Spear Coppicing: A Slow, Beautiful Decay for your Trees

Have you got your landscaping eye on a tree in the garden but you’ve been hesitating on where to go with it? Well may I introduce the practice of Spear Coppicing to you? If you’re handy with a saw & ladder, it’s a way to turn a tree into a prominent wildlife feature, and cut back on the annual foliage. Over time the tree will become standing deadwood and become inhabitable to multiple birds, beetles, fungi, and small mammals. It remains strong & firm for far longer than most other naturally occurring dead trees whom mostly rot from the base up, as it will deteriorate from the uppermost branches downward.

Interested? Well let’s get cracking!

Standard Coppicing

I’ve spoken & explained coppicing before, with it being an ancient (pre recorded history) method of woodland management for various reasons, but predominantly at the time for timber & firewood, and now it is now a prominent wildlife conservation technique for increasing biodiversity & habitat quality for species who struggle to find these now scarce habitats.

In the sense that opportunity for life comes from variety within habitats, coppicing involves felling a tree at it’s base to allows numerous new shoots to grow from the stump – it’s recognisable as have many thin “trunks” shooting upwards to a now sunny opening in the forest canopy. Another version is Pollarding, which involves cutting the branches of a tree to allow the same thing to occur, but at the canopy height.

Both are respected ways of improving the health & biodiversity of a forest by exposing the woodland ground flora to sunlight, whilst keeping other environmental features of a forest, and establishing a more complex habitat for the many plant species. In effect, you could see it as a replication of beavers munching a tree down, only for the tree to continue it’s life by growing new shoots & leaves from it’s base, or fallen yet still living trunk.

Lovely! Now, what is Spear Coppicing?

In the below photo a picture of a pollarded tree – a tree with it’s branches cut. What is different from the average coppicing/pollarding practice is the cross-section cuts into the main branches, creating an open lattice and exposing the inside of the wood to a greater degree. You’ll likely be able to see below the “teeth” that have been cut into the branches ends, creating what looks like pointed tips – the spears.

The purpose of these cross-cuts is to allow moisture from rain & humidity in the air to gather within the trees extremities. Over time we would see the beginnings of rot as the tree slowly breaks down from it’s ends inwards. Eventually, the tree will die, yet remain standing – known as Standing Deadwood, and deeply sought-after resource for much of our wildlife which I will discuss in a moment.

The essential difference in coppicing and spear-coppicing is that the former encourages rejuvenation whilst the latter encourages deterioration. Both are good alternatives for wildlife should you seek to offer something new from your selection of trees.

However just to address the elephant in the garden and provide some forewarning, by encouraging a tree to become standing deadwood it will become more liable to falling. This can be either it’s branches or it’s trunk due to the decay, and I would advise you avoid this practice if you aren’t confident of the initial cutting of the tree, or are wary of the risk/damage of falling wood. Perhaps aim for a tree in your garden that is already dead, and you would like to encourage further decay.

Why Encourage Deadwood?

Decomposing wood is part of every tree’s life cycle, and is essential to returning the vast & dense nutrients within it’s body to the surroundings. Throughout a trees decay, decomposition, and eventual death, the tree provides a nutrient-rich habitat for a variety of fungi, acts as a nursery for insects (especially beetles), and ergo a larder for insectivorous animals and birds.

By allowing this process to occur in your garden, it would feed the soils, plants, and wildlife in your garden for the duration of the tree’s decomposition, which in all likelihood is many years, offering you a long length of fertile soil and enjoyable wildlife sightings.

Standing and Fallen deadwood

The rarest of deadwood is a dead tree still standing,. Typically dead trees are weak to high winds and therefore are not common, yet those that remain in place offer a habitat for those that specialise this particular habitat. You may notice some very uncommon species making their home upon it. Living trees can even host deadwood, another natural lifecycle for trees, and occurs in branches, the trunk, or more commonly ion an event called Hollowing, within it’s Heartwood. The insides of a tree is referred to as the heartwood, and it is not alive, instead acting as a form of support for the weight of the tree. Trees can live a long time with actively decaying heartwood/limbs, with both the living and dying aspects of the wood supporting a wider array of species – even other plants when exposed;

In general, most deadwood comes in the shape of fallen branches, bark, or the entire tree itself, and even roots beneath the ground. Beyond this, wood felled by human hand is also fairly common in some areas. Regardless of the source, once the decay & decomposition begin, the dense reserves of nutrients are released into the soils over time, slowly feeding the surrounding wildlife. Interestingly, plants have naturally adapted to the rate at which wood releases it’s nutrients, ensuring they make the most of the opportunity to invest in long-term development rather than speedy growth (unless found by a particularly voracious species).

Negative Connotations

Several poor connotations have been linked to dead & decaying wood, especially from our vantage point as humans. Rotting logs, torn branches, and felled trunks are seen as unhealthy, unsafe or untidy, a mindset that is correct when we must determine the state of rot in enclosed spaces, or if we are worried about risk of falling branches. So, wisely, us humans have a tendency to “neaten” our surroundings in efforts to enjoy better health, lower risks, cleanliness, and beauty of scenery, yet for deadwood our behaviours ultimately reduces the availability of this resource to wildlife, and the environment.

In this theme, managers of any trees & woodlands must weigh the ecological value of deadwood against the safety risk that is presented. Often it is the safety of people that is the final decision, a choice I would also choose as I also prefer to enjoy a safe woodland walk, yet where possible I would very much enjoy the presence of deadwood.

So, perhaps there’s a way to work it into your garden, where you can control the risks and benefit from the returns?

The Benefits of Deadwood

Nutrient recycling is crucial for soils to remain fertile, and what better resource than wood that has grown from the surrounding soil. Wood decomposition releases vital nutrients over years that can be picked up by other trees & plants, maintaining good health & fruit yield, as well as a supporting a healthy local ecosystem.

In reference to a earlier post of mine, the biodiversity of species surrounding decaying wood is incredible compared to other habitats. Plants, fungi, insects, animals & birds all make use of the many microhabitats for many reasons, and nothing is to say you wouldn’t benefit from enjoying their presence, be it appreciating nature, or as pest control by inviting insectivores to move in.

