I'm Rewilding My Lifeless Garden - here's how

[@dianewallace6064]

BEAUTIFUL. I started rewilding to save Monarch butterflies about 6 years ago. I have wildflower gardens, 3 bird feeders and bird bath. 2 trees. My husband started raised beds for vegetables. I would love a pond. My husband loves to mow the lawn. We do the dead wood laying around also.

[@LeaveCurious]

Sounds brilliant Diane! We’d love to get some vegetables on the go. Yeah Olivia enjoys cutting the grass. It’s a shared space after all!

[@ConstantChaos1]

We get shit for ours but whatever, this year I'm grafting some native mulberry trees (we have a male so imma graft on female branches) we dont have the space for a 2nd tree and this one is probably going on 10 years old so by grafting imma skip ahead quite a few years, im also only gunna graft onto lower branches so they can be easily harvested leaving the top of the tree to spread pollen People tend to forget that for a lot of trees that need cross pollination you can also just graft 2 together to ensure they get pollinated

[@PiedmontFoodForest-kz9fi]

@@ConstantChaos1 Great idea to graft female branches onto male stock! I have a lot of mulberry trees, but probably too many males, so I think I've found myself a new project. Thanks again!

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

Rewilder for thirty years never used pesticides or herbicides. At first I was concerned about pollinators all those years ago so I began developing a cottage garden, perfect for pollinators. I then realised there was little food for caterpillars and other invertebrates. This was just, if not more important, so my garden became more wild and many native plants self seeded or were added. One thing with not cutting grass I've noted is there were far fewer ground nesting bees, so now I keep some areas short in my not so big grass patches and reveal some dirt along the boarders in the sunnier aspects. Rewild but observe too. 😊

[@PatrikInNature]

What a lovely transformation. I've never thought of myself as a keystone species in my own garden haha, but I love the concept. I'm very much looking forward to the garden rewilding series! Patrik

[@LeaveCurious]

Thanks Patrik! Yeah we’re not quite beavers, but we certainly can have big impacts!

[@PatrikInNature]

​@@LeaveCurious True :D I saw them in Slovakia last weekend for the first time, and I must say I love these chunky little builders.

[@debbiegilmour6171]

The top of my garden is shady and the lawn there gets dug up by the cat. Last year, we decided to scatter a load of wildflower seads and let it be and it absolutley flourished. It was so colourful amd really pretty to just watch.

[@LeaveCurious]

awesome. looking forward to coming summer :)

[@dankeener3307]

I’ve converted more than half our lawn to native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants to benefit wildlife and pollinators. Walkways are mowed grass, wood chips or paths of native plants I mow only occasionally. My biggest thrill recently was seeing a zebra swallowtail laying eggs on young pawpaw tree leaves that came up from a seed I hadn’t planted. So far there are 6 larvae feeding on the leaves. Last year 4 spicebush swallowtail caterpillars were hosted by spicebush that showed up in our front yard. Finally, we got to see a cecropia moth hatch from its cocoon this spring. What amazing things happen in a rewilded lot. Thx for your video.

[@mffmoniz2948]

We got lazy and cheap and gave up on the upkeep of our lawn. We still use it as a lawn and we mow it when it starts to get too high, but it looks more like a meadow with lots of short flowering plants that the bees love. Even the vegetable garden is super wild. But we get returning bees and ladybugs.

[@c0niferal]

This is such a lovely telling of your garden story, no 'you should do this this & this' but just gently showing what you've done in a super approachable way

[@LeaveCurious]

Appreciate this! Thank you!

[@katiemcdonald5988]

I think it's beautiful. I let the garden do what it wants. Did you know if you leave lettuce it can grow to over 6ft? Lovely flowers too.

[@jujitsujew23]

Here in the PNW of the US I have rewilded my lawn by mulching it with wet newspaper, then manure rich compost, then cardboard and finally topsoil. Once my lawn was entirely mulched I let nature take over. Clover moved in quickly, followed by fireweed, dandelions, purple dead nettle and self heal. In order to keep it native I weeded out the European plants and have a beautiful clover and fireweed lawn. It’s home to bees, snakes, frogs, beetles and more

[@LeaveCurious]

I hope you took some before photos! That would make a great video! Nice work!

[@jujitsujew23]

@@LeaveCurious I did take a couple pictures with my phone when I moved to the house as I already knew I wanted to make a permaculture garden

[@verycool6022]

Fireweed is native to Europe too!

[@Sagealeena]

My rental unit was completely concrete when I moved in, the two trees had been cut to stumps (non-native poplar for Australia). I don’t have any money, but I got some gardening supplies and free fertiliser from hard rubbish. So I literally just poured fertiliser and water into all the cracks in the concrete, throughout autumn and the start of winter, and I started a compost in a cardboard box. Now we have huge plants which have grown up (all normally considered weeds) and all but one I’m certain are native. Now there’s lots of birds, both small and medium, and bugs too. Yesterday I watched five small birds hopping about and eating the seeds from the plant which had gone to seed and then died out in our 40+ degree weather recently. I like to leave out little dishes with fruit scraps and seeds for the birds too. Even though the poplar trees aren’t native, I’m glad they resprouted from the stump and grew to be two metres tall, because a couple weeks ago the neighbour’s landlord cut down all of their full size trees! Today my partner drilled holes into a plastic container we got from hard rubbish, so I can upgrade my compost as the cardboard collapsed. I also have potatoes growing (planted two surviving ones from a bag that went mouldy) and they’re doing well under a shade cloth, they got big so I had to move them to a milk crate I lined with paper grocery bags!

