Rewilding an old Irish farm | FULL TOUR

[@TheRewildlife]

Want to see more people rewilding land in Ireland? Check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZojQpaR_i8h7rZo

[@simonoconnorable]

Have a mini version of this, great to see others on board in Ireland, gives me hope! Absolute pleasure to watch my trees develop through the seasons and my pond mature. That river and bank are fantastic to have on your land!

[@TheRewildlife]

That’s great to hear! You know as soon as I started research for this project, I realized there are people all over Ireland doing it! So keep that hope up

[@TomNov77]

Great plans 👍🏻 I do native wildflower meadows professionally so in terms of the first field you need to remove the grass and expose the soil otherwise the yellow rattle wont take due to thick layer of dense grass that fall over the years. If you don’t want to bring heavy machinery scythe it down and use chain harrow behind quad bike. The germination rate will be much improved. Not sure what way you want to build the pond I use rubber liner but if you don’t want to use liner dig test hole about 1m deep (or whatever depth you want the pond be) and check water table. If sufficiently high and yo have clay soil you might get away with minidigger compacting the walls. The pond itself doesn’t need to be too deep so make sure you have lots of shallow margins, thats the most important habitat for majority aquatic life.

[@TheRewildlife]

Amazing advice thank you! So I actually sowed the yellow rattle yesterday. I used a powerful electric strimmer to remove grass and expose the soil in 1.5 meter or so circles spaced a similar distance apart..so my field looks like the moon now. Then sprinkled a handful of seed on the soil in each circle. I was told the patches of yr will merge over a few years. Is that sufficient or do you mean I should actually get the whole field down to soil and start anew?

[@TheT1G0]

@@TheRewildlife My experience with yellow rattle germination is, that soil contact is paramount. Year after year i can observer that the parts in my garden, where i walked to the bird feeder during the winter, are just over crowded with yellow rattle. So i always recommend to get the a bit of the old thatch out. that way the yellow rattle seeds can fall through to the ground and then play a few matches of football on it lol. Stepping on it really helps with the ground contact, so it works wonders for the germination rate. Hope this helps and good luck. Oh and of course there still needs to be grass around to parasite. So i wouldn't got to ham with exposing soil.

[@SuperVlerik]

Have you any experience using a bentonite pond liner?

[@TheRewildlife]

@@TheT1G0 interesting! Ive actually been avoiding stepping on them so il change that. I knew Id learn loads from the comments! Thank you!

[@mairnealachamu]

Yellow rattle took in my meadow without the need to scarify the grass. Took a couple of years, but it's spreading out now.

[@LeaveCurious]

Awesome! Excitied to see this develop.

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks so much for watching! Love your work

[@tomasaurusstack6200]

Oh hey it's the English guy

[@sophiareygrace6656]

Cant wait to see your projects!!

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you! Il be doing updates as much as I can. Thanks for your comments!

[@_Bont]

Could be good to ringbark some of the sycamores at woodland edges to create snags. I think it may encourage barn owls as they could use the dead branches as hunting perches (along with other birds of prey and flycatchers). Or you could just ringbark individual branches if you don't want to kill the whole tree. Some other microhabitats I can think of that would be relatively easy to create would be tree scrapes, coppiced trees, snapped branches, partially buried logs, and wet and dry areas of bare earth on the meadows.

[@SuperVlerik]

Great plan!

[@TheRewildlife]

That’s a great idea! Also might create hunting grounds for woodpeckers. Il look into it. Thank you!

[@sophiareygrace6656]

I think for the grass you can get some animals like cow or sheep just so it can trim the grass more. And then you can sell them for meat. A win win situation!

[@TheRewildlife]

Yes Ive investigated this actually. Conservation grazing is something I want to cover in a video soon. Im not sure it my land is actually right for it though as I have plans for all 4 fields. But it depends on the animal, and the amount of that animal. Theres a lot to weigh up. Ive even seen hamsters being used for conservation grazing!