If you’re fascinated by fungi, then behold their presence as the agents of decay as they colourfully bloom upon the wood. Or for these with a mind for insects, numerous saproxylic insects will feast on rotten wood, a spectacle for anyone with or without interest. Perhaps insectivorous birds & animals with strong beaks or claws will hunt amongst the wood, providing you some entertainment. And maybe for the night owls amongst us who prefer to stare out into the night sky you would prefer the multiple bat species that would flock to the rotted holes & peeling bark to roost & hibernate.

If you find the ideas of these appealing, then perhaps Spear Coppicing is a choice for you to make? Your garden may be your pride or a work in progress, but the introduction of a little decay may be the extra variety it needs to make it flourish with abundance and health.

Interested in something a little less intensive?

Rather than the demanding task of Spear Coppicing, there are other more manageable projects to give a go first to see if you enjoy the idea of long-standing deadwood in the garden;

• Remove a ring of bark from the limb or a tree/shrub to develop a limb of deadwood;
• Leave an old, naturally dead tree or tree-stump in it’s place to rot for a while, and see what wildlife appears;
• Create log-piles with timber from branches & tree trunks in a shaded area;
• Pile up leaf litter & sticks/branches to create a simple pile of decomposing matter;

If there’s a takeaway from this that I can highlight, it’s that the end of one thing in nature is the beginning of another. Having a healthy balance of everything will often lead to wide benefits to many things in your garden, and even for your own health & wellbeing.

The Hidden Waxcap Grasslands; a Rare Habitat for your Garden

Grasslands and Meadows support a wide array of wildlife & plant-life, and in the UK the priority for habitat conservation attention is associated more with grasslands than with any other UK habitat type.

Waxcap fungi, alongside some Pinkgills, Club, & Coral fungi, and Earth-tongue fungi, form a group of mushrooms that thrive merrily within types of unimproved or semi-improved grassland, forming the waxcap-grassland.

The semi-improved term refers to a grassland’s treatment with fertilisers either in the past or at a low level. We refer to this land as “semi-improved” as it is a term that is derived from previous land-management systems that focus on making land more productive for crop growth; a naming that is a keepsake from arable ownership. Any land that has been partially nutritionally “improved” to a certain degree, or at least was at one point, alongside any form of land management practices (i.e ploughing or reseeding) is often referred to in this way. Semi-improved is a very common condition for a lot of our grasslands, being arable, pastural, or in a garden setting. However there exists both Improved Grasslands (highly/currently modified by fertiliser & management) and Unimproved Grasslands (non-modified by fertiliser & management) which are at either side of semi-improved grasslands, and represents the entire range of low-to-high nutrition.

Unimproved & Semi-improved grassland typically offer a higher number of species compared to Improved, as species who thrive in areas of dense nutrition regularly outcompete other species due to the fact that most species have evolved to cope within low nutrition environments and therefore cannot make use of all the available nutrients even if they are abundant. By retaining a lower nutrition and level of soil disturbance, other species can settle into the grassland, such as these colourful fungi to provide autumnal bouquets.

Many of these delicate fungi are widely threatened due a loss in suitable habitat as many habitats are improved due to agriculture, management practices, and nutrient run-off. Either this, or the opposite occurs when a grassland is left for too long with a lack of herbivore grazing or mowing, allowing scrub & shrubs to encroach and turn the land into a woody thicket.

Especially valuable Waxcap-Grasslands can still be found for people to view, often managed as parks, cemeteries, or even home-lawns.

So, if you think your garden lawn fits the bill for unimproved or semi-improved grassland, then this is a perfect chance to encourage some fungi in your garden!

The Garden Management Approach

Any actions you take to maintain & enhance your garden towards a wax-cap grassland habitat will result in a positive contribution towards these species, so feel free to be bold in your approach. Often, this style of management will benefit many other species as well.

• Regularly mow your grass to a short length ensures that the grass doesn’t out-compete it’s neighbouring waxcaps
• Remove the grass clippings, this will lower nutrient levels over time as the grass clippings won’t decompose back into the soil.
• Avoid using fertilisers and lime to avoid the same issue of nutrition, but also to make sure the soil PH & chemistry remains unchanged.
• If possible avoid pesticides & fungicides. In a homestead this may be an unreasonable request compared to a wild grassland, so just minimise usage or avoid spreading widely.
• Moss is often present in the best waxcap grassland sites, though many don’t feel the urge to welcome moss. If you find yourself open-minded to the idea, I have a post about moss that may be worth the read.
• Two issues faced in wild grasslands may not apply to your garden, but it’s worthwhile to know & interesting to boot; Avoid soil damage in the form of compaction via vehicle, as this affect drainage to form water-logged soils that provide poor growing conditions for mycelia, and similarly root spreading capability due to the newfound toughness of the soil.
• Also look to ensure scrub doesn’t encroach – though again, these are less likely in your garden due to how well maintained gardens are kept.

A Final Note

Don’t be alarmed if it takes a while to recreate, restore, or improve your grass patch into a waxcap grassland as it takes time for fungi to inoculate onto a new patch – their spores spread on the wind and take time to establish in soils, having to grow throughout the soil before producing their fruit (the above surface mushroom), even under suitable management.

It is worth it though, as grassland fungi can be an important component to grasslands as a decomposer community, of similar importance to the plants that also reside there, quickly recycling the nutrition in the soil and spreading it evenly to maintain a balanced soil mat. In a sense they are important for soil conservation, assisting in building up soils, soil health, and preventing soil erosion. The combination of grass roots and mycelium root systems in this unique habitat stabilises the soil in many aspects. It is similarly that this array of grasses, fungi, and often wildflowers & herbaceous species is an important habitat for a wider array of both plants and animal species, even supporting those that are both rare and/or threatened – there are some species associated with waxcap grassland that are found nowhere else in the world.

So, if you decide to try for a colourful garden display I hope you find yourself with an additional option this year. This practice isn’t wholly dissimilar to wildflower meadow management, so perhaps you can look at wiggling in some additional late bloomers!

