The Background

In the Autumn of 2019, I was asked by my clients to re design their garden in Cowfold, with nature in mind.

They were very keen on having a garden that reflected their Eco house, that was renovated several years ago, with solar and air source heating, exceptional levels of insulation and a water management approach alleviating flooding as well as conserving water and supporting nature. Additionally, the project was designed to change the focus from the front to the back of the house in response to the road noise and to increase the internal light.

The front garden has a large pond, installed by the present owners, with the help of Pete ‘The Pond’ at the time of the house renovations. This forms part of the water management system as well as being a wildlife focus. It is now maturing nicely and attracting wildlife in the form of newts, dragon and damselflies and many other invertebrates and waterfowl.

The garden backs onto an area of ancient woodland, so the idea is to draw wildlife into the garden from there, although the clients have had problems with deer and rabbits eating their garden plants in the past and found it necessary to erect appropriate fencing around the garden perimeter. In the Spring, the surrounding area is a hot spot for nightingales, lesser whitethroats garden warblers and many other birds! 

The Brief

 My clients were very inspired by the Knepp Re-wilding Project, just a few miles West of Cowfold, where Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell have created a pioneering scheme that has allowed nature to take over their 3,500-acre farm.

However, this garden was somewhat smaller than Knepp, so the idea had to scaled down a little. Longhorn cattle and wild Tamworth pigs roaming freely were out of the question!

There was a field beyond the back garden that has been left to go a bit wild but was not owned by the clients. This and the woodland could be seen from the house and the patio, through the wire deer fence. The challenge was to disguise the fence, without losing the view to the countryside beyond and to attract as many birds, butterflies, bees, and insects into the garden as possible. In short, turn a green dessert into a wildlife haven.

Inspiration

 Apart from being inspired, in principle by the Knepp re-wilding project, I thought that it would be good to introduce some mixed borders of flowering herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses, a perennial meadow like the Prairie Planting that was popularised by Piet Oudolf and can been seen at the nearby Sussex Prairie gardens. This extends the flowering season, adds more interest throughout the seasons and provides a wider range of food plants for pollinating insects, such as the butterflies and bees.

The Plan

Once the garden had been surveyed, I began to draw up a plan of the garden.

This included areas of hazel coppice, extensive swathes of wildflower meadow areas and trees and shrubs that would attract birds and other wildlife all year round. The garden backs onto an area of ancient woodland, so the idea was to draw wildlife into the garden from there and the surrounding countryside.

 To the west of the property was an arable field, which has been intensively farmed over the years and has little wildlife value.

The soil was heavy clay and becomes quite waterlogged in the winter, so the planting had to be suitable for these conditions.

Preparation and Planting

The first bare-root plants arrived in the spring of 2020. There were 25 hazel trees, 25 Guelder rose bushes, 75 dogwoods and 25 common osier willows whips to plant. These would provide a backdrop to the wildflower meadow areas in the back garden and the dogwoods and willows form part of a screen to hide the traffic noise in the front garden. The osier willows are a useful plant as they absorb pollutants as well as providing a valuable screen, and they grown well on damp ground.

Two mature crab apple trees and a rowan were planted next, in the back garden, to provide a bit of height and the berries that they produce in the winter would be a valuable food source for Redwings, Fieldfares and thrushes, as well as being excellent for making crab apple and rowan jelly!

A hedge of prickly gorse was planted to screen the solar panels at the end of the garden, replacing the existing rhododendrons, which were moved to an azalea bed nearer the house. Gorse is a British native shrub that flowers virtually all year round and provides nesting cover for birds such as the long-tailed tit.

In the winter of 2021, preparation work began for the wildflower meadow areas and the prairie style borders. These areas were sprayed with weed killer, as recommended by a wildflower seed specialist, to kill off the existing tough grasses which compete vigorously with the more delicate wildflower species, especially in the early years of development.

Once the grass had died it was time to scarify the thatch out of the wildflower areas, prior to seeding and to lift the turf and rotovate the prairie borders.

The wildflower seed was sown in April and the borders were planted up.

Ongoing maintenance

In the first year after planting, it is particularly important to keep the herbaceous borders weeded and watered in dry weather. As time goes by, and the plants become well established, the borders should require little maintenance, other than cutting back in the Spring allowing insects to over winter.

The wildflower areas need to be cut back in late Summer and the trimmings removed and preferably composted. Removing the trimmings is important as if left to rot down in situ, they will release nutrients such as nitrogen, that will encourage the grasses and docks to grow at the expense of the wildflowers.

This has been an interesting and extremely exciting project for me, and I look forward to seeing it develop over the coming years and become a valuable wildlife haven.

Everyone with a garden or even a window box can help to encourage more wildlife and pollinators.

Small areas all add up to improve our environment and to protect it for future generations.