Wild Life spreads via Wildlife-Corridors

A corridor for wildlife is not the same as a corridor for Humans. It’s implied in the name but there’s a meaning to be found within the details, so let’s do that. A ‘Wildlife Corridor’ is a connecting portion of habitat (and geographic ranges) that allows the wildlife to avoid human activities & structures yet they can occupy almost exactly the same place. Consider that man-made structures are all generally fairly unique in design, yet they can be very similar in their impacts, and in this context it can include roads, which are considerably large barriers for (let’s say) a hedgehog, or the towering buildings of any city that is insurmountable for many living beings.

The concept of corridors allows wildlife to travel as they would naturally within their habitat, whilst allowing humans to still inhabit the space. An easy image to picture would be a long line of trees running straight through a city, allowing fairly safe & easy passage for squirrels. This is the ideal of combining human territories with nature with the distinct purpose of travel, for a special few reasons. And in answer to this, conservationists pursue this practice to to prevent small populations from inbreeding (as will in isolated populations). Also on the table is ensuring that any at-risk populations are supported by other same-species populations, able to be re-introduced through natural movements, reducing the risk of species loss through random yet devastating disasters, such as wildfires, disease, or human behaviour.

This is an approach that treats the affects of ‘Habitat Fragmentation’ in which man-made structures split habitat areas and cause animals to lack the ability to move freely between regions, restricting access to resources that once supported their larger populations. A road that cuts through a forest, for example, is one instance of Habitat Fragmentation.

And yes, as you may have guessed, there is even a backyard solution at hand!

To begin, Wildlife Corridor’s are:

The ‘corridor’ is a neither a method of travel nor a reason to travel, it a design used to create safe passages across otherwise endangering and/or incompatible terrain. The corridors themselves are mixed designs depending on several factors, but can generally be considered as [1] extensions of 2+ connected habitats, [2] an introduced semi-natural feature to encourage movement behaviours (e.g. overpass wildlife crossings), or [3] man-made structures used to aid in species-specific travel (rope bridges, amphibian tunnels, etc).

These can take the shape of long, continuous belts of extended habitat from each ‘fragmented’ habitat site, perfect for locations where you can easily cross the terrain. On the other hand, platforms (stepping stones) can be created at various distances to give animals respite when travelling across arduous but otherwise safer terrains. In regards to specifically dangerous yet temptingly narrow fragment zones (i.e. roads), ‘Underpasses & Overpasses’ are created instead to join the fragmented habitat in a semi-natural way.

Whilst there are considerations to be taken in regards to terrain, topography, physical barriers, animal species, vegetation cover and local climate, the Wildlife Corridor is an effective method of encouraging safe travel of wild species whilst overlapping with human landscapes.

One of the most obvious considerations is one mentioned previously. And that is, what will be the ‘corridor’; forests, grasslands, waterbodies, pollinator patches, or something else?

Well for you, that’s for you to decide!

Your Garden, Wildlife Corridors, and why you?

First at hand, how do you benefit? It’s important that we know, otherwise we may lose a portion of our garden to something we see as a loss of opportunity for ourselves. I talk about providing links between habitats so animals may travel, and even find shelter, forage foods, or perform other behaviours, which for nature lovers or garden enthusiasts may be a real treat to have access to, and yet there are opportunities to use technique to your advantage whilst sharing your garden in the creation of these corridors.

So with the grace of a thrown brick, let’s get started with the most obvious benefit, this being that you determine what is being planted. In gardens the idea of a corridor varies, either you build a system to allow wildlife to travel through fencing so they can access greater resources, or create ‘stepping stones’ for flying wildlife to stop by at as they follow their flight path, or even smooth out the edges of your various microhabitats (ponds, raised beds, hedges etc) so that movement is easier between them. Through all this, you decide on your approach. Should you decide to plant plants the develop fruit for travelling birds, you can also eat use the fruit for both consumption, creation, or culture. Honestly I just wanted to use those words in order to make it sounds cool, but seriously the long and short of it is, you gain value based on your management plans.