See you next time!

Introducing Bare-Earth Management, & The Importance for Life

When we hear of wildlife conservation and habitat management, I am sure most of us envision lush green forests & grasslands with their associated fauna ambling about. And this is often the case, these habitats are frequently found in nature and offer many great resources for many species to then settle into these areas. However there are often situations where lush greenery is not the desired habitat, even though it usually is very popular. I’m talking about bared earth, the soil substrates exposed.

To be completely clear here, I’m not referring to locations that are devoid of vegetation, but to lands dominated by greenery yet disturbed by grazing, burrowing, fires, storms, landslides, and a host of other occurrences that will strip vegetation small & large to create furrows of bare earth.

In the Natural world, if something has occurred naturally for a long enough period of time, a species will be drawn to the strange offering of alternate resources, and those that adapt best to take advantage of those specific resources will dominate them, outcompeting others. In many a case, this entails becoming a Specialist species, a creature who’s physical design is optimal only for this environment, outcompeting all others, whilst those who are more Generalist in their approach must hedge their bets and seek a wider array of resources to compensate.

However, with Specialism comes a price – a high demand for their specialist environment. And in today’s topic, that demand is Bare Earth.

Bare with Me, I’ll Explain

As we discuss bare earth, the general impression I’m giving may be one of exposing soils, which is a mistake on my end. Instead bare ground can feature many natural substrates that exist, of which we can include sand, clay, gravel, chalk and even peat, so long as they occur within that habitat naturally. And to add to interest, you’ll attract different wildlife depending on which substrate you unearth, they’re all of value. But for those looking to get the biggest bang for their buck in terms of conservation, currently our acidic and/or calcareous sands hold the title of being of greatest conservation value due to these habitats being front-runners in habitat loss. If you know what type of soil you have, why not give it a go?

Regardless of the type of soil substrate that get exposed, the substrates do get exposed naturally in nature as a temporary feature. We often maintain our habitats to do without soil exposure however, yet we are able to do it ourselves by cutting back or uprooting vegetation that has grown over it. It’s often the case that scrub, shrubs and tree canopy leave a layer of semi-bare soil beneath them due to the lack of sunlight allowed through their dense leaf layers, making them good options for a quick cut back to reveal their bare or leaf littered soils below.

Don’t worry about a few leaves & detritus, it’s natural. The focus of baring ground is it’s importance as a habitat for our basking, burrowing, and hunting invertebrates, as well as it’s niche habitat for pioneering plants, those plants that colonise new soils before others can develop. The presence of surface detritus & local shrubs offers a sheltered microclimate and food resource, whilst the bared soils is perfect for both nesting and hunting. Even bee species will use this type of terrain.

So by opening up soil you provide a rarer habitat for a range of vertebrate and invertebrate species, and in a similar sense, it allows plants that thrive on fast-growing & low-competition strategies to take root. By giving these species an opportunity develop their populations, you allow them to foster & maintain local biodiversity. As I’ve discussed previously (Sensational Biodiversity and Why You Want It), biodiversity is akin to natures immune system, where it becomes more tolerant to threatening events due to it’s many species being able to perform roles in the absence of another, keeping the ecosystem running until it recovers to previous conditions.

To both our good and bad luck, bare soil is a temporary habitat, and therefore no long-term habitat enhancement solution. As the observant amongst you may have noticed, plants tend to salivate over these bare patches of soil, growing on them at first chance. This is fortunate as this is what we want to happen – encouraging plant’s to grow. However unfortunately this is a process known as Succession, which means habitat’s move towards their most complex community, which can be very ideal for certain habitats but not others, and as a result can mean that soon there will be no bare ground left exposed for the many species who desire it.

Fear not though, as is the annual curse, there is plenty reason to trim & cut back your greenery and so there is always the opportunity to expose more soil as a annual to-do. Continually re-exposing new plots of bare soil gives rise to waves of opportunity to the swathes of species that will need them come the new season. And though the ground will need continual re-exposure, be cautious about overdoing it, so be sure to err on the side of less is more, until you get a feel for it.

There is another method of exposing soils that requires minimal effort, but may require some getting used to. Certain animals produce bare earth through their behaviours, and are very well known to all; burrowers, species such as rabbits, moles and badger. At the start I mentioned how that the longer any event occurs, the likelihood that a species will adapt & specialise to take advantage of the unique event & resources rises. In this case, these burrowing behaviours have been around since ancient times when creatures first learned they are safer underground, developing special features to unearth soil and creature their own dens, and as a result, they inadvertently let other species in on a banquet. If you have the patience to allow such species to settle in your garden, it’s likely you may enjoy both their presence and the benefits they bring.

Exposing Soil Management Methods

It only takes a few scattered patches to create a significant foothold to these specialist species, adding up to a few square metres if you have the capacity for it. Indeed, you can get a sense for how minimalist you can be when you can compare it to “Hoof & Trample” effects of grazing animals, who’s hooves cut into the grass and produce small, local hot spots for invertebrates – a level typical for this type of habitat.

You can keep it small, no need to tear up the garden!

Maintain an area, or several small areas, to action against the losses of encroaching vegetation. Even better, reclaim soils from vegetation as these soils have undergone changes in soil chemistry due to the presence & behaviour of the local plant-life. This soil, once exposed, is akin to the soils exposed in natural settings and allows for the full expression of a range of features to occur. Look to manage soils cyclically, rotating patches of scrub & shrubs back to soil periodically, to manage these areas most effectively.

As a beneficial note, it gives soils a chance to rest, recovering nutrients and aerating, in readiness for the following succession of future vegetation. Provided it is done at an appropriate pace & scale, it should maintain and enhance local flora & fauna communities.

Another approach is de-turfing, which has a particular value depending on your desired result. By stripping the layer that holds the majority of organic matter, it reduces the available nutrition in the soil. This can be ideal for those who wish to promote specific species, such as wildflowers, who especially adore such habitats due to the absolutely lowest level of competition by other plants. And, as a bonus, the removed turf can be used to repair other areas of bare soil, or used within a composter.