[@Sean_Shaun_Shawn]

I dunno if I'd call it rewilding but, like many people, I started growing crops during lockdown but I also added perennials and introduced a bunch of local stuff as part of that. Every year I harvest abundant wild garlic from March to June, I use red clover as a nitrogen fixer and borage as a fertilising mulch, I also grow Rowan and make jelly from it, last year I made the mistake of introducing wild strawberries from nearby and they've now taken over a ton of area and I'm now slowly hybridising them with other strawberry varieties for more manageable snacks.

[@LeaveCurious]

Oh yeah a patch of wild garlic would be nice! .. Your garden can be taken over my worse things than strawberries, all sounds great mate!

[@elliotgreen9642]

Amazing! Love seeing what others are doing. We have been gardening for wildlife in a tiny patio garden for a few years. It has completely transformed. We were gifted a huge raised planter for vegetables and decided to instead plant 100 wildflower plugs in it! 😂 The pollinators absolutely love it. We’ve got crabapples in pots, flowering currant, honeysuckle growing up the wall, ponds with native only plants. It’s been so rewarding. Rewinding is epic, but the one thing you get with wildlife gardening is you see it every day. You notice the little things. It’s part of your space. Love your channel keep it up!!

[@LeaveCurious]

Love this Elliot! Keep it up!!

[@Soilfood365]

Well done! I always think ponds and trees are the biggest thing to put in (most) gardens to attract wildlife. For myself: we're on 10 acres very tired, formerly agricultural soil that would have been woodland if not dry tropical forest about 150 years ago. My grandmother had encouraged some of the native trees and planted a lot of non-native fruit trees, some of which outlived her. After a few years of patchy planting between various jobs, this year, I've been trying to plant a tree every day, generally fruit trees and natives, and occasionally just ones that are strange enough that I want them, in an arrangement that should mean that they can create a pretty dense food-forest that should encourage a healthy, diverse system of wildlife.

[@LeaveCurious]

That sounds really cool! I'm sure its going to develop into a excellent space for wildlife, keep up the good work!

[@OakKnobFarm]

I love that you kept your walk-through very real, Rob. In the intro scenes... your child's toy car on it's side in the path..... So true to everyday life, and refreshing to see. Joining you from @MossyEarth

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I wanted this to be authentic, appreciate you picking up on that.

[@31Blaize]

I've been actively planting for pollinators since before Covid. During lockdowns, I started wondering how I could help other taxa as well, and now have a large wildflower area where I only mow paths through what was the lawn, and I've just finished digging a pond. I've planted blackthorn and rowan for berries, we already had pyrocanthus, ivy and berberis. I got to thinking how I could explain to others how to help wildlife in their gardens and set up a group in my village to exchange ideas and encouragement (especially with the anxiety about looking messy!) and we now have the local councillor involved with planting wildflowers around the village as well - it's very satisfying!

[@LeaveCurious]

Great story, well done for bringing forward these ideas to the local community! Keep it up!

[@threeriversforge1997]

Careful what you plant. If it's not a native plant, the damage you end up doing is far worse than not planting anything at all. Dr. Dough Tallamy has a few good videos on KZbin about the damage introduced species have done to the ecosystem, damage that's mostly ignored so long as there's green stuff growing. After watching a few of his talks, I've started going around the property removing the non-natives. I didn't need much of a push since I was already fighting with invasive Privet, Japanese Honeysuckle, and Bamboo.

[@GeorgeTheDinoGuy]

Love your garden! I aspire to have my own garden as wild as yours, my current one has ponds and some wild flowers but unfortunately my family insist on mowing the lawn :( We did recently get some bird boxes, plus started making wild bee boxes and bug boxes so things are looking up!

[@LeaveCurious]

Sounds good! I’m going to make some boxes for the little beasties. Suggest they just a pathway is cut! Cheers!

[@christianelila3374]

Sounds like you already did great. Maybe you can convince them to do no mow may. ;-)

[@Chris-gr7ll]

I remember the one place I lived for a bit. I decided to let the lawn just grow, it was quite nice and a lot of critters started to reside there. So beautiful to me, but apparently not to the neighbors. Somehow the natural yard was more of eye sore than the one neighbor who's yard looked like a dump, covered in trash and parts of old things, they also didn't mow but they barely had anything growing there. I'll never understand some people's priorities.

[@BouncyTownRentals]

I have been growing an aspen forest in my residential back yard. I have almost 70 trees now and it’s really starting to take off. I’m mixing in a some food plants such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, saskatoon berries, an apples tree, cherries and plums. I asked myself recently what I wanted from my yard and I realized that I wanted to give it back to nature and just become an observer. It’s hard at times to resist the urge to pull weeds and do things the way I used to. The birds love it and I’m seeing changes in everything from the soil up. Great to see others waking up to the idea of making your space functional to nature and wildlife. Sad to see all the green ecological dead zones everywhere in cities. Rewinding really opens your eyes to how bad it is.

[@marcelgowa]

Very nice, i did the same 20 years ago and got plenty of very rare plants and insects in my garden now, it trully heals my soul to see that wonderfull animal paradise i have created, we even vot 3 hedgehog families livin there now, i feel so lucky that they picked my garden for their babies.

[@blue2mato312]

I haven’t done much this year apart from watering during a severe drought, but I managed to guerilla garden a hopefully huge rambling rose at a family place I now share with someone who is not on board with my gardening. It is Rosa Helenae the honey rose and it will be a feast for bees and other pollinators when it flowers! It was harder work than I had imagined as the natural landscape of the garden lacks soil except for thin layers above the bedrock supporting pines and heather so I had to fill up pallets with soil lugging them far enough away from where my relative would have easily seen it while Miss Helen scratched me bloody. Next on my list is how to hide a big container pond in plain view. Any ideas on how to do that would be appreciated 😅This summer also had me adding some asaleas and a rhododendron to this same garden. Even though non of these plants are native I know how well loved they are by the insects and I’m sure the many birds appreciate that when they are not eating from the birdfeeders. I also finally after several years got a clue that my batboxes are used after all, I began to give up even if I’m terribly grateful that some are still around and hunt right across the place at night in summer. I’m still not sure I have hung them correctly.

