Suburban rewilding

If you’re living someplace with an outdoor area, I encourage you to try this simple and rewarding experiment with me.

Choose a section of the yard that is already degraded if you like—or just a surplus section of lawn. Remove all man-made materials and structures, and then…do absolutely nothing.

Just completely let go control of that patch.

Stop mowing. Stop weeding. But observe. Watch and see what happens.

The area I chose was more or less a blank canvas. One large tree had fallen in a storm, crushing another, and a further tree was also removed, since it posed a danger to the house. The large trees were a kind of pine that suppressed anything growing beneath them, so there was no grass in the area.

Despite being a renter, I targeted the area to plant a food forest. In preparation for this, I put in a couple of small acacia seedlings (wattle trees), which grow quickly but have a relatively short lifespan, add nitrogen to the soil, and can act as ‘nursery’ plants while others establish around them.

Then, having trouble finding the other trees I wanted to plant, and noticing some beautiful native grasses were starting to establish themselves, I left the area to itself.

The increasing biodiversity is astonishing. Every day I notice some interesting new useful weed or native that has joined the plot. And along with the plant biodiversity, I’ve seen an upturn in insect diversity. I’ve noticed rare butterflies and dragonflies that according to science aren’t even supposed to be here. And so many other cute critters I’ve never met before. It’s a total joy– and couldn’t we all use a little more of that?

Why not try a rewilding zone yourself? You’ve got nothing to lose except time spent on yardwork, and everything to gain in terms of wonder. I’d love to hear all about your results!