Depending on your Wildlife Corridor design choices, you draw in certain wildlife to your garden for you to appreciate. A pollinator section can act as part of a ‘Bee Highway’ for instance, drawing in pollinators to thrum the air and create a busy garden. But they also bring with them pollen, seeds, a food chain, the capability for your garden to be enriched with this new avenue of wildlife. The ability for humans and wildlife to coexist in the same space is proven through the creation of corridors, and is a experience worth investing in no matter your goal in life.

As travel increases to your garden, not only wildlife but plant-life is transported through seed dispersal. Do you desire wildflower patch that changes annually, for free, as animals deposit them in your garden? You’ll be seeing different flowers yearly as they travel, as ironically one of the positives of human owned gardens is that they are maintained at a state at which they are easily influenced, so it doesn’t take much to change them into something new. So, why not grab a few free flowers along the way and let them grow?

You can certainly dream up a few new benefits depending on your creativity, and (shameless advertisement) what you read from my other articles. From beneficial microhabitats & ecosystem engineers to profitable-producers & money-savers, there can be space for any of them through wildlife corridors.

How to: Wildlife Corridor

So, where to begin? It’s best to say this early, and that is you’re about to get creative. And put yourself in the animals shoes. Well… paws? Talons? Slithery underbelly…

There’s two ways to go about this project. A tangible, physical bridge of vegetation to connect up your local habitats by overcoming the various obstacles, as we’ve discussed here previously, or getting a bit creative in encouraging your wildlife to venture out into your garden a bit more freely.

So, let’s consider your solid borders, the fencing and brickwork walls. A easy solution for wooden fencing is to cut small ground level holes to allow animal movement through fragmented gardens, or if you don’t wish to do damage, dig underpasses through soil or craft an overpass of ropes, slopes, or even plants (small mammals & insects) so animals can climb under & over, reaching new resources & suitable habitats.

And on that note, let’s expand on habitats. Have you got a hedgerow, grassland, pond, tree(s), shrubs, flowerbed, or another feature? Through this, consider the dangers of travel when there is no shelter to be found between the shelter of trees & shrubs to the safe drinking water of the pond. It may look aesthetically pleasing, but it’s a energy consuming task to risk the run for a daily necessity. Perhaps allow the grass to grow a tad wild in places, developing tussocks, stands, and rides to connect these habitats. Feel encouraged to allow sheltered habitats (hedges, shrubs, places hidden from plain view) to expand their territory slightly and encroach upon their neighbours so travel becomes slightly less risky. Connect two trees by allowing a hedgerow to develop between them, allowing safe passage for mammals that desire their fallen fruits but can’t always swallow the risk-factors that come with travelling the distance on open ground.

Explore your local area, what are the prevailing species of plants and wildlife? What could you allow to grow in your garden that could support these species? Even if you ‘just’ plant fruits for birds, you can support the wildlife that eats those birds through a food chain, or depend upon their presence to attract prey. Don’t feel like you have to bear the weight of all animals, you can do a lot with a little work, and doing too much for everything when you don’t have the space will negatively affect what you do provide that makes a real change.

These are considerations to be facing when installing a wildlife corridor. Consider your species, and consider the ‘path’ they’ll need to access new places, and you’ll be marching in the right direction.

Raining Gardens: A Decoratively Powerful Approach to Conservation

For both wildlife and vegetation the privilege of being able to access water is one of the foremost struggles that follows them their entire lives. In Conservation practices, it is seen that a healthy ecosystem/habitat will generally support wildlife, but the type of habitat depends on the availability of water. For example;

1. An abundance of water = Ponds, Rivers, Oceans.
2. A large amount of water = Swamp, Marshlands, Bogs & Fens.
3. The presence of water monthly = Forests, Grasslands, Heathlands etc
4. Little-to-no water: Deserts, Savannah, and perhaps counter-intuitively, annually frozen regions.