[@DavurBeder]

I have a little pond teaming with life, i often look at it at night with a flashlight as its easier to see the micro fauna in the water 😄 got bird and insect boxes, planted clover on the lawn and have made wood piles to encourage life. One section of my garden that has alot of life is my rhubarb patch, all kinds of critters love to hide under the big leaves 😄 Next project is to transform the front of my house, right now there is only concrete and gravel, its not green enough 😄

[@LeaveCurious]

Your pond sounds awesome. Can’t wait to do mine bigger. I feel you on the front of the house, certainly work to do with mine! What are you thinking of doing?

[@DavurBeder]

@@LeaveCurious the pond is just a square 90L tub dug into the ground 😄 front garden will have another pond, i have some pond liner and i want a waterfall, you cant beat the sound of running water 😄 i would like to get a tree aswell so i can watch the birds from my kitchen window and possibly reach through the window to a branch to hang some feeders 😄 cheers from the faroe islands 😄

[@alicequayle4625]

Ah clover is brilliant. It's great to see the bees working it.....

[@heyheyo0o]

I would LOVE for this to become a series. I think it would be great to inspire people (such as myself) to give a bit of rewilding a go first hand. It's awesome when watched on a screen but I bet it's even better when you can see the differences every day.

[@LeaveCurious]

This is for sure going to be a series, I love doing it and it seems like its going down quite well. So I'll focus on it!

[@stuearth5076]

Yeah, great idea for a series as it really brings it home for many people in the UK who have a small space. Also, for those with small ones it gives them a place to appreciate nature, and for all the family to get to know speices of flora and fauna. I remember cutting the grass for a family friend as a teenager and I left a big secion wild and threw wild seeds on it- the friends were happy and their kids loved all the different flowers and bugs and stuff. keep up the good work@@LeaveCurious

[@robertclarke7848]

I love that your tiny pond is doing exactly what it needs too, shows how effective you can be with almost any space

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I never thought it be a home for frogs given the surrounding area!

[@robertclarke7848]

@@LeaveCurious "Life, uh, finds a way" Dr. Ian Malcolm, 1993

[@blue2mato312]

I really loved that one too! Specially since I am half way through making container ponds myself from builders plastic trowels. I already discussed it with Joel Ashton last year online, feel a bit guilty now that I didn’t finish even though it’s because I lost someone. My problem with making a pond in any other way is that I don’t see how for the two spaces I have. One is only a balcony in a city, another an already wild big garden which lacks deep enough soil to dig.

[@migmogmoo]

I’ve been making bokashi compost in my flat to do something useful with kitchen scraps, and building planters out of found pallets. I have no idea about gardening and ended up leaving them and just seeing what pops up naturally, which is really interesting. Eventually planted some wildflower seed and added a water dish. Seen a lot more insects in the yard now. Also my landlord seems to have given up on maintenance and so lots of plants have been popping up between the paving

[@LeaveCurious]

Bokashi compost, nice! Yeah I have to admit, although I love nature, it’s hard to know exactly what each plant requires. It’s fun just to go for it and see what happens. Best way to learn.

[@mr.lonewolf8199]

I had back home a front and backyard. Front yard I was mowing , cause of neighbors , but backyard I left almost unchecked and wild. It has really great diversity of plants . I also had a flock of free range chickens. It was really a piece of nature in my backyard ☺️

[@LeaveCurious]

Keeping up appearances on the front and wild party at the back! I’d be tempted to let it all go wild! Free range chickens sounds great! I’d love that.

[@Solstice261]

I don't understand why neighbours force you to mow your lawn, it's your property it should be your right to no want a wasteland as a front yard in any case one should be able to force them to keep some homes for wildlife

[@Blake-og3zn]

I love your videos it makes my day when i see you upload your content is amazing and I love you and mossy earth keep it up

[@LeaveCurious]

Ahh appreciate this so much, thank you!

[@katiel8725]

I love that you took out the concrete. I feel like most people wouldn't even consider that. It makes it look a lot bigger too. I'm just getting started with rewinding our yard in our new house. It was basically an expanse of turf grass. We've planted some native trees and shrubs, as well as perennials. In a hot corner of the yard, I've begun to remove some grass for a small bed of sun-loving prairie plants. I hope to do a lot more, one step at a time. Love what you say about just letting nature do its thing.

[@graememckay9972]

I fancied rewinding our garden. It had turned wild and unmanageable before we moved in and we spent years clearing, weeding, cutting until we had a well manicured lawn and garden. We have a young son and a dog. We decided to not cut a section of lawn and plant a dozen saplings from woodland trust along with wild flower seeds, beebombs and other similar mixes. We ended up with thistles and nettles and nothing else. The dog continually digs whenever we plant anything so nothing ever lasts. The saplings took, they were about 12 inches and are all now 6 feet or more (except the juniper which is thick but still only 12inches) Had to mow the lawn to control the nettles and thistles and gave up with plants until the dog is gone.

