Turning 1/4 acre into a wild garden

Mr_Roger_Bongos · 29-05-2019 9:50am #1

Hi All,

I should probably start with this - I know almost nothing about Gardening!

I have 1/4 acre field beside my house that i want to turn into a wild garden.

The ground is fairly rough and on a slope of about 25/30 degrees. It's historically been used for grazing sheep and is presently well covered in grass. It runs down to a trickling stream at the bottom (which is sometimes more like a shuck)

My plan is to plant a few trees and let the grass grow out, but cut a path through it as the grass grows.

I'm hoping i can get some advice on these questions:

Is there anything i should do to prepare the ground in advance/give things a better chance of growing?
I'd like to make it a good place for birds/wildlife - Any tips or websites/articles i should read or sources of info on what to do?
What would the best time of the year be to begin/plant? Any useful links to planting calenders?
I'd like to plant flowers that attract/are suitable for bees - Any suggestions?
Anything else i should be aware of or plan for?

Thanks in advance for any assistance or advice.

For anyone who's interested, i might put up a few pictures of progress!

magicbastarder · 29-05-2019 10:16am

re planting trees - have a walk around the area and see what does well there already. you might even collect seeds from local stock to grow in the garden, it'll be more suited to the conditions.

Lumen · 29-05-2019 11:29am

"Wild" and "garden" are somewhat contradictory, since gardens are actively managed for human gratification, whereas "wild" implies that you're not going to actively cultivate it on an ongoing basis, but attempt to achieve some sort of permanent ecological balance.

That's not to say that it's a bad idea, but you maybe need to be clear about what level of maintenance you're aiming for, because that will affect which plants you choose.

enricoh · 29-05-2019 11:33am

A friend of mine did this, however he still mows a strip six foot wide around the perimeter to stop the hedges expanding out.

uck51js9zml2yt · 29-05-2019 11:35am

Lumen wrote: »

"Wild" and "garden" are somewhat contradictory, since gardens are actively managed for human gratification, whereas "wild" implies that you're not going to actively cultivate it on an ongoing basis, but attempt to achieve some sort of permanent ecological balance.

.

You've too much time on your hands Lumen....don't you have a shed to finish ?

;)

Doctors room ghost · 29-05-2019 11:48am

Great idea and great for the environment and nature.maybe throw in a few native trees and strim a section big enough for a couple of chairs and a small table so ye could sit out in it and enjoy it.
If you leave the trees until the winter you could get them as bare root whips for a fraction of the price

Mr_Roger_Bongos · 29-05-2019 11:55am

Lumen wrote: »

"Wild" and "garden" are somewhat contradictory, since gardens are actively managed for human gratification, whereas "wild" implies that you're not going to actively cultivate it on an ongoing basis, but attempt to achieve some sort of permanent ecological balance.

That's not to say that it's a bad idea, but you maybe need to be clear about what level of maintenance you're aiming for, because that will affect which plants you choose.

I take your point about maintenance. I'd be aiming for very low levels - Once a month for 2-3 hours just to tidy up.

Based on this - Is there anything you recommend i avoid/actively do?

Tired Gardener · 29-05-2019 11:57am

When you say wild, do you mean wild flowers, similar to a meadow?

If so, there are a few methods to get the effect.

First method is to mix wild flower seeds with horticultural sand, remove the top soil, using a wooden frame scatter the seed mixture so it is even in places, gently take over with a spring tine rake, give them a good watering, then cover with a net to stop birds getting at the seeds. It is the method that takes the most effort, but allows for a good covering of the wild flowers.

Second method is to allow the grasses to grow long, plant in wild flower plugs at random points, cut the area in late autumn at a height of 3 inches, keep repeating this over the course of a few years. This way can take the longest way as it requires the wild flower plugs to seed enough and compete against the already present grasses.

Just remember to avoid cuttings being left in the area, wildflower meadows require nutrition poor soil.

Hope this helps.

macraignil · 29-05-2019 12:28pm

Grass is said to do better than wild flowers when nutrients are high so make sure not to add any fertiliser. You could mow it and remove the clipping to help reduce the level of nutrients but if it is too rough for this maybe getting it grazed by sheep again might help set the grass back a bit and allow more opportunity for other plants get established when they are gone.

There is a website dedicated to information on helping pollinators and their list of trees good for the purpose can be found in this link.

Trees that are deciduous are available cheaper bare root when they are dormant between Autumn and Spring and so you could start then and complete the planting more cheaply. Here is a link to a nursery price list to give an example of what could be available. There is a list on the second last page of trees available as whips which means they are still small and so can generally be planted without supports and because they develop more naturally can often out grow bigger more expensive trees that you might also consider and so prove a better option.

The flowers that are best for pollinators include buddleia and nepeta and it is an idea to plant things to cover having flowers throughout the year. I made a playlist of flowers in my own garden for each month of the year.

One other thing that might be a factor if you are going to be planting trees is that hares may try to eat the bark so you may want to put something around the tree trunks if they are around your area. I found spare sections of drainage pipe worked fine to protect young trees while they are getting established and they can be removed once the trees get bigger. Not sure if these are a problem in your area. Sounds like a great idea and do post some pictures of how it goes and any other questions that pop up.