So, you can have a vague understanding of how water has a role in shaping the local environment. Yet this is a simplified view, not taking into account soil water-retention, sunlight intensity, local & global climate patterns, local vegetation type, and so on and so forth. It’s tricky, but manageable for small sites!

Here’s a thought provoker: if you’re trying to promote wildlife & plantlife, how do you control the available water supplies in a habitats that span acres, miles, or even countries?

Well, as we in the UK have lost 90% of our wetland habitats in the last 100 years, our conservationists have gotten creative! Methods such as Natural Flood Management, Vegetation-Inducing Water Quality Improvement, Natural Rainwater Catchment, as well as Re-Introducing species to revert habitats are the heavyweights of this topic.

It’s great to know this, but how does this help you? Well your garden, for one, is a habitat that needs water right? But where does it get it from, do you water it occasionally or do you prefer to water for the rain to come? Either of these are valid options but both have the same flaw. How does wildlife gain access to water, as these water sources don’t stay around for long. Sure, maybe theres a nearby pond a half-mile away, but how will wildlife that cannot cross fencing, roads, or human territory reach them? Well, if you’re keen to do something about that to help support local wildlife that provides a drinkable water source yet doesn’t need you to skim off algae, feed fish, or refill, then Rain Gardens are an amazing garden-level equivalent to the conservation management techniques I just mentioned.

Rain Gardens are a style of gardening introduced to combat low water resources, heatwaves, reduced water tables, and negative impacts rainwater run-off. If you have any water-proof surfaces near your garden, as well as the right soil, you’re ready to go!

What is a Rain Garden?

The end goal of all Rain Gardens is to create a system of whereby rainwater runs off man-made structures, such as rooftops, using self-made water-highways to deliver it to a certain portion of the garden. This part of the garden will be re-designed to allow it to become temporary bodies of water as it is not a water garden. Nor is it a pond or wetland. In fact, a rain garden is dry most of the time, only retaining water during and following a rainfall. Because of this feature, rain gardens will drain within 12-48 hours

The overall aesthetic of your garden does not actually differ drastically, as you’ll see in the upcoming ‘How-to’. Depending on your choices, a ‘dimple’ of your own choosing will be created in your grassy patch, and it simply fills up with all the rainwater that is redirected it’s way. You will have the choice to introduce new plants that enjoy being semi-submerged sometimes, whilst your local groundwater will be refilled, your nearby vegetation healthier, the local wildlife will be visiting more often, and the many other benefits mentioned later on in this post.

That’s it, your own ephemeral wet grassland, a valuable hotspot of quality habitat!

This is a project suitable for anyone with a well-draining soils and a relatively flat piece of land. A moderately challenging project for the autumn or spring, depending on how you want to spin it. This is a water feature that projects a soul-filled atmosphere, as well as a feeling of depth to an otherwise static green-scape.

Garden Requirements:

• A patch in full sun or partial sun
• In a well-drained area, on a very gentle incline (10% or less)
• Ideally siting the ‘rain garden’ portion further than 5m from any building foundations. If closer, seek advise to avoid any damage to foundations via infiltrating waters.
• Where it is practical to install a route leading to the main drainage system below the rain garden in case of excessively heavy storms.

How-To:

I will describe how to create a standard rain garden, the choices of what to use as water-highways, accompanying plants, and other personal decorative decisions will be all yours!