[@RamonaLi-v2f]

I am also in a rewilding process for my garden. I have added already lots of different flower species, mostly native but also some with lots of nectar and pollen for the generalists like honey bees so they stay away from the other plants the specialists need. I have added homes for birds and also for bees, not only the usual horizontal ones with reed etc as only about 20 % of the wild bees use those, but also vertical ones like dead malva sticks plus a sand clay heap those living in the ground can use and I am currently in the process to set up a clay sand wall where those who love to dig holes into can move in. We also have a small pond where lots of dragon flies come to visit (and unfortunately only for 1 year but never again 2 frogs). Plus I am making different kinds of heaps - with dead wood, stones or other material I am collecting during gardening. My latest project is a seed bank where I collect native flowers from inside and outside my garden to make our lawn a bit more rich in native species that are also more resistant to dry summers. Oh, and I have also planted some native shrubs last weeks to bring even more flowers, fruits and hiding places to my garden - that has just about 100 sqm. 😊 And last but not least I am monitoring the biodiversity I get in my garden through the free app ObsIdentify that is not only a great help to learn what flowers or animals you have spotted. But if you enable also geotagging for your photos you can also upload them into a database scientist use to study biodiversity worldwide. 💚🐌🐸🐦🐛🦋🐝🐞🦗🪲🕷🪰🪳🪻🌻

[@LeaveCurious]

Woah love it! You’re doing so much, I think I’m going to have to come back to this comment when I’m looking to do more! Keep up the good work!!!

[@alicequayle4625]

You're doing a great job. Thanks for the tips.

[@evildave702001]

I took a back garden that was just patio and lawn, let part of the lawn grow long, put in some bug houses and built a shed on the patio with a living roof. I see so much more life in there now its lovely

[@bakkerarjen]

I’m trying to rewild my garden to, introduced some chickens for pest control and adding “nutrients” in the soil. Getting some negative response about it, but I just love it. This is bringing nature to my house. Thinking of building a small pond to, but don’t know how to yet.

[@LeaveCurious]

Cool! I will making my pond a lot bigger soon, so keep an eye out for that. Keep up the good work

[@bakkerarjen]

@@LeaveCurious thanks 😊

[@kaijukid9644]

These videos give me so much hope for the future of not only the nature of Britan, but also the world. It shows that we CAN make a change and they people ARE making changes to save and restore nature. Maybe I'm being naive, but I have a lot of hope for the future and people like you really help with that.

[@LeaveCurious]

hey thanks for the nice comment, i really do believe that many people want to make an effort for nature, and they do. But theres also many that aren't really aware of how rewarding it can be to work with and for nature, especially in our own spaces. I hope to do this on the channel.

[@tomm4073]

This is how we all can make our gardens be part of the natural world. It is badly needed that many more lead by example and do the right thing for our common environment. Many blessings to you and your young family.

[@LeaveCurious]

You're spot on, we certainly need of it! Thank you!!

[@dexmethylphenidate1]

Here in the American northeast, ticks and Lyme disease make it too risky to let our lawn get as tall as we'd like, but we've been doing something similar - letting wild grasses and flowers grow in, sowing some native meadow grass and flowers in dead patches, and encouraging mosses to colonize the completely shaded areas of the yard. The soil around here is very dry and full of lead, so our first priority is getting in ground cover to stabilize the soil and prevent it from blowing lead dust around. Next year we have big plans for more shrubs and ground cover and edible plants up in large containers. I've noticed that potted plants set down on the soil act like reservoirs for the surrounding soil, and actually help a lot of wild plants take root around them.

[@LeaveCurious]

Nice, not mowing isn’t always a must thing to do. Edible plants sounds like a good next move! Good luck!

[@dexmethylphenidate1]

We've got a small enough yard we can actually "mow" with hand clippers, so we keep most things just under ankle height. I'm excited to try to get in larger plants. Maybe even some big ferns in shaded corners.

[@Solstice261]

It must be said they lyme disease is present in Europe and we can still let it grow although I understand why you might want to keep it down, try attracting natural predators and put more bushes as ticks generally stay on grass, also some plants repel them I think

[@meekatomey-alleyne8160]

Good evening, the garden looks fantastic. I've been doing the same with mine but unfortunately we started from a fully concrete paved garden, that also had a concrete slab below. We've taken all of that up, constructed a raised bed, added new fencing and climbers and I've created a pond following Joel Ashton from wild your gardens way. We also added Rowan's at the front and birch at the back. Last year when it got really cold we watched as the black birds were helping themselves to the rowan berries... My plan quite literally came to fruition. I'd love to watch you continue rewilding your garden.

[@LeaveCurious]

Well done, getting up concrete is no easy job. Joel’s videos are great. So cool when you see wildlife coming and using the garden you’ve designed! Cheers :)

[@TheJamlessDodger]

i have a 4mx4m garden but have managed to get a few corners of rotting wood, compost heap, watering rock dish for insects and soon to be a mini nature pond along with all wild flowers round the edges. id suggest getting some logs etc. at the bottom of your garden and a watering dish with pebbles in it and maybe even a nice big lavender.

[@LeaveCurious]

Awesome!! Thanks for the suggestions :)

[@kingy002]

I garden for nature here in Rangiora, New Zealand. It is truly wild and overgrown out the back of the house. I grow Braeburn, Golden Delicious, and Tentation apples, along with Taylor's Gold, Doyenne du Comice, Williams Bon Chretien pears and Himrod grapes. I take a few and the rest are for the blackbirds, song thrushes, and starlings. Additionally I feed the birds heavily over winter with flocks of redpolls, yellowhammers, sparrows, dunnocks, green finches, chaffinches, and gold finches coming in on a daily basis. Summer is a delight with honeybees, leafcutter bees, wool carder bees and bumble bees in abundance. My property is only 384m², but you can do a lot on a small bit of land if you try.