[@samuraistretch3986]

Just know I'm going to be obsessed with this channel already. 🙌🏼

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks so much! Il keep it up

[@elliotlane3225]

Just found this channel. Really interesting project and setting. Have subscribed to follow along. Keep the updates coming👍

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you! Il keep 'em coming for sure

[@mywildwelshgarden-es3fr]

It`s really great that you are helping nature recover. I look forward to seeing what happens. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you!

[@roscomroe84]

Just on what you said about not putting up more than one barn owl box. We put up two boxes on our farm, one is used to nest in, and the other is used by the adults when the chicks become a month or so old. The adults only come back to feed them at that stage.

[@TheRewildlife]

That’s a great idea! Thanks

[@NedNew]

For those who are more familiar with hectares, 5 acres = 2 hectares = 20,000 sq. metres.

[@bogbay]

Every small and big river that goes to the coast in Wicklow or joins another that does, good chance it has sea trout and maybe salmon late in the season. Every river in Wicklow has some sea trout. That looks like a spawning stream. At the very least, you'll have brown trout, eels, minnow. Keep an eye out from now on for brown trout redds and from early November on for sea trout. Salmon mid-December on. You might be surprised. They'll turn up in very small streams

[@TheRewildlife]

Wow that’s great to hear! I don’t know much about fresh water fish. Keen to learn more. Might focus on this for the next vid..seems like the right time of year!

[@bogbay]

@@TheRewildlife Perfect timing really. Have a chat with Inland Fisheries. They'll know what in yours. I'm in Wicklow myself. Saw some sea trout under the bridge in Rathdrum yesterday. Biggest sea trout in Ireland are in East Coast rivers. One near me, Three Trout Stream, gets sea trout on the first flood in September every year and you can jump across it it's so small.

[@taxusbaccata6332]

Get acorns right now from your local ancient woodland - pot them up then plant them out in 2 years when tall enough to compete with long grass. .

[@TheRewildlife]

There are so many things I forgot to say in this vid and that’s one of them! I’ve collected acorns for a few years and have multiple saplings including 3 from the Brian Boru oak in East Clare. The oldest oak and one of the oldest trees in Ireland!

[@SuperVlerik]

@@TheRewildlife Wow! Brian Boru's oak is one of my all time favorite power spots in Ireland!

[@mairnealachamu]

I've seen oak saplings emerge from grass and from brambles and all kinds of places. Save yourself some work and just plant a load of acorns, bypass the pots altogether. (They've been doing it successfully without our help for a long time)

[@taxusbaccata6332]

@@mairnealachamu That would be great, I have a problem with historically fertilised ex-grazing land when grass just dominants - the topsoil is just too fertile - trees seedlings can not get through the dense grass sward. Ironically a native would emerge rapidly with the subsoil exposed - I see it on scrapped abandoned development land.

[@Ethan-z1t]

This is a great plan! You really looked into this quite well. I’d recommend managing vegetation along the riverbanks to help preserve the nesting habitat for Sand Martins-it’s challenging, but it would make a big difference, as these birds are a real charm to have around. This could also benefit Kingfishers. I’d suggest adding deadwood around the river, like upright deadwood poles, to support their feeding behavior. This can also help young Sand Martins when they’re fledging. For the pond area, consider creating a wildflower meadow or planting a variety of native plants nearby. With Sand Martins around, this would provide a great food source and support local biodiversity for example trout or other fishes in the river to support the food chain. When you do the pond I would highly suggest within the pond floor itself, try using different materials like various sizes of gravel (good for breeding fishes) and a mix of soil and silt to create a more diverse habitat, which would support a greater range of species. For the forestry work, I agree with avoiding Ash and Sapmore trees. Just a note on Sapmore: they can be invasive and may outcompete native species. In the UK, we have to monitor Sapmore’s spread carefully to ensure balanced regeneration, though this might differ in Ireland. Log piles are a great idea! I’d also recommend creating standing deadwood, as it supports a variety of niches and different moisture levels, benefiting diverse species. When working on woodland areas, consider establishing mixed canopy layers to support a range of birds and invertebrates, and encourage natural regeneration as much as possible-it’s often the best approach to creating a sustainable woodland. This is what I recommend-please double-check, as you don’t have to do all of this! I hope it helps, and I wish you the best of luck with your project! Links that might be helpful: • Conservation Evidence: Though it’s global, it offers valuable insights on habitat management. www.conservationevidence.com/ • Woodland Toolkit (UK-based): Some resources may be specific to the UK and I don’t think it’ll help much but could be useful for you. I know people used this for forward planning for woodland creation and planting for example adding rides/ tracks early to avoid less hassle in the future. woodlandwildlifetoolkit.sylva.org.uk/assess

