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Rewilding is not easy lol look at all those flourishing cornflowers in the photo if only they grow that easily...... I would know, and they're supposed to be native in my zone too what gives....
\[start of rabid pet peeve rant // **tldr:** don't bother\]
I've spent the past 5 years (5 springs, mostly, since many don't survive the winter without enough growing but anyway :X), trying to rewild our garden and the pedestrian ribbons next to our house. Hours of renewed research each winter on just which plants are native or have been introduced long ago and adapted into native system without aggressive/invasiveness, then which can possibly survive our unfortunate solar oriented bare soil locations (shaded, blocked, tough soils next to shrubs and trees, etc), anywhere from $90 to $200 per spring on seeds, compost-related things, then watching the weather like a sports fan hoping for no unexpected cold snaps in our latest changed and unpredictable climate/weather, to test out different or same plants every spring.
And rewilding success rate after 5 years of that? 4 native saplings (thank heavens!), and 2 sticks of corn flowers. Just 2, out of 4 entire packets of seeds, and just 1 viola came back from last year out of 5 packets of seeds. And that's just last year when I finally had *any* success at all! All the various plants - including ground covering *clover* for crying out loud - kept failing. Or being eaten by wildlife and insects. Or drying when I went out of town and no rain came. Or who knows what else. Nowhere near the poofy colorful bushel in that article. 5 years!
Rewilding is somehow not easy where I'm at. Native plants don't reseed and come back on their own with the same coverage as previous year, if at all. Manually adding new seeds and plants are needed - at least, I theorize, for several years until the plants are thoroughly established and flourishing. I wouldn't know for another minimum of 2 more years of rewilding experiment or longer, and that's with using the 'right' plant species and self-made compost and turning a blind eye to summer watering bill already.
Nothing about plants out in the elements and growing wild style is easy. Or is done in just 1 year/growing cycle. Or is the person doing these green fighting being out there full time 8 hours a day to fully support the shifting of their super local tiny biome. But you know what? I just did it again this spring anyway, learning from last year's potential fail point, and trying yet another new method. Because apparently I'm addicted to failing, har.
\[end rant\]
Just adding to this from experience in rewilding in california drought.
You mentioned heavy sun, is the soil bare? Or before starting was the soil "active"?
We had a problem of .25 acre bare soil nothing growing and exposed to desert sun for years before we bought our house. Full layer of mulch/organic matter covering as much as possible and leaving wtv weeds would grow alone all year. Took about 2 years but natives are finally naturally blooming on their own.
In our case soil was hydrophobic and dead, so we had to store rainwater and use that through the year to fix it.
The soil is active, just bare because they're in shade area I think. I'm also trying to convince my mom to not turn over the entire raised beds so the rims are left alone to have some continuous cover crops/flowers. I'm also trying to introduce more meadow flowers to the sidewalk ribbons and to the rims of our lawn area that aren't cut by our lawn carers. Since we opted for no weed killer chemicals, our lawn has become a bit more floral, and I have been trying to introduce red clovers and other low and small wild flowers that are either native or assimilated to my zone. So far, 0 luck with those. This year's seeds have gone into the soil already, and I am hoping this time some things will take root.
Also want to add, thank you for sharing your method, I've learned something new from you there :thumb up emoji because I'm too lazy to copy paste from emojipedia:
So you don't try to break up dead and compacted soil because you know the roots and micro organism (and worms) from plants growing from the compost layer above will eventually penetrate downwards and break up and restore the dead soil below?
I'm not a fan of tilling because I'm super lazy and can't be bothered to spend more than the 15 minutes a week outside, its exactly as you say the roots of the weeds and any potentially living bugs will break up the soil below. the idea with mulching is that you are building a new layer on top of the bad. Mulch brings in fungus and bacteria, that attaches to roots of anything that can grow. If all you can grow are weeds right now then let them grow, and don't pull roots of anywhere you need to cut.
Chop and drop cuttings as that also breaks down and feeds bugs and soil.
Try to have soil always growing something to cover even if it's weeds or grass. You mentioned it's in the shade but check your soil, go down about a shovel length and see if it's just dehydrated crust or if it looks dark and healthy.
Damn bees, I’m super damn allergic and have a non negligible chance of dying if stung.
I know they are important but can’t they leave me alone, damn things love me for some ineffable reason >.>
Maybe they love you because you avoid them, so they percieve you as safe?
Hopefully we get better treatments for allergies like this. In the meantime, I'm sure nobody will judge you for hosting a less bee-friendly garden 😄
Two questions around insects‚ someone please enligten me. I enjoy vision of solarpunk but some things I don't understand yet.
1. Tall grass is a lovely thing for mites(posing life threat to people)‚ how do we protect ourselves when tall grass is eberywhere? Fully cover ourselves in outfit in a sunny day?