Good luck!

magicbastarder · 29-05-2019 12:34pm

depending on the soil, you might get a meadow or a mass of brambles. from a natural point of view, brambles are not an issue. you might not want them, though.

magicbastarder · 29-05-2019 2:53pm

personally (though beware that this is my answer to everything) i'd let it become a woodland if i were you. it's the lowest maintenance option ultimately. meadows require work, no matter what. even if you were to buy trees to cover it, it'd only cost a couple of hundred quid if you got them as bareroot whips. there's a chap who can sell wildflower seeds suitable for woodlands but AFAIK the woodland wildflower seed mix for that size site would cost more than the trees.

Mr_Roger_Bongos · 29-05-2019 2:58pm

Great advice here, thanks everyone. I'll be starting the project next month so will come back with pictures and review all the advice and links you've put up. Thanks again!

PhilOssophy · 29-05-2019 3:07pm

You could become a hero of our ecosystem by making this area as bee friendly as possible.
Let it grow wild, let nettles, dandelions, hedgegrow, etc grow wild.
The bees love all this stuff.

magicbastarder · 29-05-2019 3:26pm

also worth asking what part of the country you live in, it might be worth doing your best for rare species which occur in your part of the world.

Mr_Roger_Bongos · 29-05-2019 4:56pm

PhilOssophy wrote: »

You could become a hero of our ecosystem by making this area as bee friendly as possible.
Let it grow wild, let nettles, dandelions, hedgegrow, etc grow wild.
The bees love all this stuff.

So this quote made me look up nettles - "The White Dead Nettle" - I thought there was only the stinging variety

Mr_Roger_Bongos · 29-05-2019 4:57pm

magicbastarder wrote: »

also worth asking what part of the country you live in, it might be worth doing your best for rare species which occur in your part of the world.

I'm in Tyrone. All jokes about the 'rare species' welcome haha.

Say my name · 29-05-2019 9:39pm

Why not plant your trees and still keep the sheep to graze underneath?

I presume since it's used already for sheep, the boundaries are fenced?
Plant your trees. Put guards around them and presto, you're ahead of the pack with your own little Silvopasture project.
Maintenance on that will be very low.

Day Lewin · 30-05-2019 12:42am

If you mow it once a month from April to October, you will favour the grassland plants: many of them are very pretty and they are under pressure from heavy use of fertiliser for monoculture lawns and grazing.
You probably recognise daisies and buttercups, but you may also find dog-daisies, orchids, cowslips, ragged-robin, red and white campions, eyebrights - and more. Many of these are food plants for butterflies and moths as well as bees and hoverflies.
Also, this rough occasional mowing should discourage such things as bramble, thistle and stinging nettle which aren't so attractive to humans!

The stream is an invaluable resource in any wildlife garden and should be lovingly cherished for newts, frogs and many water plants, as well as birds and animals drinking and bathing.
Regarding woodland ...most Irish land if left unattended will revert to woodland - ash and sycamore etc will start to grow. Nice, eventually, but plenty of time must pass and also, a lot of other people are doing this.
Think about this - a garden may be more enjoyable if you don't do the forest trees - or only around the edges: best of all, a native laid hedgerow of mixed shrubby species and climbers, with occasional trees, creates shelter for your land, keeps livestock out, (or in) and is a rich habitat for many creatures and nesting sites for birds.

mobfromcork · 30-05-2019 6:18am

We are doing something very similar in our garden/field at the moment. We have about an acre and a bit of a field behind the house that we wanted to plant up a bit. We are surrounded by farmland, mainly sheep farming with some cattle so predominantly grazing land. Over the last 2/3.yeara we've planted about 300-400 trees which are nearly all native over about 1/2 an acre. We used the 'Trees on the land Scheme' this year which gets you around a bunch of 50 native broad leaf whips for 21 euro. We got Oak, alder, whitethorn, rowan, beech, Scots pine. More info available here for the 2020 planting

https://www.treesontheland.com/plant-trees

We also got a lash of trees from future forests in Cork last year - different sorts of willow, hornbeam, alder and some lovely hedging mixes for along the boundaries. We got some from the Gardenshop.ie as well - birdcherry, spindle trees, hazel and more.

We popped in a small orchard about 9 apple trees of mixed varieties, damsons, plums so far. This year we have let the grass grow wild over all of the field while keeping a few paths mowed through the saplings. We plan on cutting it all back in the early autumn (local guy will use it for his horses) to allow any wildflower seeds already in the soil a chance to grow. We had a nice mix this year which a good amount of bees, butterflies, birds, hares and mice visible over the last few months. We had to put up hare-guards on a lot of the trees, especially the fruit trees and the willows, as they were being gnawed.

We planted each whip using the t-slit method so was fairly quick and used bark mulch around the base of each tree which we reapplied this year. We buy by the lorryload from a local processor rather than by bags from garden centres. A full lorry was 200-250 euro.