[@TheRewildlife]

Wow thanks so much for all this feedback! All fantastic! I have some of these things on the cards already- the natural fishing perches for kingfishers and standing deadwood are two things on the cards this week. Il document it all as I go! Appreciate the advice

[@liamK1916]

Hey, I'm from Dublin and in my late thirties. I've been dreaming about doing something similar to this for years. I've recently found out i'm about to become a father. This has given me even more of an impetus to change how I live and where I live. Central Wicklow and Meath around the Boyne valley are where i'm looking. I'm also looking for more than 5 acres. Maybe 15-25. Thank you so much for documenting this adventure. It's so interesting to me and lots of people around the world. You're very lucky to be living the dream. I wish you and your family the very best.

[@TheRewildlife]

Congrats! I just became a father also which is what gave me the kick to do this, for his future. Best of luck on your search. Set up notifications on Daft etc and keep an eye out!

[@jackabimorley4962]

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses

[@deanyoung7632]

Your plans for this land are spot on. Feeding your family & making room for nature just ticks all the boxes as a landowner. I think you have covered most of the criteria needed for a project of this kind. When you choose your trees for planting, try and include Hornbeam for its beauty, Alder to attract siskins & linnets and Alder buckthorn for egg laying options to butterflies. These three trees love wet, heavy soils. I am looking forward to the journey, the very best of luck.👍

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks for the great feedback! Yes I didn’t list all the trees I plan on but alder is a big one on the list as it’s such a big drinker. Il do a detailed tree video soon I’m sure!

[@davidflynn7741]

I’m not sure how much experience you have with vegetable gardening but an invaluable resource I found about 2 years ago and wish I had have found when I was starting out is a channel called Steve’s Seaside Kitchen Garden and Allotment, he’s from Blackpool so has a fairly similar climate to ours in Ireland and he has made this amazing database online regarding successions: when to sow seeds, when to plant and when to expect a harvest to ensure a constant supply of whatever you wish to grow. He also has great information on designing your garden, such as making all beds the same size so you can move Coldframe tops etc to whatever bed they are needed on for example and also great guides on how to build stuff such as cold frame tops and butterfly nets for brassicas

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks that’s a great resource! I have veg experience but can always learn more!

[@stevejones7696]

Bless ya mate, good luck with it

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you!

[@SarahDove-m2g]

Wonderful I learn so much listening to your plans look forward to the next one

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks so much!

[@maireadmaguire7509]

Brilliant stuff 🙌🏼 I’ll be watching and learning all the way hoping to do something similar myself, best of luck ✊🏻

[@doa1001]

Great video, definitely going to watching your progress.

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you!

[@snailboy5610]

Interesting project you and your family have taken on. It does not sound like you’re planning on using any animals to help with the habitat creation? Also i was wondering why you said trees can’t be planted now? I always understood autumn to be a great time to source and plant bare root trees.

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you! I’m actually looking into conservation grazing animals at the moment. My land may actually be too small, considering the amount that will become recreational and gardened for food..but I’m making a video about it so stay tuned! Yes autumn is a great time for tree planting and sourcing. What I meant was I will miss the window to plant a large woodland now as I’m not ready, don’t have the trees, the forester or the deer fencing so I have to get all that ready for this time next year.