Take care of bared soils by not creating them on slopes, and keeping them somewhat contained by other vegetation. Rainfall on open soils can create run-off on slopes, dragging the soil with it and stripping the it away.

Soils are a vital resource for many reasons, overwhelmingly so for supporting our diverse flora and providing a stable annual resource for these species to derive their nutrition from.

Yet as I’m sure you’re aware by now, Ecology insists we look at all relationships between living organisms, as well as their environment. Not only flora, but fauna too have different requirements of our soils, it all depends on who’s asking

Backyard Biodiversity & Ecosystem Health; Protected by Beetle Banks

Are you looking to begin another project in the garden for the sake of wildlife? Or instead are you perhaps looking to defend your garden from the pests that munch on your flowers and crops?

Prepare to celebrate then, for you’re about to hit two birds with one stone!

As is implied by the featuring title above, this is a method that aims to host insects whilst being able to protect a certain something, and in this case it’s the greenery in your garden. Whilst on the topic I want to shoot down any uncertainties, the “beetles” in this title is purely for the sake of alliteration, and is really in reference to the general insect population.

With that out the way, I hear your next question coming;

How will introducing more insects into my garden stop insect pests? Surely it will increase my troubles..!

That’s an easy answer as just as there is a food chain amongst animals, there’s a food chain to insects within their own order, in which there are insects that predate other insects and are known as insectivores.

Going from here is intuitive! As we own habitats that’s inviting to your pest species (your crops & other greenery being their food source & shelter), we can introduce a habitat that is capable of hosting insectivores. There’s a bit of art & science to it, so I will explain in more detail in the next section.

But for now know that this is the origin of Beetle Banks, a practice often implemented by farmers seeking to encourage these predatory insect species and in doing so, reducing the time, effort & cost needed to employ other pest control methods such as pesticides.

And there’s the concept!

Now let’s move on to the practical element.

The Operation of a Beetle Bank

We’re starting with a bank, a long strip of (preferably) raised soil that resembles a speed bump, though the bank can be a fair bit taller. It’s the “raised” height feature that gives rise to a slight difference in the ground condition that effects the grasses that grow from it, creating a mosaic of freely draining soil, differing levels of sunlight exposure, wind buffering and so on, that encourages different grasses and other perennial plants to compete amongst each other to maintain a balance of various species.

Off of this bank we’ll be growing thick tussocks of grass and/or plants that can act as an insects ideal habitat, whilst allowing for safe residence and movement similar to a wildlife-corridor. These insects will do a lot for you, including acts that go unnoticed such as balancing soil nutrition, organic decomposition, or ground aeration, however the overarching goal that you can easily notice is controlling pest insect populations near you.

As a extra add-on, this bank that fosters an array of insects also provides a beneficial food resource to the fauna that prey on these insects, most importantly through the winter when food resource are thin. For any wildlife enthusiasts, you may be excited to hear that other wildlife such as hares, partridges, and harvest mice may also inhabit the banks on occasion.

There is a benefit to a balanced ecological system that will benefit your green space, which you read about here.

Fixing an Wildlife Issue, to Fix Yours!

We’re lacking in a number of habitats for certain wildlife currently, and whilst there are still dense grass zones and intact hedgerows, it is an issue of unconnected habitat corridors and the low quality & quantity of habitat area compared to the past. By providing a space for these insect species you can encourage a local population that in the Spring will move to hunt amongst your crops & flowers, and furthermore even allowing them to overwinter in dense numbers.

Modern dense grasslands typically lack the correct grass species mix, often dominated by other species, and don’t create that ideal habitat to host beneficial insects. Then there’s also the issue of overly-expansive fields in which these small of stature insects may takes weeks to cross if they aren’t able to fly. By correctly positioning a Beetle Bank, you can allow insects safe yet quick access to nearby resources.

The concept of mid-field refuges may also be of benefit to you, as they are akin to hedge-banks with no woody shrubs, available as refuge stepping stones during long distance travel in which predators can overwinter and spread to their hunting grounds in the Spring.

In these conditioned environments the insect population that inhabits these banks can be even higher than the traditional existing field boundaries. Which is exactly what you want.

Because of the low number of suitable habitats for these predatory insects, the beetle banks you create will become hugely dense with these sleepy mini-beasts during the winter, only to spread out during the Spring. This of course means that your garden receives the the healthiest does in the reduction of crop pest species by virtue of it’s proximity.

As a final additional benefit, this is a project with easy maintenance, requiring mowing only during the first year, and after which it is best left unmanaged! So after the hard work of creating it, all that’s left is letting it carry on doing as it likes.

Speaking of which, let’s get into it!

Building a Bank

1. You’re aiming to create a raised bank of soil, whether it follows a straight line, fit’s into a corner, or shaped as a circular mound. You can raise for up to 40cm in height, with a width of your preference.
3. September is the best time to hand sow your soil with a mixture of perennial grasses, but aim for a high percentage of “tussock-forming” and/or “mattock-forming” species (listed below), alongside a mix of fescues, bents, or even tall-growing wildflowers. If you can’t do September, then the following Spring is a good option.
4. Up to three cuts in the first Summer can be helpful after the sward reaches a height of 10cm, one cut for every time it reaches this height. By doing so it controls the encroachment of annual weeds, and encourages new shoots of grass to grow to make dense, tussocky grass.
5. At this point your beetle bank will have established itself and be largely self-maintaining! You will only need to cut the grassy strips to regenerate dead tussocks, which will likely be several years in-between.
6. Two-to-three years after the initial sowing, these banks will have developed into a suitable habitat for your overwintering insects, benefitting your garden with a healthy food chain.

Ever-important Plants

Native plants that, once established, will create strong connections to the wildlife that is naturally present within it’s surroundings. These aren’t the only species of plants you have to use, and can eb taken as reference.