[@Myhandlenamehasbeentaken]

I only have a small Yard that is all concrete apart from one side of the walls that had a L shape that had been made so plants could be planted. I have 5/6 different Clements growing over the walls of my Yarden I had a bird nest in it one year even tho I have two cats and dogs. I grow patio fruit trees in big pots, I also grow strawberries, blueberries, olive tree, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers herbs, peppermint, chocolate mint (it has a taste of chocolate 🍫) ect. I have filled the L shape with so many different flowers and ferns that grow so high. In the summer when everything is out it’s beautiful just to sit in a low deck chair and look up. The view from my bathroom is amazing 👌🏼 The concrete flooring has so many areas that have different sized pots with different types of plants growing. It’s amazing watching all the life that lives in it. The only problem I am having is that the butterfly’s and moths leave their baby’s in so many of my plants that I had to start taking them to different parks. They almost killed my willow tree.

[@RvP10s]

I've said this on their channel before, but i think its awesome you're working with mossy earth now. You deserve it!

[@LeaveCurious]

thank you :)

[@hadogenes5049]

Our garden has always been a bit overgrown (we’re lazy lol) but during lockdown I didn’t really have anything better to do so I built a big old pond in an unused corner of the garden, so far we’ve had herons, dragonflies, frogs, toads, palmated newts and so many insects on the marsh marigold I planted, it’s my favourite thing about the garden now

[@LeaveCurious]

welcome fellow lazy gardner, you have found a safe space... sounds great though!

[@charlottescott7150]

Lovely!! We moved in to our house 19 years ago. It was surrounded by Leylandi on every side and only had 3 very squashed flowering plants. Agter I recovered form having my second child, I got help to remove the Leylandii including their stumps and then waited a bit. I found that there was a squashed Magnolia Stellata, a guelder rose and lots of non invasive rhododendrons. We cut down those that we old or diseased and then started planting a very mixed cottage style border with nectar available pretty much all year round. I've left some parts entirely natural but my husband loves his lawn- at least he agreed not to use weedkiller on it and tolerate lots of moss, wild potentilla, self-heal and clover etc and even some dandelions for the early bees. We also renovated the practically waterless pond. Garden now full of nectar containing flowering plants, small native trees (and buddleia-I love them), habitats, insects, birds, voles (that eat all my root vegetables sadly) (and occasional deer, stoats and rabbits) and lots of waterlife including many newts and dragonfly larva. Also slowworms and orher lizards. Lots of log and leaf piles in corners too. I have cery few frogs though and I wonder if the newts eat all the frogspawn? I love my little oasis of life in the middle of 2 traditionally managed dairy farms. I watched a green woodpecker eating flyung abts the other day and then bathing in formic acid as the other ants attacked it! Looking forward to your garden rewilding series.

[@hilarygibson3150]

I rewilded my very blank garden about 10 years ago. It amazes me how much life is there. The plant that stands out for bees and butterflies us Agastache Black Adder, its been phenomenal

[@artbyadrienne6812]

Very nice! I'm in the high desert of Arizona, so rewilding looks a lot different. 🌵☀️

[@LeaveCurious]

That’s really cool though, I’d love to come and explore!

[@artbyadrienne6812]

@@LeaveCurious I'm using a lot of Geoff Lawton techniques for water conservation and creating a food forest. I've got a playlist called "Greening the Desert".

[@ptonpc]

I have wildflowers in large containers, all the grass cuttings get dumped at the base of the hedges, I have lavender in containers along with some trees and a planted cherry blossom tree. There have been a couple of wild trees that have managed to grow too.

[@PatrickSamphire]

I've been doing this as much as I can, within the constraints that my landlord will accept. Yours is much more lush and wild. I do put my foot down about allowing the bindweed to spread unchecked, though.

[@janesmith9024]

Well done. For those around the world first check any rules about where you live and be careful not to intrude on neighbours' land as there can be legal liability if a wild plant like Japanese knotweed goes from yuour land to someone else's. One of my children who has a baby just like the one on the video and a 2 year old has just had, particularly on my advice, the only poisonous tree removed from the garden at the new house they bought - there are certain plants I would always avoid if you have small children. In our very small land of the UK we have to live side by side with neighbours as well as nature so like all of life we need to find the right balance between not annoying the neigbours by encouraging rats to breed or otherwise. My first advice to all is remove your awful huge massive sheds and garden offices that are taking over English gardens like wildfire. If someone is too lazy to manage the garden but covers half the garden with enormous shed or office where used just to be nature then they will go down to the bottom of my list of wilding people. We had one neighbour who for 30 years refused to do a single thing in his acre of garden as he had a row with someone - he never lifted a finger. It was a very interesting wilderness but probably not too popular with neighbours

[@cracky-patty113]

Im going to show this video to my mum, over the years shes planted many tree and bushes n created her own wooden archway which is now a tall beautiful monster of deep purple flowers in the summer (like yours) recently shes felt overwhelmed with all the tall branches, n big bushes of flowers, shes thinks her garden could be perceived as chaotic to some (it isnt she still keeps it tidy but lets her borders climb and thrive around our space) to me? I always say her garden looks like a fairytale, where faires and little creatures would live and play together ❤️ our garden has always had many sightings of wildlife (butterflies, bees, birds, frogs, mice even hedgehogs!!) I love it so much to see all of it during the summer months.

[@matthewdavies5875]

It's amazing what you have done with your garden.

[@LeaveCurious]

Cheers Matt!

[@jimmyalaric1525]

Really cool to see this. We are just starting to rewild our garden. We are actually working to remove our lawn and restore some native bush. Using a layer of cardboard covered with compost and mulch to smother the non native grasses and create a rich base for the native bushes and trees. Even looking to install a sanctuary for native lizards.