[@snailboy5610]

@ thanks for the answer. I did wonder if size was one of the factors for whether using animals would be viable. Maybe a few chickens then ;). Supposed to be very useful in permaculture gardening

[@snailboy5610]

@@TheRewildlife another idea that crossed my mind is whether there is someone local who has animals that would be interested in letting their animals do some grazing. That would be mutually beneficial

[@SuperVlerik]

Such an exciting project! I left Ireland to practice and teach regenerative agriculture and plant food forests in Spain, but I do maintain a keen interest in what's happening there. Best of luck, and if I can help in any way, feel free to shoot me a DM.

[@TheRewildlife]

Wow thats fascinating! I’d love to chat for sure!

[@SuperVlerik]

@@TheRewildlife I'll message you via Insta

[@deskennedy6671]

Amazing , good luck with it !

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks a lot!

[@bowboysam]

Before your fields were unwilded they wouldn’t have been flat or contained no large stones, please put in some mounds of soil, dig a few 1 meter square divots (so not all the land drains at the same speed) and plant some stoney outcrops for different critters and plants to live in. That’s my suggestion. 👍👍😁😁

[@TheRewildlife]

Great thinking! Thank you

[@kimberlyspratt65]

This is great to see and I am looking forward to learning more. Best Wishes

[@TheRewildlife]

Thank you! You too!

[@SarahDove-k9e]

Wish we could jump forward 10 years to see how amazing this will be!

[@JakobFischer60]

I run 2 meadows in Germany with old fruit trees on them for more then 20 years now. I started to mow with a bar mower and took the grass to the edges, then this was to much work and now I use a mulching mower which cuts the grass in small pieces. I mow one or two times a year, and if I do not mow then I will have a lot of trees coming up. And I can tell you that the vegetation changed almost every year, depending on how and how often I did mow. At one point I had some plants about 1,80 m high and dense and after some mowing they disapeared and now there is grass again. I always have thisles that appear every year at different places and I see small trees every few meters: apples, cherries, plums and even oak and other forest trees from the near forests. Have fun with your meadows, but be aware that a lot is decided by nature and not by yourself.

[@TheRewildlife]

Great advice thank you. I certainly plan to be an observer and occasional assistant more than anything.

[@abioh]

Great plans!

[@catherinemorrow6596]

I really enjoyed this, which i stumbled across when searching for antidotes to the misery unfolding in Palestine. I was particularly interested in the Yellow Rattle, though I don't know if it would thrive where i am (fairly high altitude, thin, dry acid soil, Wicklow mountain area) Wish I had a river ! Have quite a bit of bog - which i love - plus a little stream which mostly dries up in the summer months. Of course, there are many deer - for me, their grace and beauty far outweigh any 'problems'; the truth is that humans are the greatest threat to biodiversity : thousands of acres of Sitka spruce ,for a start ! Fencing, or individual tree-guards, work most of the time. good luck with the work !!

[@TheRewildlife]

Delighted to hear you enjoyed it! Il keep making them for you. I heard recently that a large amount of Coillte's sitka plantations are reaching harvesting age in Wicklow and will be coming down. So thats exciting! And the native saplings will that will hopefully start re-appearing will need a lot of help against the invasive deer that are devouring them. But theres change in the air!

[@abioh]

Really excited for the wild flower meadow and wet lands! Great rewilding plans you’ve got

[@Neilbl62]

Excellent. The late John Seymour would be doing cartwheels.

[@odhrancrowe3894]

Amazing looking property. Such potential. You should have a permaculture consultant at least do a walk around and just make sure your plans are not causing erosion events or you are not putting infrastructure in an area that may flood. Can put you in contact. 👍

[@TheRewildlife]

That’s a great idea! Would love a contact in that area if you have one. Thanks so much

[@ConorMcHugh-z7s]

Great video, and I'm very excited to follow your progress. I'm doing something similar myself. Just one thing though....you can plant trees well before the New Year. In fact I plant trees all year round although the best chance of success seems to be once they stop growing in the late autumn. So from now onwards I'm very much planting a lot of trees. Also, if you want to dry out your wet field - alders do an amazing job - and quickly.