I wouldn't say it's zero maintenance by any means but not too much work either and it will decrease as the trees grow and naturally start to stop the grass growth underneath them. We didn't plant in rows, just randomly, but used some circles, curves and more dense copses which will look good when they mature.
The smallies love following the paths through the long grass and even though the trees are only 2/3 years old, it's great to see birds already flitting in and out of them. Loads of birds in the long grass too.
I would highly recommend it from my experience so far.

mobfromcork · 30-05-2019 6:21am

Few pictures

mobfromcork · 30-05-2019 8:41am

PhilOssophy · 30-05-2019 9:02am

Leave it as it is, it is perfect for bees and wildlife

Day Lewin · 30-05-2019 10:41am

Cuckooflower, beautiful!!

macraignil · 30-05-2019 11:16am

mobfromcork wrote: »

We are doing something very similar in our garden/field at the moment. We have about an acre and a bit of a field behind the house that we wanted to plant up a bit. We are surrounded by farmland, mainly sheep farming with some cattle so predominantly grazing land. Over the last 2/3.yeara we've planted about 300-400 trees which are nearly all native over about 1/2 an acre. We used the 'Trees on the land Scheme' this year which gets you around a bunch of 50 native broad leaf whips for 21 euro. We got Oak, alder, whitethorn, rowan, beech, Scots pine. More info available here for the 2020 planting

https://www.treesontheland.com/plant-trees

We also got a lash of trees from future forests in Cork last year - different sorts of willow, hornbeam, alder and some lovely hedging mixes for along the boundaries. We got some from the Gardenshop.ie as well - birdcherry, spindle trees, hazel and more.

We popped in a small orchard about 9 apple trees of mixed varieties, damsons, plums so far. This year we have let the grass grow wild over all of the field while keeping a few paths mowed through the saplings. We plan on cutting it all back in the early autumn (local guy will use it for his horses) to allow any wildflower seeds already in the soil a chance to grow. We had a nice mix this year which a good amount of bees, butterflies, birds, hares and mice visible over the last few months. We had to put up hare-guards on a lot of the trees, especially the fruit trees and the willows, as they were being gnawed.

We planted each whip using the t-slit method so was fairly quick and used bark mulch around the base of each tree which we reapplied this year. We buy by the lorryload from a local processor rather than by bags from garden centres. A full lorry was 200-250 euro.

I wouldn't say it's zero maintenance by any means but not too much work either and it will decrease as the trees grow and naturally start to stop the grass growth underneath them. We didn't plant in rows, just randomly, but used some circles, curves and more dense copses which will look good when they mature.
The smallies love following the paths through the long grass and even though the trees are only 2/3 years old, it's great to see birds already flitting in and out of them. Loads of birds in the long grass too.
I would highly recommend it from my experience so far.

Horses around here like to pull up and chew on young trees or trample them and knock them over or just rip off the tops and chew on them. Make sure the local guy who you want to leave use your area for their horses is willing to keep them fenced away from the trees. Considering the effort you have put into planting so many trees it could be a very expensive way to get your grass cut.

mobfromcork · 30-05-2019 11:20am

He's just cutting the grass, leaving to sit to dry for a week (hopefully) and taking it away then. He had those fears about the horses too! He had them in one half of the field last year inside a temporary electric fence to keep them away from the trees but he was worries this year that they would go through the fence to get the apples etc

fryup · 30-05-2019 1:18pm

OP,

there's an ongoing project on BBC's springwatch in which a woman is making her small back garden into a wildlife haven

its on BBC2 most evenings

NIMAN · 03-06-2019 8:39am

What would be the smallest area you could do this with?

magicbastarder · 03-06-2019 9:24am

Do what with? Make a wild garden? Any size, really.

NIMAN · 03-06-2019 9:31am

magicbastarder wrote: »

Do what with? Make a wild garden? Any size, really.

Yeah, basically leave a bit to overgrown,maybe plant it with bee friendly flowers etc?

I have a large back garden and areas of it are not used. I had thought about not mowing a section and turning it into a meadow type area.

Danzy · 03-06-2019 9:38am

Planted a 1/4 acre with a variety of perennial flowers, stuck in some sallies in a wet corner.

magicbastarder · 03-06-2019 9:56am

i have a back garden that's approx 40 foot by 80 foot. have a small section of woodland i've planted at the very end ('small' being 40 foot by about 12 or 15 foot), and it's very low maintenance and the blackbirds seem to love it. i put in birch, hazel, holly, hawthorn and blackthorn, but there's also a 40 foot birch there planted by a previous owner. in the corner beside it we have a big pile of hedge cuttings, several foot across and several foot deep, and the frogs seems to like that section, it'll stay damp when the garden is dry (though if the weather is really dry, they all bail back into the pond).
i have it underplanted with ramsons and bluebells; and some three cornered leek i was given by someone who thought it was wild garlic - yanking this stuff up has constituted about half the maintenance work in that section of garden this year. the other half being ripping up robin run the hedge/goosegrass which was running rampant in there.

given that it's such a small section, i planted the trees much more densely than i would otherwise, i wanted a canopy to form nice and quickly. it was planted in may 2014, and some of the trees are easily 15 foot tall now.

Turning 1/4 acre into a wild garden

Comments