[@LeaveCurious]

Ah cool! Sanctuary for native lizards is an awesome idea!

[@nightpups5835]

Haven't done much, just 3 little plastic deli containers that has some chives and a red lettuce like plant, plus there was this spot where grass wouldn't grow, it was a pain to mow and all around miserable, so dug it up, planted native beach sunflowers and they have sprawled a lot. there are some other gifted plants intermixed with them that are basically buried now but they still seem to be doing fine.

[@markthompson180]

In my town of Martinsburg WV, I bought a parcel of previously-abandoned property downtown that sits along a creek that runs through the downtown, and I'm "rewinding" it by planting a permaculture "grove" of native paw paw and persimmon trees among the various trees that have already gotten started growing in the time it has been abandoned. I'm also cleaning up the creek bed of accumulated trash.

[@debbiehenri345]

Some TV gardeners don't like Laurels - but I love them. I have several in my garden and they make great nesting places for Blackbirds and Thrushes. Take care cutting it back. Don't let the little boy help, as they are want to do. Even a little bit of that poison sap can make him unwell. I do put my foot down when it comes to Brambles and Convolvulus. They are just too aggressive once established and will take over a garden, the brambles can sneak unseen through the grass - and your littl'un will be treading on thorns. (Your neighbours will be unhappy too if they keep growing over the fence into their gardens). I'd remove those and make up for their loss with other wild flowers and fruits. Plenty of better choices. Little ponds are just fine too. I have container ponds all over the place - 6 or 7. I get frogs and newts. And I haven't cut my lawn in 20 years. Don't need to now (don't like doing it either. I was a gardener professionally one time, so I've done enough mowing for one lifetime). Nature has added a new wild flower species to my garden every year except one, and I help along with a few seed-grown additions occasionally. One of my best 'surprise' gifts from nature was Hemp Agrimony - a towering plant beloved by Red Admiral butterflies.

[@mamamoo3974]

It’s lovely to see a natural garden with no concrete or artificial grass and to see children enjoying all it has to offer

[@LeaveCurious]

:)

[@ShortVersion1]

Very beautiful dude, nice job! I love the native tree and little flower you showed after it! The longer grass is for sure more aesthetically pleasing than short. Maybe add a little solar fountain pump for the pond, it will attract other wildlife by sound. We have been going hard to diversify our lawn here in Colorado. That meant leaning heavily towards rock and peagravel, which compliments the native xeric plants. Hyssop and chocolate flower have been the real winners for us. The hyssop immediately brought hummingbirds and hummingbird moths, which now come every day. The chocolate flower smells like Hershey's bars for a couple hours each morning, you can get a whiff from several feet back.

[@tammenkoti]

You and I seem to have a similar mindset! I've done the same for what used to be my lawn dominated yard. It's a beautiful wildflower meadow now. I recently did a video on the subject, if you're interested. It's in Finnish but has English subtitles.

[@iseriver3982]

For all those who want a neat and tidy English cottage garden you can do what I made my parents do, and just leave a strip or area untidy/wild at the back of the garden or along the fence, or whatever. That's where they find our hawk moth caterpillars, newts, weeds, etc.

[@grutarg2938]

I’m trying to fill in under my neighbor’s big trees with other heights of plants- bushes & vines and small understory trees. And I leave a lot of the dead plants in the winter and then toss them on the compost in spring.

[@mmps18]

I'm in this process too! What used to be lawn is now full of asters and goldenrod and cone flowers!

[@LeaveCurious]

Lovely :)

[@anniehill9909]

Just gorgeous, Rob. A piece of tranquil wilderness in the middle of suburbia. I can't wait to see the wildflower lawn. I always thought that planting mint among the grass would be lovely - imagine the scent when you walk on it! ❤

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I'm excited about it all, but the flowering lawn will be really nice! Mint is a lovely idea, I can smell it now :)

[@erusseestelinya]

Mint will take over EVERYTHING 😂 Be careful... 😅

[@blue2mato312]

Mint will definately take over the whole lawn 😅 At least the insects love the mintflowers if this should happen!

[@drumclaypete]

Please bring more rewinding the garden videos. I. Love. This

[@Socksquash]

We’ve been naturescaping our yard, and with every native plant we’ve added, new animals appear to use it!

[@LeaveCurious]

Naturescaping is a cool way of putting it :) what’s been your favourite native plant?

[@Socksquash]

@@LeaveCurious Definitely the Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)! It is a butterfly host plant, produces edible berries, comes in a variegated cultivar, and has year-round interest.

[@verycool6022]

@@Socksquashnot native to Europe unfortunately :(

[@louise2209]

My garden is both a working garden (veg & fruit/nut trees, bushes) and a rewilding by both design and lack of time to concentrate on it. I am working on a wild life hedge and we will be moving and expanding the pond. Not sure the newts will appreciate it at first, but we will see!

[@Agapimo]

Beautiful, especially for the children. Green spaces are beneficial for mental and overall health of which I’m certain you are all enjoying🌈 It’s wonderful that you are creating a much needed habitat for native species of flowers which benefit many animals species also. You can also spread this regenerative knowledge to friends, family, and throughout the community with gift bundles of native seeds which can also be used to spread them among pockets of degraded land in cities and countrysides. Have you considered building small structures for native birds, bats, bees, etc? Thank you for all the illuminating work that you do that makes the world better 🙏🌈

[@LeaveCurious]

Appreciate the kinds words and yes, to share a little exclsuive to you and anyone who reads this comment, I am currently building a much bigger wildlife pond and will be constructing all manner of small structures throughout the garden. I'm very excited for it!

[@blue2mato312]

⁠@@LeaveCurious Please film a bit of these projects for us!