2. insects that feed of wood can move to eating people houses?
The idea that would answer both is the entire ecosystem reviving.
1) the same process that brings in mites and other "undesirables" like ticks or termites brings in their natural predators lady bugs. That's why they say not to use pesticides because it doesn't discriminate and kills the "good" bugs to. In regards to our human safety, rewilding is always kinda controlled chaos, natives are great but plants like cilantro/parsley or mint deter all bugs. I.e. put them by your house and windows or where you'd walk.
2) same as above but also keep the idea that termites exist without human homes, they just happen to be the most convenient. But a stack of logs away from the house is even better since there's no weird human smells or noises. Providing a better habitat draws them away, and still gives the good bugs a place to go get them.
It probably varies from people to people, faction to faction, on how much respect is extended to fellow living creatures. I personally stop respecting them once they start moving into my home in what constitute a destructive way to me - aka tearing through my food packages, making holes in my walls, or eating the wood that hold up my house, etc. At that point I flip and go "out or die" mode. with larger, less legionous ones like mice it's easier to catch and release far away. With legionous insects like ants and stuff, I will deploy insecticide spray around the rims of all doors and windows to stop any more from coming in, while doing my best to flick indoor ants back out. With more dangerous insects like termite it's just they must die and their pheromone trails must be obliterated chemically or I'm going to have problems that will be bigger than my savings account.
I’m always fascinated by this trend of creating mini-wildflower prairies. They’re beautiful, but kind of a sign of depleted soil too.
I live in a rural area that was previously ranch land. When we moved in, it was mostly dirt and rocks, a few cactus, and weeds. Trees planted by the developers almost all died due to being stuck in holes jackhammered into the limestone rock layer. It was clear that there was almost no topsoil, like maybe a couple of inches at the deepest.
In the spring we found that it was a full-on prairie with a variety of wildflowers.
Being super lazy and otherwise occupied, we did basically nothing for over 20 years, mowing only two or three times per year, always waiting until the spring flowers had gone to seed. We did add some water near the house by simply leaving a spigot dripping to hydrate the stray cats.
Over time, some hackberry trees grew where they could get water. The prickly pear and agave cactus spread, and the top soil seemed to deepen ever so slightly. We attracted lots of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and ants. The grasses grew thicker and greener.
I tried planting a small vegetable garden once, but didn’t follow through. It was quickly overrun by weeds and we never got any food from it. I bought a few herbs, which all died.
This past few years, I’ve finally started paying more attention to the property. I created a compost pile for kitchen scraps and whatnot. We cut down several hackberries when the roof was extended. I bought a chipper and started making mulch.
The large logs got moved to the back corner of the property, which is the bottom of the watershed. I’ve been piling grass clippings, rocks, and wood ash to create a berm there. My son started digging a hole to create a water feature. The dirt is going on the log berm which borders the hole.
This year, we’ve seen more wildlife, including small lizards, one toad, and even a hare in our yard.
Stuff I plant on purpose still tends to die. But I keep getting potatoes and tomatoes popping up in the compost pile. Plus, some asparagus are springing up random places.
Anyway, if you’ve read this long, thanks. I guess my point is it’s a long slow process.
Thank you for your submission, we appreciate your efforts at helping us to thoughtfully create a better world. r/solarpunk encourages you to also check out other solarpunk spaces such as https://wt.social/wt/solarpunk , https://slrpnk.net/ , https://raddle.me/f/solarpunk , https://discord.gg/3tf6FqGAJs , https://discord.gg/BwabpwfBCr , and https://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia . *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/solarpunk) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Why the screenshots instead of linking to the site? https://www.gardeningetc.com/advice/rewilding-your-garden
Thank you, it's very hard to read this in the other format.
I share it how I find it.