1. Pick a suitably flat (or up to a 10% incline), and if applicable, a low-lying area on your lawn.
2. Ideally, choose a spot of full-or-partial sun! As well as 5m+ from any house foundations.
3. Check Here to see if your garden soil is the right type. Ideally as you check, the water drains away at half an inch per hour, however the rain garden will still work if the draining rate is up to 2 inches per hour. If it is any quicker or slower, the sight is unsuitable.
4. You will be digging down slightly, so depending on how far you want to go, measure an outline of the size & shape you’ll be going for.
5. Width: create an area that constitutes at least 20% of the area of the roof that you will be redirecting the rainwater runoff from. You can judge by eye, but if you’re math’s inclined you can figure out the area [length x width = area], and then find 20% of that number [area x 0.2 = 20% of area][(area / 100) x 20 = 20%].
6. Depth: depends on how fast your soil drains. At minimum, dig 15cm deep, this is for soils that drain at 5cm per hour. Dig deeper by 3cm for every 1cm slower the water drains per hour. Don’t forget to slope off the edges of your hole! this allows for some edging around the pool, and to make sure no wildlife cannot get out.
7. The final product should have created a basin shape: compensate any sloping by digging deeper in the higher end to create a level basin floor. This is now an area that will accommodate UK summer rainfalls.
8. Use the removed soil to create a Berm (raised ‘lip’ around the edge), compact it, and raise it up to 30cm high & 10cm wide. If you have the preference to do so, leave a notch in the berm and layer it with gravel. This can be used to direct excess overflow in the direction of drains or another portion of the garden, such as a pond.
9. Water Highway: where practical for you, run your water transport system from the nearby roofing you have chosen so that it carries the run-off water into the basin as & when it rains.
10. At the point of entry, feel free to add gravel or cobble to prevent soil from washing away.

Extras:

With a few adjustments to the depth & width of your dug up rain garden, you can affect how long the rainwater stays before draining. It’s about your preference!

The best time to be doing this is in early Spring or early Autumn, as the soil will be dry enough but not compacted. Similarly, depending on your choice of plants, these are the best time to establish them in the soils.

You can tie in other features into your garden, such as rain-fed ponds, rainwater-planters, or water butts!

Types of Plants

Planting plants that thrive in these new conditions is governed by your choice, as well as how well your rain garden receives/drains rainfall. Here are some options:

For the base of the basin:

1. Yellow Iris: Iris pseudocorus
2. Soft Rush: Juncus effusus
3. Sedge: Carex pendula
4. Cardinal Flower: Lobelia cardinalis
5. Arum Lily: Zantedeschia aethiopica

For the edges:

[Grasses]

1. Feather Reed Grass: Calamagrostis brachytricha
2. Tufted Hair Grass: Deschampsia cespitosa
3. Silver Grass: Miscanthus sinensis 

[Shrub Species]

1. Elder: Sambucus nigra
2. Dogwood: Cornus sanguinea
3. Smooth Hydrangea: Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’
4. Beach Rose: Rosa rugosa

[Herbaceous Perennials]

1. Bugleherb: Ajuga reptans
2. Bellflower: Campanula glomerata
3. Montbretia: Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’
4. Cranesbill: Geranium ‘Rozanne’
5. Daylillies: Hemerocallis
6. Siberian Iris: Iris sibirica

How a Rain Garden Benefits Wildlife:

From downpour to drizzle, you’ll find rain water runs of waterproof surfaces (rooftops, driveways, patios etc) and drains away wherever it naturally can, like to our man-made drains, and similarly also to any patch of soil, grass or natural landscape. Whilst this shouldn’t be any issue, this run-off rainwater is unlike the rain that falls straight from the sky to the soils/plants, water running off these waterproof sections collect pollution along the way in the form of chemicals, bacteria, fertilisers, or even ‘settled’ car emissions & oils. This pollutant laden water will enter our streams & ponds untreated and impact the wildlife there, and this is estimated to account for 70% of all water pollution.

Fortunately one way to combat this is through Rain Gardens, as they collect, filter and treat this rainwater runoff. Afterwards, as the clean water drains into the soil it seeps down to recharge groundwater aquifers. This is style of gardening filters out pollutants!