[@dumbguy1007]

I've been making my garden more wildlife friendly since I moved in about 2 years ago, a few native trees, rowan, birch and a wild cherry tree and a row of hawthorn shrubs against the neighbour's fence. My neighbour on the other side has a big wild garden due to clearly being into trees and having moved out, leaving the property abandoned and the amount of birds and wildlife coming over from there has been great. I'm hoping to provide some additional habitats for them for when the property eventually goes on the market and whoever takes it on demolishes the overgrown trees and shrubs there, which will be a shame. Would love a pond and to let my grass go wild but my partner has different views about lawn maintenance.

[@Adam2050]

Wild herbs is always the best free food and great for bees, I always start mine off with Rosemary, Thyme and Sage. Sage is such a great space for life. Also you can get most of these from supermarket cuttings.

[@ebsandflops]

My plans for the next few months are to get a tiny pond dug into our gravel garden, and a small section of hedging planted with hawthorn, dog rose and rowan. I can’t afford to do the whole garden with hedging but a little at a time is better than nothing.

[@markg3025]

What a wonderful and peaceful garden. The blond Rob is adorable.

[@LeaveCurious]

He’s a cutie!

[@pansepot1490]

6:03 stinging nettles, your children will learn to recognize them like I did: first hand experience.

[@elliotlane3225]

Now is a great time to buy cheaper bareroot plants. Usually these are sold until March/April. Trees or native hedging packs are readily available at a fraction of the cost of plants in pots. Any fruit trees will bring in wildlife with the blossom, shelter and fruit, and a pack of 3 hawthorns is only about £10 online - great for wildlife. Top tip - check out garden centre bargaun sections earky in the week for plants that didnt sell over the weekend and which they want to move on to bring in new stock. Maybe even divide the plants for even more new plants, and save more money! Great way to stock a garden from scratch

[@simonbarrow479]

Great work. And great to see your growing family.

[@LeaveCurious]

Cheers Simon! Appreciate your support, as always!

[@holdthelight11]

I love this!!! I removed all the mulch and weed fabric from my tiny front garden patch and then sprinkled wild flower seeds all over, then just let it be. My husband basically said it was ugly and had "no purpose to it," i.e. it's not manicured enough...lol... I say WHO CARES! Its "purpose" is to just be alive and feed the bugs and the bees and the butterflies! Who cares how neat it looks??? I love your garden!

[@apurbadebnath3929]

U came a long way. Its been a pleasure staying with u since what🤔 like 2000 subscriber. I appreciated your work then, i appreciate it more now and its been an wonderful journey of yours. God bless🌷🌹

[@lyssasletters3232]

I’ve been enjoying propagating the plants I already have on my property so that I can have free plants, as well as planting perennials that have been gifted to me by kind neighbors❤. I’ve also transplanted a few trees this year: junipers, crabapple, white pine. It’s so wonderful to work with nature❤

[@LeaveCurious]

This sound fun! So nice your neighbours have gifted you some. I’d like a crabapple too!

[@stevenohenries5127]

I find it so much nicer to look at a natural, rewilded garden than a bland, mown lawn. I would love to have a house with a big garden, plant a bunch of wildflower seeds in it, and just sit back and let nature do its thing. I wouldn’t feel the need to even own a lawnmower! 🙌🏻🦋🌼🦔🌹🕊️🌻🌿

[@ScrubLordKyle]

Fantastic work! I’ve finally been able to convince my dad to plant more local natives in our garden 😁 I love seeing the passion in these videos

[@TacticalCaveman997]

Exactly what I'm doing to my backyard. Letting trees grow, planting wildflowers, and growing food. Trying to control the mosquitoes is providing difficult though

[@LeaveCurious]

Nice! Yeah mosquitoes are tricky! I have a lot in the garden at the moment too

[@alexcrockett5665]

I have to admit I'm actually very impressed with everything that was able to grow in your garden with a walnut tree in the garden because walnuts can actually release a chemical into the soil that stops other seeds from germinating and growing.

[@NathanRLaing]

Love the video man. Inspiring.

[@LeaveCurious]

Epic thanks dude!!

[@bronwyno-k6212]

This is encouraging:) I've allowed my garden in suburban New Zealand to rewild, and think it not only looks lush and beautiful, but is a necessary oasis for wildlife in the area, where so much habitat is being lost so fast. Most people don't get it (besides children), assuming it's the the result of poor management haha. Keep putting the word out there!

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

I have several ponds (made from plant pots), I have included flowers and flowering shrubs in my (container) garden and not just food plants.

[@LeaveCurious]

ah awesome :)

[@MM-mq5uj]

Love your video. I've been a big fan of rewilding spaces that are not in use. I've replanted trees instead of cutting them off and sprinkled wildflower seeds is small patches. Keep up the good work!

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I agree, if an area isn't being used, may as well rewild it! Cheers!

[@TheYuxiaodi]

I filled an old masons tub with soil and planted a blackberry bush on the balcony of my apartment. It is really nice :)

[@LeaveCurious]

ah awesome :)

[@PaulCoxC]

Lovely garden Rob! I don't even have a frog in my pond!

[@LeaveCurious]

I will endeavour to take a photo or get some footage. I had two in previous years and they over wintered. No idea where they came from!

[@lewisclegs]

Brilliant to see, you should look into sowing yellow rattle seeds into the lawn, they are a native and slightly weaken grasses to allow meadow flower species to establish 😊

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I've seen this suggested a couple of time now, I think I will :)

[@markduncan2217]

I have also left my garden to grow. It is now by far the most nature friendly garden in my street. Loads of insects, frogs and birds are always there now.