Grass mix containing tussock and mat-forming species;

1. Cocksfoot
2. Timothy
3. Red Fescue
4. Ribwort Plantain
5. Crested Dogstail
6. Tufted Hairgrass
7. Tall Fescue
8. Sheeps Fescue
9. Fescues & Bents

Tall or mat-forming wildflowers;

1. Sunflowers
2. Coriander
3. Borage
4. Buckwheats
5. Yarrow
6. Tansy
7. Oxeye Daisy
8. Teasel
9. Black Knapweed
10. Red Campion
11. Musk Mallow
12. Wild Carrot

The added benefit of providing additional mixtures of wildflowers & grasses is providing food and further habitat for multiple species, including endangered or struggling species. With local native plants, the restoration of the surrounding ecology can be supported.

And there you have it!

Whilst they make take a while to get rolling, they are an interesting feature akin to shaggy green hills to have displayed in the garden, teeming with tiny critters who’s sole goal it’s to help you keep pests populations down.

I’m sure you can get creative with the design to create your own unique backdrop suitable for your personal garden designs. I’d be very interested to see the many outcomes from this.

If you’re craving more of a similar brand, feel free to read more on the Habitat Management section in my blog!

Happy Reading!

A Wildflower in the Garden

A flowers born to the wild, a Wildflower. It is dissociated from the common term “flower” due to one differing characteristic, and that is that they grow without deliberate human help (i.e. sowing or cultivating). In this sense, any flower may be a Wildflower if it’s seeds has found their way into a suitable habitat and spontaneously grow when the conditions are met.

There are many ways to separate flowers into distinct categories, but Wildflowers is a widely recognised term in Habitat Conservation due to their self-propagating ability.

All flowers are of a species that is specially adapted to lead wildlife to do the hard work for them, in regards pollination & seed dispersal. In the end if the conditions are right, flowers tend to gather in particular areas as to form dense networks named Wildflower Meadows.

These Meadows have distinct, critical features that make their habitat successful, and in conservation “successful” means that the presence of these wildflower species offers opportunities for wildlife to support itself throughout their lives.

And when it comes to how we benefit, the presence of a wildflower patch means low-maintenance land that will self-seed their various flowers, attracting a dense reserve of wildlife and protecting soils.

Specifically, what is a Wildflower Meadow?

A wildflower meadow is a variation from the standard grass meadow, in that it is dominated by seasonal wildflowers alongside the secondary presence of short, permanent grasses throughout the year. Unlike ‘cornfield’ varieties of flowering annuals (think fields of poppies) that prefers fertile soils, wildflower meadows grow on low-nutrient soils where the vigorous grasses cannot dominate nor outcompete them.

Benefit to Wildlife

Wildflower meadows are naturally competitive. In the natural world, flowers dominate the nutrient poor soils, focussing instead on storing energy for a short burst of flowering at the right time of year, rather than competing long-term with leafy & growth-focussed grasses, or shade-heavy shrubs & trees.

But funnily enough it is this characteristic that provides a very interesting resource for wildlife. The Wildflower’s focussed approach of rapidly producing attractive flowers for pollination allows multiple species of flower to survive in close quarters by reducing the competition for nutritional resources, and instead on luring in pollinators for sexual reproduction. Essentially, the most attractive wins rather than the best resource-gatherer. This approach results in creating a dense network of tall, complicated, and resource-rich stem, leaf & root structures, surprisingly lasting for a fair length of the year as old plants die and new ones replace them. The self-supporting & sprawling plant networks allows normally grounded creatures an extra elevation upon which to live in, alongside the presence of both resources and safe heaven on literally all sides. The dense foliage protects from predators above and below, whist an abundant reserve of nectar, pollen, sap, insects, mammals, reptiles, etc is provided within the tangled web of greenery. And whilst these resources are only present during the most sun-energy rich periods of the year (Spring & Summer), this presence of flowers alone is worth the risk for most species. And in this vein of thinking that the foliage grown by flowers creates a useful dynamic through heat & water retention due to it’s many insulative layers against sunshine and wind, their high water transpiration rate, and finally their “short height”. All this allows them to retain more heat beneath their upper canopy, whilst further down maintain a cooler yet still muggy and damp temperature; a preferable variety of options for many species.

It is through this dense thicket that Wildflower Meadows multiplies & compresses the food chain into a relatively compact area. Even in the skies above, far away from the flowers, linger a multitude of birds eyeing up the fringes & glades in flowering fields in the likely chance of prey. Or perhaps similarly to other creatures, they are simply looking for nesting material.

Regardless, the benefit to wildlife is self explanatory at this point, and that’s without going into the well portrayed discussion about pollinators.

Benefits to You

Due to the complex & compact nature of wildflower meadows, the soils beneath them are tightly bound together by fine, overlapping root systems to create a very stable soil. Thus when it rains, there is little in the way of run-off from water, and no loss of nutrients. If you have land on a slope, dedicating a portion of that area to a band of wildflowers is a good buffer for poor weather conditions, thereby ensuring your garden is neither flooded nor stripped/saturated with nutrients to encourage weeds or vigorous grass growth.

And on the topic of soil nutrients a typical garden lawn’s grasses have shallow roots, making use of only the surface nutrition, whereas a variety of (flower) species tend to differ their root structures and dredge up the nutrients stuck further down & throughout the the soil. As you’ll learn later on, you cut & remove the Wildflower cuttings from your meadow, allowing you to take those nutrients to be redistributed to wherever you see fit.

As a time saver, wildflowers require you to reduce the amount of mowing, going so far as even just once or twice per season. And with the removal of herbicides & pesticides (neither need controlling in this meadow), you reduce your price costs and run-off water pollution into the surrounding soil.

And as wildflowers tend to do best in poor nutrition soils, you’ll also quickly be able to see where these low-nutrition areas in your garden are if you notice your wildflowers re-seeding & growing elsewhere. You’ll be able to counteract this with your cuttings, or extend/relocate your wildflower patch.

Focussing now not on soil but air, it is due to their vigorous & quick growth rate that Wildflowers also do a wonderful job at removing a range of pollutants from the air, filtering & improving the air quality. They use the pollutants as a food source before they eventually die and lock it into the soil for future generations of growth. On the other side of that coin though is pollen… hayfever sufferers will notice this airborne pain.

Interestingly though, flowers have formed other deep rooted into us aside from sneezing. Our emotional responses trigger in response to seeing blooming flowers, with the sight of them alone causing lowered blood pressure and stress hormone production. For good or bad it seems as if our connection with flowers goes beyond mere appreciation.