But that’s not why the Rain Garden is advocated as a sanctuary to wildlife, it’s because it also has other features:

The improved water quality provides local stormwater, attracting beneficial birds, butterflies, and insects to stop by temporarily to drink & rest as they provide their ecosystem services to the local habitats. Due to the presence of temporary water sources, and more resilient wildlife services, a preservation affect is encouraged for the scarcer native vegetation you will have introduced, as well as those that get introduced by wildlife. This will happen as high-quality temporary water sources are nationally rare due to human activity, and the naturally harsh conditions on dependant vegetation for this type of habitat increase, making the native vegetation rarer. Wildlife will be able to access their native vegetation through your garden now, and bring alongside them seeds, nutrients, and behaviours that encourage your Rain Garden to thrive.

On another note, it’s ability to soak up, store, and drain surplus water helps it prevent local water-logging & flooding from rain to deter damages in your garden, allowing other vegetation to survive healthily. As rain gardens strip up to 90% of chemicals & harsh nutrient levels, and 80% of sediments from run-off rainwater, it’s vegetation is incredibly sturdy, healthy and resilient to damage meaning it can service a massive amount of wildlife. It’s also this ability of water & nutrient storage that allows it’s vegetation to survive long droughts, whilst feeding & satiating thirst of any local habitats and inhabitants. Food? We have it. Water? Got it. Housing market? Plenty. Oh, and the aesthetics are appreciated from bugs to humans, what do you think catches their eye to draw them in?

On a final note, this is a bit of a curve-ball but you’ll be appreciative to have heard it. Reduced erosion is also a benefit. A strange term to hear in this concept, but it’s true. A very brief summary would go; (1) rainfall & runoff removes topsoil layer, (2) rain-garden attracts rainwater runoff, (3) rain-garden redistributes soils back into local garden through ‘nutrient cycle’, (4) stored water & nutrients strengthens vegetation root systems, binding soils to protect against erosion. Ta~da, everyone wins.

Sorry, last final note… promise! You’ll really like this one! Because Rain-Gardens are technically ‘dry’ a proportionate amount of the time (drain after 12-48hrs), they aren’t ponds, wetlands, nor water gardens… they prevent the breeding of mosquitos! Told you you’d like it. This isn’t technically a ‘wildlife benefit’ however as mosquitos do not breed nor inhabit these types of environments, it is not a loss either. I wanted to ensure there was one less reservation against building a rain garden. Now, I hope you enjoy moving on to the rest of the read!

How a rain Garden Benefits You:

Well for one, this is one of the few ways you can design your own water features! This is about redirecting water towards a particular feature of your garden, but there’s no concrete method on how that water gets there. Perhaps a particularly complex yet aesthetically pleasing system of water-highways, rills or channels! Consider linking elements like connecting waterfalls, or maybe a rain-chain, water-butt, stormwater-planter, or pond? Heck, you could even just drill holes in random objects and let water pour out of them! It’s a good time to get creative on your drainage system and add your own flair.

One great positive regardless of your drainage design is the fact that Rain-Gardens are an ‘Add-on’ to your garden, but after that they are low-maintenance, they won’t be needing regular care unless you notice a blockage or leak. Heck, even the plants you plant for your rain garden won’t need much watering or fertilising, that comes with the rain!

If you’re clever about things, you can consider the entirety of your garden as an extension of your rain garden. If your garden struggles with flooding or slow-draining soils, clever placement of the rain-garden portion can help your garden absorb up to 30% more than it’s usual capability. If you’re interested in doing so, you’ll be able to plant a greater range of perennials & other native vegetation, as you’ve now created new niches in your garden (occasionally water-inundated, varying humidity levels, water accessible soils, nutrient gradients etc). Find out what array of plants work well for you and your personal design!

Well whatever you do, if done right, will have a net-positive affect on wildlife. Your garden will become a bustling central of insects & birds, you’ll be able to connect with nature in your back garden and show it off to any interested persons. The improvement of biological factors, water-quality especially, is a bound to benefit the resilience of local plant-life! If you have fruiting trees & shrubs, you’ll find the following years you see greater yields of fruit, another great time to try your hand at crafting wines, jams or other such things!