[@LeaveCurious]

Always rewarding when you see the animals coming in. Cheers

[@p-san]

Im my small garden space to welcome nature, i have actually just realized what I've done three years later. That by JUST growing plants that cover the ground, I've let an entire eco system build. I protected the soil, with things like mint, and catnip and it let the base microorganisms grow. I first started seeing ants...then beetle's, then potato bugs, bee's which have been around for a while, bumblebees, bee's that look like yellow jackets and just barely spiders and crickets. Every year I decide that I want to let my garden grow naturally is another year that I notice more and more nature sticking around.

[@takanomemihawk7860]

Oh damn I knew I recognized that voice! You are doing mossy earth videos!! Pleasure to see your garden changes :D

[@kenhunt2861]

Great great concept and video. I’m in Atlanta GA and sometimes wear a t-shirt that boldly states “Kill Your Lawn.” There is a movement among locals here to do just as you’re advocating, create more places for local flora and fauna to thrive, not just survive. Thanks for what you do.

[@LeaveCurious]

thats awesome! love that

[@alicequayle4625]

Our garden is quite wild, fortunately 1 of the neighbours also have theirs wild. We have a lot of birds nesting. We seem to get more birdsong here than almost anywhere else within 10 miles.the Merlin birdson app is good fun for id. One of the things the bees like is some fuscia hedge. We get several kinds of bees on it for months. We have planted a hawthorn too as its native forage.

[@dantegrandia1990]

Every time I eat vegetables, instead of throwing the seeds in the thrash I throw them in my garden. I don’t look after the plants but it still creates feeding opportunities for other creatures.

[@humanonetoo]

I'm in Sydney. I've been passively rewilding my yard. My neighbour is horrified. I love it. ❤

[@_Bont]

I like the idea of gardening using seeds you've personally collected (or cuttings, deadwood, maybe even soil/water for inoculation). It gives every plant you grow its own story of when and where you got it from and helps you familiarise yourself with your local area and ecology with the help of apps like iNaturalist, and field guides so that you know they're native (and safe to collect). Then you can also research what ecological functions they provide, what species they support etc. Or the opposite - find out what plants your favourite species needs and then go looking for them. I think this is an interesting angle that a lot of wildlife gardeners don't cover since there's no job in it for them and they can't sell you their seed mixes which are sourced from who knows where and may dilute local genetic diversity (if they're even natives). Another risk in buying plants is that they may have already been treated with pesticides prior to being sold, or could spread new diseases like Dutch Elm Disease. I'm sure you can avoid this though by checking with the nursery. I'm not saying this to be a gatekeeper, there's still a lot of value in that kind of gardening and ultimately it comes down to whether it's fulfilling and practical for the individual. I just think it would be great to see another perspective through a rewilding lens, which would cater to a different audience, instead of a gardening one, which is good for converting traditional gardeners.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I really like this! I'll certainly try this moving forward.

[@blue2mato312]

This is a great way to gather host plants for butterflies and moths among other things! I would love to take cuttings from a host tree for brimstone butterflies, but I haven’t yet found it and identified it. I’m not sure if such cuttings can survive a cold winter outdoors either, but I need to try next year before the one identified tree in the area gets cut down by someone else. Identified online in a species database that is.

[@threeriversforge1997]

Dr. Doug Tallamy has done great work in this field. He's brought together hundreds of studies that show just how devastating landscaping has been to the local ecosystem, and yet how invisible the damage is. He's even started a group called the Homegrown National Park to help bring awareness to the public and get them to join in the effort. I'm sure the UK is no different than the US. Where people are blind is in not understanding how horribly damaging the planting of non-native species is. Everyone thinks their one small garden won't matter, but forgets that there are millions of people saying the same thing. That's more acreage than most of the national parks combined. Without native species in the ecosystem, and most yards are 80% non-native, you create what Dr. Tallamy coined "fragmentation" of the ecosystem. Because the birds and pollinators can't fly very far, they need options in every direction. Those animals evolved with the ecosystem, so they rely on very specific plants for food and homes. They can't just use any ol' thing like people think. When you "fragment" the ecosystem, you create a million black holes where there's nothing of substance for the native wildlife.... and they run out of energy before they can find anything to eat or a safe place to lay their eggs. In the US, it's been calculated that we've lost 30,000,000 songbirds over the last few decades as more and more native plants are destroyed so we can have lawns and shrubbery, all of which is non-native and serves no purpose in the ecosystem. When you add in all the invasive plants being introduced, the damage is even worse. All told, the destruction is on a scale far greater than what we see in the Amazon burning, but folks are blind to it because they look around and see everything green.

[@lars-kristian8619]

Looks amazing! Maybe add some deadwood sprinkled around for insects to live in.

[@ShanShan-kw9hi]

I’ve been building a food forest, so not letting it be wild but engineering a biodiverse, permaculture informed, food source for me and the animals that live in the area. I harvest about half and leave the rest for the birds in hopes they will come back and fill my yard with song!

[@christinecollins6389]

We need more of this type of garden to help wildlife and climate change

[@jameswest6085]

We have a pond and several log piles, we tried a wildflower meadow but it died in June's drought sadly

[@LuthienNightwolf]

I just moved into a rental house, I’m very eager to try and rewild at least part of the yard, within limits of what I’m allowed to do. Nothing permanent so no planting trees or bushes, but I do want to grow a lot of stuff in containers and let the grass go wild in some spots.

[@LeaveCurious]

Go crazy with pots! and create structures where climbers can grow that aren't part of the actual property, you can for do a barrel, container pond!

[@nancysmith-baker1813]

Realy lovly and looks wild . Thankyou .

[@cynthiavanteylingen7922]

Yes we want rewild my garden good idea❤