To summarise, the introduction of a Wildflower meadow brings a more holistic result. Due to the unique nature of these meadows (water filtration, soil erosion control, extensive nutrient recycling etc) and your maintenance, you’ll see the presence of wildlife in a fairly new format. A ‘balancing’ effect on your garden will arise in the presence of a variety of healthy wildlife populations. Species have evolved in the expectation that other wildlife will be exerting various behaviours upon them, so you’ll see your garden reacting to these introduced behaviours.

As a final and fairly obvious observation, wildflowers also look & smell nice.
So there’s that aspect to enjoy!

Managing Land into a Wildflower Meadow

Jumping straight in, we’ll go over how to set up, maintain, and generally manage your wildflower meadow to the end goal that suits you & your garden.

Introducing & Establishing a New Wildflower Meadow:

The best time to create and sow your meadow is in autumn.

1. Choose the right time: The overall best time to create & sow your new meadow is in Autumn, however the preparation can be done at any time of year. Sowing in Autumn simulates natural seed dispersal times, allowing them to develop through the Winter.
2. Choose the right spot: you’re looking for a spot that’s sunny throughout the day & relatively open. Don’t worry if that spot is sloped or flat, you can position it however you prefer.
3. Soil nutrition: your soil might be too dense with nutrients (i.e. fertile) to host your wildflowers, so other than checking your soil first, you can jump straight in and remove the top 3 inches of topsoil from your chosen patch. This will likely be the hardest part of your wildflower journey as it involves muscles & spades, or a turf-cutter for an alternative option. As a more time-consuming yet less intense effort, sow plants that require many nutrients, let them grow, and then cut them down & remove the cuttings. This will lower nutrient levels over time.
4. Soil & Weed Work: rake up your soil so it is nice & soft, and remove any roots or remaining weeds. Once you’re looking at your fine, bare soil you’ll be ready to start sowing seeds.
5. The ‘Wild’ in Wildflower: sowing a mixture of flower seeds does take some of the wilderness out of the approach, however in the following years these species will continue to seed & sow themselves, and as you get visiting wildlife to your garden, you’ll start seeing new wildflowers popping up as they get dropped in your soil.

In the first year of growth it is important to encourage the growth of wild flowers over the competing grasses, weeds, or woody shrubs. After the sown or naturally occurring flowering plants initial growth the following Spring/Summer, return every 6-8weeks to mow/cut down to a height of 5cm above the ground, and repeat this every 6-8 weeks during the Summer season during this first year of establishing your wildflower meadow.

After entering the second year, the method of management lies in not cutting after April until July/August. The aim is to never continuously cut back your plants as they may never grow to the seeding stage, yet avoiding to (repeatedly) cut-back late as this would result in your flower meadow becoming overcome by tough, competitive grasses with lower flower diversity.

To encourage a Spring Flowering for your wildflower meadow, aim to mow from late-June to October, and on the other hand if you prefer Summer Flowers, cut between late-July and March. For those of your who’s meadow may be large enough, try cutting different portions of your meadow at different times of the year from early-June through til early-September. This approach brings the greatest diversity in grass height and structures.

When you do mow your meadow(s), aim for a low sward height of roughly 5cm. Allow the cuttings to sit on the ground for up to 48 hours to allow seeds to fall through disturbances, and the local fauna to relocate to continue a balance population. If you are able, you can encourage this by allowing a section of your meadow to remain uncut for these species to inhabit during winter periods. Rotate uncut areas on a 3-4 year cycle to prevent it becoming dominated by vigorous grasses.

Ensure you remove cuttings after leaving them for a few days, as wildflowers thrive in low-nutrition soils where they cannot be outcompeted by nutrient-dependent grasses & woody shrubs. If left alone, the cuttings will return to the earth to be decomposed and release it’s nutrients back into the soil.

Long-term Maintenance

In surprising contrast to normal flower beds, the maintenance of wildflower meadows is incredibly small. There is no need for any additional watering (though consider in heatwaves) and no supplementary nutrients, doing either alters the natural balances that allows wildflowers to dominate since many of our native flowers survive by colonising our nutrient-lacking land. By mastering the schedule of mowing & nutrient removal, you have done enough to open the landscape to wildflowers.

Issues

Akin to wildflowers, certain weeds also thrive in wildflower habitat. Whilst they are simply weeds from our perspective and still are able to benefit wildlife, they may also dominate your meadow or offer an unappealing flower display, thus you may want to remove them before they set seed. Nettles can be stopped through simple repeated cuttings. Others, such as docks and thistles, can be pulled out by (gloved) hands to limit their returning capabilities.

Similarly grasses can start to become an issue if the cutting regime because interrupted or neglected, or you struggle with maintaining low soil nutrition despite your efforts. Here you can introduce certain seeds (for example, Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor) to control the spread of these grasses in an area due to their semi-parasitic nature towards grasses, or antagonistic natures.

General Advice

• Aim for the first cutting(s) to be around 5cm, but up to 7.5cm is also tolerable. Any subsequent cuttings can be at 4cm.
• In the first few years, you’ll likely notice a generous amount of nettles or docks. They will have lain dormant and begun generating once your soils were readied for wildflowers, as they respond well to disturbance. Either allow them to stay or remove them and over time they will disappear.

There are always many approaches you can consider undertaking when it comes to managing your garden for wildlife, yet wildflower meadows are one of those powerfully charismatic approaches in the conservation field that seems to go hand-in-hand with all gardens.

Armed only with the essential knowledge of when to mow your garden anyone can create a moving display of flowers, primed to benefit your wildlife.

I hope you enjoy any future meadows you create, or even just a new appreciation for the underpinnings of what is happening underneath your own garden lawn.

Cavity Trees: From Living Dens to Dead Snags

I like to think that it’s a long-established rule that we all try to avoid creating holes in any living being, to which I personally put people at the top of the list. And that’s generally a trustable rule-of-thumb when working with nature as well, since I have a reasonable confidence that most of everything in this world would appreciate that basic practice. And in relation to todays topic, it’s rather unsurprising that trees would rather not have holes in them either.