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks so much! This is great advice

[@Woodyjims-shack]

Try and make sure you don't shade your meadow by planting your trees to the north side of the plot. I have found that Yellow rattle can struggle sometimes controlling Yorkshire fog👍

[@TheRewildlife]

That’s a great point thanks! I hadn’t thought of that but thankfully they’re in the right spot. Great to know that about the yellow rattle. Il see how the first year goes. Might investigate a green meadow transfer in the future

[@Woodyjims-shack]

Also make sure to check fertility.if its too fertile many wildflower species will not persist and get crowded out by vigorous grasses and weed species like docks thistles or nettles etc. Stripping topsoil really works but it's not for everyone 👍

[@Ryan-gx3hs]

If you're interested in biodiversity, you may look into doing a Miyawaki forest (

[@randompuntur]

Thats the next video Ryan! Howd you guess? 😄

[@Ryan-gx3hs]

@ how exciting! Just found channel and I love the work you are doing!

[@stevejones7696]

Also pond by the river, the water table will be higher

[@WilliamBrown-e3t]

Have you considered natural regeneration rather than planting? It looks an ideal site next to existing mature trees and I think you can see some saplings coming through already where you're standing.

[@TheRewildlife]

I have in certain areas of the land, but by way of learning and comparison I want to plant some areas also. Those saplings you spotted (and youre the only one so well done!) are just blackthorn and sycamore. The other thing is I only really have mature sycamore (non-native), ash (all has die-back) willow, blackthorn, hawthorn and elder.. so I do want to plant some other species to create diversity. All this starts the rewilding/wilding/restoration comparisons which i might cover in another video soon.

[@LaughingMan44]

Fair play to you, you are very knowledgeable and have a lot of common sense which is sadly lacking among those with good intentions but little to no education on the subject. Many don't consider things like planting local ecotypes, sediment pollution in waterways etc.

[@TheRewildlife]

Thanks for the kind words! For me it’s all about research, talking to experts and understanding why I’m doing what I’m doing. Starting to move into the action phase now though!

[@jmck6320]

We have done this. 6 years later it's coming together

[@TheRewildlife]

Great to hear!

[@mr.d7726]

I am doing very similar, on roughly the same size, in Dublin. I have set aside .5 to .75 acre as a willow coppice for fuel and it's working very well. Maybe you could consider that, or a harder wood?

[@TheRewildlife]

Sounds fantastic well done! Yes willow as a fuel and fencing material would be fantastic. I planted a lot this year so hopefully it will get me started.

[@mairnealachamu]

I can't agree with your reasoning not to plant ash. Plant as many as you can. 99% may die, but the 1% will be the progenitors of future generations. Those that don't make it to full maturity will still support biodiversity by giving nesting sites for birds like woodpeckers and food for beetles and fungi and a myriad of other species that depend on decay.

[@TheRewildlife]

I had the same thought a while ago a but when looking into it a few things happened. First I had a chat with a professional forester and he said at this point in the disease's cycle theres no point as they will almost definitely get it and could pass it to my few mature trees that dont have it. Secondly I want to avail of the Native Woodland Scheme and youre not allowed ash in that grant at the moment, which means Id have to buy them myself, and if they all die then im just wasting money. Also I really only want native ash, which is most hardy against dieback, but is hard to get. Ideally I could get my hands on some native trees that have dieback resistance, which you can see more about here: www.teagasc.ie/crops/forestry/research/ash-resistance-to-ash-dieback/ I just hope dieback ends soon!

[@letsgosouls]

I personally would remove all the sycamore as they decimate so many native woodlands and hedgerows. Otherwise unchecked in the future they will take over take and out compete

[@TheRewildlife]

Yes all new growth and saplings have been removed. I think I have 3 mature trees that provide habitat and I’l keep an eye on them

[@Handletaken4]

Get yourself some beaver

[@BalkanTimberMan]

Should'nt we all

[@rosemarymccarron3887]

If you were depending your livelyhood on farming you would not be rewilding this farm .

[@TheRewildlife]

That’s right and I’m not. It does help pay bills and put food on the table though. And a lot more that that too.