But to summarise, rain-gardens are beneficial in many senses of human-benefit. The improved water-quality has knock-on results on your plants, the provided localised flood control ensures you soils aren’t easily damaged & plants aren’t waterlogged, whilst replenishing local groundwater supplies for future droughts. Diverse planting opportunities for wildflowers, shrubs, sedges, ferns, rushes and small trees become more readily available as well! The unique aesthetic landscape can be personalised, and tie buildings closer to the surrounding environment to enrich it rather than degrade, providing you with bountiful wildlife alongside greater flowering displays, increased edible products and a cleaner environment for health.

Truly, this is a method of gardening that affects many aspects of life, and not just our own.

Transitioning the Edges of your Green Spaces

The edges of your green spaces (i.e. your garden, your habitat) are almost as useful as the entire green space itself! An “edge” is slightly different than what you are possibly thinking, as it’s not exactly the actual sides and/or ends of your garden, but actually when one habitat type meets another. A particularly distinct example is when a woodland borders farmland for crops, the trees are abruptly replaced by these crops with nothing in-between.

As you may have now guessed from the title it’s these abrupt changes in habitat that are the issue. Gradual edges harbour a greater variety of plants, animals and niches from both habitats, unlike those lacking “abrupt edges” that are quite common in gardens. The abrupt changes are more common than you’d expect, think of your raised flower beds, your clean-cut grass borders, rockery islands, display ponds, vegetable patches, potted-plants, patio flooring, fenced surroundings. These are easily the most common abrupt changes in habitat.

So, how do we change an abrupt edge into a gradual edge. We Feather them.

Feathering is the act of creating a gradual transition between the two habitat types. It can be one of numerous approaches, including cutting existing vegetation, planting various shrubs of differing heights, adding additional natural resources (i.e. logs, rocks) or other creative solutions. The practice of Edge Feathering is, at it’s core, a practice of conservation used to make edges re-hospitable for local wildlife, encouraging their travel and temporary habituation, as well as the overall habitat resilience.

Why habitat resilience? Because these edge habitats are not the ideal environments for both plants and animal specie as they present more adverse effects (environmental fluctuations, altered light cycles, increased isolation, noise etc). Therefore they will try to settle in your adjacent habitats, so you will see and increased abundance of wildlife, and a slew of plants vying for life.

Whenever an ecosystem/habitat/community changes abruptly from one to another type, this becomes a zone called an Ecotone. They can be both natural or artificial, but is often an area of interest as they span long stretches along two functioning ecosystems where the unique characteristics of both ecosystems can be seen, therefore technically making it a unique habitat in itself. These transitioning edges are extremely valued from an ecological (and economical) perspective as they are incredibly rich in biodiversity, and it’s this richness and complexity that is vital for it’s neighbouring ecosystems.

So, Ecotones & Edges, they are one and the same and have different results, but typically it’s much more beneficial to have a habitat with ‘soft’ edges rather than abrupt ‘ecotone’ edges.

Creating an edge for your habitats:

There is a little bit of thinking to be done with this, as you will have to identify the two habitats that are touching in your own garden. If I listed every possible variation, i’d never finish this post and would most likely go insane.

Re-Wildling an Edge: one of the most easily achieved approaches for edge feathering is to simply allow the local vegetation to take it’s natural course, and grow without your having to plant anything. If you are happy with a mixture of grasses, wildflowers and/or woody shrubs cropping up around the fringes then this is a good approach for you, as it will develop that natural border between your grass verges and hedgerows. It’s also a good opportunity to experiment with adding some additional structures & features into your garden around the edges without having it stand out, perhaps a hibernaculum for hibernators, an old log-pile for fungi, introduced corridors for movement etc, all of which will be grown over by vegetation naturally, semi-obscuring it from your vision and adding that extra sensation of wilderness to your garden.