But unfortunately for trees they are just really, really accommodating locations to have holes in, no matter where the hole is on the body. So setting aside a trees personal feelings, these holes act as cavities (holes, hollows, cracks, fissures etc) to host animals, insects, lichens, fungi, and mosses, all of which are drawn to these cavities as vital safe shelter, an easy resource of foodstuff, and if well-established over the years, a promising resource of materials to express various behaviours.

So by encouraging or introducing a cavity tree into the local habitat, we can provide a increasingly rare habitat for wildlife that fulfils many functions.

Before we get to the how-to’s, you may have noticed I have yet to mention either Dens or Snags, and how they relate to Cavity Trees. Unsurprisingly, the terms Snag and Den both refer to trees with cavities, hence both are “Cavity Trees”, but any further than that and we begin to see that they are technically two different habitat types. Den trees are alive & persistent despite the damage a cavity would bring, having had holes formed within their trunks via decay, local wildlife, or mechanical wounding. Snags on the other hand are dying or dead trees created through the same process as Den Trees, yet pay the price and fail to ultimately survive the process through resulting illnesses, dire injury or instead, regular old age. Whilst the two seem similar, it’s the end result that means all the difference.

Both are alike in that they are important for many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and the aforementioned fungi & mosses, creating a natural and long-lasting reserve throughout the year for nesting & protection from the weather. But it’s a Den’s ability to stay alive that allows wildlife to make long-term use of their features, as the Den will continue to live for perhaps hundreds of years to come and provide co-beneficial relationships to all parties involved. Alternatively Snags are important in that they fulfil all these characteristics whilst providing a stronger medium for fungi, mosses & lichen to grow, which in turn attracts & invertebrates within their aged & rotting cavities and dead wood limbs. This rather diverse offering shows itself as further foraging opportunities for birds & mammals.

The presence of Cavity Trees diversifies the pre-existing habitat by providing an area that is different from soil-bound habitats, yet doesn’t rely on the canopies & local geology to provide height. As with every new habitat, it is about the unique opportunities provided and the species that are able to make the most of them that create a functioning & interesting ecosystem.

And finally, in your benefit, is that you can introduce a cavity into a tree with only the initial investment of effort, as it is self-sustaining afterwards, to which afterwards offers a strong feature for your garden as the cavity is explored & overcome with wildlife.

Perhaps this rare habitat will give you a prime observation area to see unique & interesting species. So, shall we see what we have to do to get started?

Before you begin, the Considerations:

As you look about your local area, it’s the general thought that a total of six den trees and/or snag trees per acre (With trunks between 12-18 inches thick) is considered a good result for wildlife. If you think your area is lacking such cavity trees and you’d like to go the extra step, examine live trees with the right thickness (12-18 inches) for any defects that could lead to cavity formation.

If you’re looking at converting a tree into a cavity tree, thinking about the species of tree can be helpful in the long run. Species of White Pine, Red Spruce, Eastern Hemlock, Sugar Maple, Beech, Yellow Birch, Elm and Oaks will all stand for long periods of time, even as dead trees. Other tree’s will do well as well, but it may be worth doing a little research to see how they respond to damage, and signs of illness.

Encouraging Cavity Tree Formation, and also, why you?

The earliest tree-felling practices recorded indicate that our ancestors cut down only the healthiest, optimally developed trees for their material needs, and this approach was mostly due to the intensive time & energy it took to fell a tree back at that time. This practice left an abundance of cavity trees for Wildlife as a side-effect, as the ignored veteran trees are more inclined to cavity formation, as the slow natural process of cavity formation & microhabitat development takes time to establish itself.

In recent year we are able to see the worth in encouraging cavity formation, and so wildlife does not have to wait for natural causes to slowly occur.

With large, old trees being the staple for cavity formation, conservation efforts aim to accelerate ecological processes to mimic the features of a mature tree and it’s connection to respective woodland. The restoration and creation of both forests and wooded pastures poses a unique challenge, as it take a long time for trees to reach a acceptable age to develop, establish and accumulate the captive microclimates

This is why if you decided to create your own Snag or Den it would be an meaningful effort, since after all a large proportion of aged trees are present within gardens, having been left untouched for years.

Even more so as our tree harvesting evolved with time, our more recent ancestors began actively improving tree ‘quality’ to meet wood material demands, which resulted in repressing cavity formation.

In modern times, practised has evolved into a myriad of situational & factorial decision making balancing between ecological and economic pressures. And when it comes to rare species and habitat, the underlying preference is to conserve, restore and encourage. And in lieu of this, people are encouraged to retain their cavity trees rather than see them as a concern for trees health.

So I won’t keep you waiting any further, here, the 3 baselines that form a rough outline of the type of cavity tree that would provide the most benefit to wildlife, the tree you want to pick.

1. Use a large diameter (tree trunk ‘width’) cavity tree where available, this being greater that 25cm, though preferably greater than 40cm.
2. Potential for cavity formation in the uppermost trunk are more valuable than those in the lower trunk.
3. Present with at least ten other cavity trees upon one hectare of land to produce the most productive wildlife benefits.

Hopefully you’ll be able to recognise a tree in your garden that would fit these parameters. From here, let us look at how to create your own cavity tree.

Whilst cavities in nature are the result of decay following injury and/or disease, it’s now a feasible action to create man-made cavities. One benefit to this is the instant result, though it may be rough around the edges so to speak. But if you take a less direct approach the hollows that form in trunks & branches can be formed years after the event, forming a naturalised microhabitat. It is up to you to decide how you would like to make use of your chosen tree, as wildlife will still put it to use, but you may prefer a particular outcome. The methods listed below may result in cavities in the long run. Perhaps you have a tree that you are torn on keeping, so instead of removing it you may decide to experiment with it. Of course keep in mind damaging any tree may result in long-term damage, disease & death, but if you’re confident in your choice then it is a perfect time to try your hand;

• Remove a branch with a pruning cut made too close to the trunk.
• Remove a large, major branch to a similar specification.
• Breakage of a large, major branch. This damage can occur semi-naturally.
• Topping [removing portion from the upper trunk] the trunk and/or branches.
• Cutting a large, major root – typically results in ground level cavities.
• Cutting through a group of roots – similar to previous.
• Considerable damage to the trunk – this most likely occurs naturally, but you may be able to reproduce the effect.

