Nature restoration projects both large and small are proven to have clear benefits for people and wildlife. They also provide an opportunity for climate change adaptation and resilience. These are just a few of the thing we do at Wild By Design to ensure our customers’ land is as nature-friendly and biodiverse as possible.
Wilding Our Natural Spaces
To celebrate the launch of our Neighbourhoods for Nature campaign, long-standing SWT corporate partner Wild by Design provides some top tips on how you can make nature recovery happen in your garden.
Ponds
Ponds are an absolute magnet for nature, providing food and shelter for multiple species of insects, birds, small mammals, reptiles, and of course, amphibians. The more ponds you have, the better, as each, depending on its location, level of shade and age, can offer a slightly different habitat for the species that live there. We love ponds and want to install as many of them in our wild spaces as possible!
Wildflower meadows
A healthy meadow may support over 100 species of wildflowers. These habitats are particularly crucial for pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and moths. Wildflowers provide nectar and pollen, essential food sources for these insects. One acre of wildflower meadow can produce enough nectar to support nearly 96,000 honeybees in a single day.
Drystone Walls
The cracks and niches these structures create are a home to multiple species of insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals. They also act as corridors, allowing safe passage for fauna whilst connecting fragmented parcels of land and improving genetic diversity.
Planting © Richard Osbourne
Hedges
Much like the drystone wall, hedges are vital linear habitats that act as corridors for wildlife. They provide shelter, food and safety to dozens of species of fauna. They also act as wind barriers, preventing our precious soil from being eroded. Birds such as the wren, song thrush, dunnock and chaffinch seek the protection of hedges to nest and forage. Existing hedges need to be periodically laid in order promote growth and prevent them becoming too gappy. New hedges can be planted using a diverse mix of native trees such as hawthorn, beech, spindle, hazel and blackthorn.
Deadwood
Deadwood is a crucial part of a woodland. It plays a big part in nutrient recycling, acting as a carbon storage system, and stabilising the soil. For these reasons, at least 20-30% of the woodland should comprise of deadwood in one of its many forms. We can even create standing deadwood by ringbarking live trees. This may sound extreme, but they are an excellent habitat for saproxylic (deadwood loving) insects such as the endangered stage beetle. Fallen deadwood can be left in place as it holds a reservoir of nutrients which will slowly be released back into the soil, the most important part of our woodland. Log piles and rotting tree stumps are also valuable deadwood stores.
Hibernaculum
An excellent underground refuge for small mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians. The aim of the hibernaculum is to create voids and spaces within a structure which has stable temperatures and humidity, allowing creatures to shelter from the heat of summer or the freezing depths of winter. It will provide a safe space for hibernating animals to see out the winter, or a place to bask in the summer sun. If our customers are having a pond installed, a hibernaculum is the perfect place to dispose of the extracted soil!
Tree planting, natural regeneration and more!
Planting native trees in a naturalistic way increases both species and age diversity. However, creating the appropriate conditions for natural regeneration to occur, given that it often leads to a far more resilient, adaptive environment, is equally, if not more, important. Thorny scrub (bramble) often viewed as undesirable by landowners, is not only a fantastic habitat for multiple species of birds but also acts as a natural tree guard for the oak saplings that grow within them (hence the old saying, The thorn is the mother of the oak). Coppicing trees such as hazel, sweet chestnut and willow not only provides us with an almost unlimited supply of timber for a multitude of uses, but also improves biodiversity by allowing sunlight into a woodland, promoting the emergence of ground flora species.
Steve Liszka - Wilding Ranger