However it may be that you don’t appreciate the overall style this approach leaves your garden looking like, or perhaps it wouldn’t make sense for your two habitats to have this happen (i.e. grass patch & raised flower-bed), or perhaps you would prefer to jump straight to having some shrubs & hedgerow species filling the gap between your grassland & tree patch.

Planting and/or Re-Vegetating an Edge: another great approach to edge feathering is directly planting what you prefer to have growing. Plant native plants depending on your goal and surrounding habitats. Fruit bearing shrubs, vine-growing runners, shade tolerant wood species, wildflowers & grasses, rockeries & mosses, log piles & fungi, the options are up to you! The aim is to soften the abrupt changes in habitats, hopefully increase biodiversity to support wildlife in a unused section /of your green space along the way, though through this approach it means you get to steer to that diversity in the direction you want, and therefore get the desired results that will benefit you as well. Don’t forget that nature is just as much for you as it is for wildlife.

Overall, the idea is to create a gradual change between one habitat and the next, so you can interpret that in the context of your own garden as you will. Decide if that means by height, woodiness, ability to flower, shade-cover, bearing fruit, or something a little different.

Maintaining Edges:

Once an edge is established, very little needs to be done to maintain it! In conservation, edge feathering can be completed about once-a-decade, when the edges start becoming more abrupt once again (due to the fact that you’re maintaining your habitats as they are, and habitats are liable to succession). However this can be more regular in your garden if you wish to keep your edges keeping a certain design. But again, this is very low maintenance.

Edge Effects

When edges divide a once naturally connected ecosystem [see ‘Habitat Fragmentation’], the natural ecosystem can be seriously affected through any disturbance that from then on occurs if it is directed to this edge, and this affect can impact the ecosystem for a relatively large distance inwards of the edge. To expand on this, imagine a forest that suddenly has a portion of it converted to agricultural area, creating a very slim Ecotone/Edge that has no gentle gradient. Suddenly, sunlight & wind penetrate to a greater extent into the now exposed woodland, as there is no hedgerow species to cover it’s border. Humid forest air is dried out, air temperature fluctuates wildly, and the soil composure is gradually but surely changed, all variables immediately change with the introduction of an edge.

This is known as the ‘Edge Effect’, and it is a demanding condition for any environment to be in, seeing as habitats have a very powerful compulsion to become a self-sufficient & efficient cycle, recycling many of it’s valuable materials within itself, and yet now has to maintain a leaking fissure alongside that. Happily, there is ways for conservationists to aid with these edge effects, and it’s also the topic we’ve been discussing in this post!

So, why not get stuck to your edges and try feathering it out?

So, how can you benefit directly?

Be it aesthetics, health, fruit-yield, wildlife visitations, or simple satisfaction, there are methods of habitat management that benefit both humans and wildlife alike. Here, I talk about how this approach affects you.

At this point perhaps the least surprising benefit for you is the smoother transitions between your ‘habitats’ means that you will see more wildlife in your garden. Depending on the style & new features of your improved edge, you’ve increased the likelihood of certain creatures capacity to use it’s surroundings to it’s advantage, and with that comes the rest of the food chain that depends on those creatures.

Perhaps in another less surprising benefit is the fact that your work on edges is a way to treat your overall garden space without having to laboriously treat the symptoms. Perhaps you’ve dealt with water runoff into your garden and decided to create an edge of rough, water-demanding plants. Or an overall smooth transition, letting lowers of small flowering plants have their day. You get to decide the type of Edge Habitat that will bring your garden to greater heights to suite your end goal.

Whilst your garden may not be at the scale or complexity of ancient forests, Edges bring certain environmental conditions that enable certain plant & animal species to thrive. Edge plants are typically shade-tolerant as well as drought/dry tolerant, making it perfect for placing around the brim of your garden. Animals that tend to require more than one habitat, such as deer, rabbits, jays or robins, would see these locations as abundant & comforting and be more yearning in visiting them. Though your garden is fenced off and isolated from the world, you can encourage what can visit for now. Who knows what changes the future may bring.