Consider the outcome of each approach, taking the height, size, positioning, and ease of doing so as factors in deciding your next course of action.

A more direct approach would be drilling or cutting into the tree’s trunk to develop a cavity. This is a very intrusive process that can result in large damage to the tree if you go at it without a plan, but the results are instant. If you have the option, perhaps first attempt this with any dead-standing tree stumps, or a tree that has had it’s limbs removed and leaves only the trunk behind. If you decide you are confident, use caution and plan the design of the cavity beforehand.

Temptations

You may be inclined to add additional features or alterations to the cavity, but be aware there are some pitfalls to be wary of.

1. Old practices of “Tree Care” included filling cavities in an effort to strengthen the trunk. You may decide you no longer care for a cavity, and want to fill it in. Certain materials are inflexible and abrasive, and as the tree growths & sways in the wind, the abrasion enables decay to enter into the living wood.
2. Don’t be too tempted to add further details after the initial cut, such as adding a channel for water to drain out of. Further damage puts Trees at risk, especially if stagnant water is present at the site of damage.
3. Whilst it is good to have a cavity tree in your garden, don’t feel the urge to do so to all your trees. Tree’s avoid cavity formation where possible, so whilst it is good to offer rare habitat to your wildlife, trees support wildlife in a great majority of other ways as long as they are able & healthy. That being said, if you decide your garden is able to support more than one cavity tree, select differing tree species as they will offer unique niches.

Overall Benefits to Wildlife

We have a tendency to remove older trees due to their safety risks, but the consequence is a greater rarity of naturally appearing cavity trees, at most appearing in 10% of standing trees. Their loss is noticeable, as these are the natural nest boxes for many bird species, and provide microclimates for an abundance of species. These microclimates provide opportunities for biodiversity, a niche for specialised life of plants, fungi, and the various species that desire dark & humid conditions to flourish.

When cavities appear in older trees they often appear in numbers, especially as time goes on as the tree ages and accommodates species in abundance. Depending on the location of it, it may vary in size & design, possibly being a crevice, loose bark, decayed & broken limbs, burns from lighting strikes and so on. Even more so than all of these though are hollow trees, an especially valuable resource, and they often come endowed with ivy & honeysuckle, becoming heavily carpeted and insulated from outside factors, a true microhabitat.

No matter it Snag or Den, a tide of species make use of them. Owls, starlings, nuthatches, flycatchers, tree creepers, redstarts, jackdaws, and various small woodland birds all make use of these cavities, as do bats, mice, and a wide selection of insects. Internal nesting is individually designed to suit the species unique requirements, but it is the cavity that provides a safe refuge from weather and predators alike to do so. The abundant presence of wood-boring & loving insect, as well as tree saps, fungi, and mosses, provide a rich source of food in their own home.

Interestingly it is a useful feature of both Snags and Dens that once they fall naturally or are felled they are already primed to immediately provide benefits to wildlife as a new habitat niche, allowing wildlife to continue to express both new & different behaviours.

Snags especially, as they deteriorate, provide various substrates on which insects, plants, mosses, lichens, liverworts & fungi make refuge of, and in turn are prey to birds & bark-gleaning species. This platform upon which provides many foraging opportunities within it’s small but complex structure.

And naturally to take advantage of this promising offering, there are even species that create their own cavities, the well-known Woodpeckers are one of them, and they choose ideal tree species that decay quickly to do so, these being Ash, Birch, Alder, and Beech, as this suits their unique requirements.

In this theme, of the Birds and Mammals species that “use” cavities in trees, there are two distinct groups they are divided into. ‘Primary’ cavity users have the ability to create & excavate their own cavities, in contrast to ‘Secondary’ cavity users which rely on pre-existing cavities. The primary species list is far shorter than the extensive list of secondary users, but over time cavities are created and abandoned, creating space to host many species of ‘secondary’ cavity users. It is this that makes the presence of the ‘primary’ species all the more important as their presence will create further habitats for a wide variety of species in the absence of naturally occurring cavities. Otherwise, it is up to humans to create further cavities.

As you can see from this brief, deep delve into the background of a deceptively simple, easily overlooked fragment of a whole scale habitat, it is rather stunning what is happening within the confined spaces of Snags & Dens without us being able to see inside their often lofty heights.

So what I would take away from all this is that it’s also what’s on the inside that counts!

Benefits for You

This is one of those times where I’ll tell you, and possibly understandable in this case, that I can think of little direct benefit for yourselves from this conversation practice, aside from being able to appreciate nature to a greater extent in your garden. I could tell you that having a rich amount of species residing in your garden will bring a host of positives, but I personally count these results as passive. Passively, it’s presence would increase the natural productivity of your garden by including more species within the natural cycle, with the cavity’s microhabitat supporting a veritable host of species that in turn supports insects, then their predators, and so on. Respectively each animal would provide a service to their surroundings, which could be nutrient redistribution, population stabilisation, pollination, re-seeding, behavioural expression and you get the idea. Their presence is noteworthy for wildlife, and your garden, as a second-hand effect.

But you would have to be creative for you to create decisive & direct self-benefitting return from a cavity tree.

Of course as previously stated, the easiest method is if you are in the same mind of thought as me, appreciative of both the environmental and aesthetical results that it will result in. Simple things.

But as an Economic or other personal benefit, there is not much to be done, and instead, it will be up to you to determine a practical use or value. Look to see what occupies your Snags & Dens, as a method of benefitting may arise from species that often interact with this new microhabitat. A species that would eat pest species of certain crops & flowers perhaps, or provides a seasonal presence who’s behaviour indicates the occurrence of a certain event.

Often times there are many creative methods of benefitting from the world around us, from ancestral practices to the newly discovered, but it is out there somewhere yet forgotten or unknown.

Maybe you will find an answer?

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.