehogs
- Foxes
- Badgers
- Field mice
- Aquatic life, such as frogs, if you have a pond.
Keeping your garden wild creates the perfect opportunity for species like these to make use of the abundant plant life you are offering. With a rewilded garden, you might enjoy spotting different species of bird nesting on your property, or notice an increasing number of bumblebees pollinating the wildflowers.
3 key tips for starting your rewilding journey
If you are keen to get started on your rewilding journey, here are three things you can do to get the ball rolling.
1. Stop mowing the lawn and pulling up weeds
Remember all those Sunday afternoons spent tramping the garden with your lawnmower, or on your hands and knees pulling weeds out of the ground? Say goodbye to those days.
One of the first and easiest steps in rewilding your garden is to refrain from cutting the grass, and to allow the weeds to grow as they please.
Not only will letting the plants grow save you valuable time and energy, but it is also crucial: longer grass and a diverse range of weeds can play host to a wide range of insects that promote essential biodiversity.
2. Scatter wildflower seeds
Wildflowers provide a stunning, multicoloured view of your garden space; they also attract a wealth of insects, and as a result, a range of birds and other insect-eating species too.
You can buy wildflower seeds at your local garden centre. If you are unsure which species to combine, it may be constructive to seek advice from an expert before scattering them on your lawn or flower beds.
3. Give wildlife a helping hand
If you want to attract specific wildlife to your garden, such as hedgehogs or birds, you can give them a helping hand by implementing specific modifications to your garden.
For example, by making small holes in fences to create a “pathway” in your garden, you might notice hedgehogs making their way through your property, or even choosing to hibernate there for the winter.
You can also make sure there is fresh water left out in your garden, and even install shelter spaces for small mammals, if you wish.
The potential costs of rewilding your garden
One of the most attractive aspects of rewilding for some homeowners is its low cost. Indeed, you may need to make modifications to your garden, such as altering fences to allow wildlife to enter, but mostly, rewilding is about letting nature run its course.
If you are used to using pesticides, paying for expensive mowing and hedge cutting services, and installing expensive landscaping features, it is likely you will find rewilding a much more cost-effective way of gardening.
For an in-depth guide on how to rewild your space, you can visit the Rewilding Britain website.