In terms of wildlife for you, animals use edges for travelling due to their complexity and position. Wildlife paths are created, increasing the light levels for lower plants, promoting production of vegetation, thus increasing herbivorous insect, followed by nesting birds and the upcoming trophic levels of wildlife. You can retain a solid edge habitat dedicated to lush biodiversity, numerous wildlife all whilst promoting a healthy resilience for your own garden. Look at water-land edges, where land is extremely fertile due to the exchanges of nutrients and ready water source. Why do you think forests and great civilisations situate themselves alongside bodies of water?

Yet, very rarely in nature is excessive human involvement beneficial for edges & ecotones.

Though that being said, if we can restore and/or conserve ecotones & edges we are more effectively conserving biodiversity as they hold the characteristics of more than one habitat. That’s why so much emphasis is put on wetlands worldwide. That’s why you can benefit so much by adding in edges to your garden, as you’ll see the biggest bang for your buck there when you are attempting to conserve nature in your garden. Why not try starting with a hedgerow, and the species designed to be edges for forests?

Coppicing To Open Up Opportunities!

Coppicing: a conservation approach to that removes most of the above-ground tree

This approach is to manage your trees from over-shadowing the plants beneath it, giving the smaller flora a chance to grow & flourish, whilst developing the ideal leafy canopy to support a wildlife & plant-life alike.

How does coppicing work?

Trees respond to different stresses in their own way, although there is a shared reaction of almost every tree in response to naturally occurring damage caused by either fires, storms, and/or browsing animal, effectively debilitating the above-ground portion of any tree and therefore causing the future death of it. If their roots survive these situations then it is this shared special ability of theirs that activates to restore them, though not to their former glory, and this ability ‘stems’ (foreshadowing pun) from Dormant Buds. In damaged areas on the surviving stump, trunk and/or main branches, dormant buds dwelling under the surface of the tree undergo a response to the threats, creating multiple new stems that acts as replacements to the damaged portions of the tree and grow from the exposed areas.

Imagine having your arm lopped off, only to have 10 thinner ones grow back. If it were me, i’d be concerned about who lopped off my arm, but let’s not go down that rabbit hole. Instead, you could use those spare arms to supplement the loss of your old one, and use them to replace the necessity for your old one. This is what tree’s are doing, they grow numerous alternate thinner tree trunks in an attempt to offset the damage or loss of their main trunk, and thereby still getting their dose of sweet, sweet UV light.

The name given to actively encouraging this process is called Coppicing, and this is a very well-established practice.

A secondary method, Pollarding, is the conservationists answer to several issues when & if the need arises with coppicing. This practice relies on cutting higher up the trunk to create new growth at a higher level. This can chosen over coppicing to avoid animals stripping bark off new growth, or to keep the crowns in check when you don’t want to lost the old tree trunk! Though this isn’t as ideal as coppicing, situationally it can be a more beneficial choice for everyone involved.

Is coppicing for you?

For you, it could be out of concern for the environment, or perhaps a personal, practical, financial, or aesthetic reason. You may simply want to lighten up a portion of your garden for your other plants, or take down the tree whilst still retaining the space as a hedgerow or shrub. On the other hand, you could decide to you need a steady supply of kindling, a framework for climbing plants, or perhaps wooden poles for carvings, and such reasons can be both personal and financial. Finally, you may make the choice to do so for purely aesthetic reasons, perhaps as an alternative to bamboo canes, or as an addition for a rustic style to your garden.

Regardless of your choice you will have an opportunity to benefit the local wildlife & environment. You can use this technique to encourage the biodiversity within your garden by diversifying an overcrowded portion of your land, thus raising the light levels to support the low-growing plant-life, providing a steady supply of dead-wood, and act as a supplementary resource for wildlife.

What can be coppiced?

If you find any of the trees mentioned in this table in your garden, then you can confidently consider going ahead with coppicing them. These aren’t the only options, but they’re the ones native to the UK and therefore will support the more of the native wildlife.