It was a fish pond, but that was many lifetimes ago – well, lifetimes of insects, at least. By the time that I purchased this house, it was nothing but woodchips and invasive non-native plants like buddleja, sporting little wildlife and shaded by a crumbling wooden canopy.
Down it came. And out with it the wood decking, cracked concrete, a carpet lining, and enough plastic to wrap a small car. I also found a gardening knife, a forgotten water butt, a beer can and two jigsaw pieces – but inch by gruelling inch, the rectangle was cleaned into a blank page.
Still not much use for wildlife. Next step: rebuild the soil profile. While gardeners and farmers generally want well-fertilised soil, wildflowers thrive on the opposite. No hope of restoring them on woodchips, so I purchased 700 kilograms of low nutrient sandy soil, typical of this corner of East Anglia.
On which was sprinkled a seed mix that was a good match for those found locally, and it was nature’s turn to get to work.
The months have rolled on. Wild things have sprung up from the dust.
Most of them are perennials and will not show their flowers until next summer, but they have subtly revealed themselves by their leaves: cowslip, yarrow, knapweed, lady’s bedstraw, and many more. Birdsfoot trefoil has jumped the schedule and sprinkled tiny beaks of sunshine amidst the green.
Most days, it is abuzz. Bees, hoverflies and butterflies have begun to visit. Perhaps the hedgehogs waddle through too.
We are not there yet, because nature is never truly ‘there’ – it changes with the seasons and with age, playing to pioneers when young, supporting rarities when old. I will be watching as this little newborn meadow continues its journey.
A Walk with Wildlife 
Thank you Adele, for this mini view of what can be done to restore. When we planted a pollinator garden with native plants, we had to adapt to a bit of messy at first. Four years later, we are quite comfortable with it.
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Thank you Ros. Yes, it is different from the traditional neat and tidy look, but of course very rewarding. Glad that your garden is going well.
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It sounds like all that work is starting to pay off! It’ll be fun to see your garden take off!
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Thanks, it’s great seeing the wildlife start to move in!
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What an excellent project. Look forward to seeing it as it matures over time/
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Thanks Paul. Hope you’re well.
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I hope your neighbours won’t complain about the “weed” in your garden 😀
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Not an issue, but I wish people would tolerate a few ‘weeds’ on verges and quiet corners of golf courses etc. And learn there is a difference between real weeds like docks, and a display of wildflowers!
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Well done, Adele. A little oasis for wild things!
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There always seems to be something buzzing there now. A damselfly came down earlier 🙂
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Thanks for sharing your garden restoration. It will be lovely to see pictures of it as it matures. Cheers.
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Thanks Lynette. A lot of work but very glad to see nature responding!
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So much better than it was. You’ve done a good deed.
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Thanks Anneli. In some respects it was good that the area started in such a bad state. It’s harder to restore wildflowers in an area that’s dominated by grass.
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Good point!
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Well done!
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Thank you!
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In our little orchard nature has taken over and all the plants the former owner planted have gone. Bees and bumblebees and birds like it, we too.
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