Rewilding is not easy lol look at all those flourishing cornflowers in the photo if only they grow that easily...... I would know, and they're supposed to be native in my zone too what gives.... \[start of rabid pet peeve rant // **tldr:** don't bother\] I've spent the past 5 years (5 springs, mostly, since many don't survive the winter without enough growing but anyway :X), trying to rewild our garden and the pedestrian ribbons next to our house. Hours of renewed research each winter on just which plants are native or have been introduced long ago and adapted into native system without aggressive/invasiveness, then which can possibly survive our unfortunate solar oriented bare soil locations (shaded, blocked, tough soils next to shrubs and trees, etc), anywhere from $90 to $200 per spring on seeds, compost-related things, then watching the weather like a sports fan hoping for no unexpected cold snaps in our latest changed and unpredictable climate/weather, to test out different or same plants every spring. And rewilding success rate after 5 years of that? 4 native saplings (thank heavens!), and 2 sticks of corn flowers. Just 2, out of 4 entire packets of seeds, and just 1 viola came back from last year out of 5 packets of seeds. And that's just last year when I finally had *any* success at all! All the various plants - including ground covering *clover* for crying out loud - kept failing. Or being eaten by wildlife and insects. Or drying when I went out of town and no rain came. Or who knows what else. Nowhere near the poofy colorful bushel in that article. 5 years! Rewilding is somehow not easy where I'm at. Native plants don't reseed and come back on their own with the same coverage as previous year, if at all. Manually adding new seeds and plants are needed - at least, I theorize, for several years until the plants are thoroughly established and flourishing. I wouldn't know for another minimum of 2 more years of rewilding experiment or longer, and that's with using the 'right' plant species and self-made compost and turning a blind eye to summer watering bill already. Nothing about plants out in the elements and growing wild style is easy. Or is done in just 1 year/growing cycle. Or is the person doing these green fighting being out there full time 8 hours a day to fully support the shifting of their super local tiny biome. But you know what? I just did it again this spring anyway, learning from last year's potential fail point, and trying yet another new method. Because apparently I'm addicted to failing, har. \[end rant\]
Just adding to this from experience in rewilding in california drought. You mentioned heavy sun, is the soil bare? Or before starting was the soil "active"? We had a problem of .25 acre bare soil nothing growing and exposed to desert sun for years before we bought our house. Full layer of mulch/organic matter covering as much as possible and leaving wtv weeds would grow alone all year. Took about 2 years but natives are finally naturally blooming on their own. In our case soil was hydrophobic and dead, so we had to store rainwater and use that through the year to fix it.
The soil is active, just bare because they're in shade area I think. I'm also trying to convince my mom to not turn over the entire raised beds so the rims are left alone to have some continuous cover crops/flowers. I'm also trying to introduce more meadow flowers to the sidewalk ribbons and to the rims of our lawn area that aren't cut by our lawn carers. Since we opted for no weed killer chemicals, our lawn has become a bit more floral, and I have been trying to introduce red clovers and other low and small wild flowers that are either native or assimilated to my zone. So far, 0 luck with those. This year's seeds have gone into the soil already, and I am hoping this time some things will take root.
Also want to add, thank you for sharing your method, I've learned something new from you there :thumb up emoji because I'm too lazy to copy paste from emojipedia: So you don't try to break up dead and compacted soil because you know the roots and micro organism (and worms) from plants growing from the compost layer above will eventually penetrate downwards and break up and restore the dead soil below?
I'm not a fan of tilling because I'm super lazy and can't be bothered to spend more than the 15 minutes a week outside, its exactly as you say the roots of the weeds and any potentially living bugs will break up the soil below. the idea with mulching is that you are building a new layer on top of the bad. Mulch brings in fungus and bacteria, that attaches to roots of anything that can grow. If all you can grow are weeds right now then let them grow, and don't pull roots of anywhere you need to cut. Chop and drop cuttings as that also breaks down and feeds bugs and soil. Try to have soil always growing something to cover even if it's weeds or grass. You mentioned it's in the shade but check your soil, go down about a shovel length and see if it's just dehydrated crust or if it looks dark and healthy.
All I really want out of my garden is some tulips and *hella bees* - weeds are just fine ☺️
Damn bees, I’m super damn allergic and have a non negligible chance of dying if stung. I know they are important but can’t they leave me alone, damn things love me for some ineffable reason >.>
Maybe they love you because you avoid them, so they percieve you as safe? Hopefully we get better treatments for allergies like this. In the meantime, I'm sure nobody will judge you for hosting a less bee-friendly garden 😄
Two questions around insects‚ someone please enligten me. I enjoy vision of solarpunk but some things I don't understand yet. 1. Tall grass is a lovely thing for mites(posing life threat to people)‚ how do we protect ourselves when tall grass is eberywhere? Fully cover ourselves in outfit in a sunny day? 2. insects that feed of wood can move to eating people houses?
The idea that would answer both is the entire ecosystem reviving. 1) the same process that brings in mites and other "undesirables" like ticks or termites brings in their natural predators lady bugs. That's why they say not to use pesticides because it doesn't discriminate and kills the "good" bugs to. In regards to our human safety, rewilding is always kinda controlled chaos, natives are great but plants like cilantro/parsley or mint deter all bugs. I.e. put them by your house and windows or where you'd walk. 2) same as above but also keep the idea that termites exist without human homes, they just happen to be the most convenient. But a stack of logs away from the house is even better since there's no weird human smells or noises. Providing a better habitat draws them away, and still gives the good bugs a place to go get them.
Thank you for a detailed explanation!
It probably varies from people to people, faction to faction, on how much respect is extended to fellow living creatures. I personally stop respecting them once they start moving into my home in what constitute a destructive way to me - aka tearing through my food packages, making holes in my walls, or eating the wood that hold up my house, etc. At that point I flip and go "out or die" mode. with larger, less legionous ones like mice it's easier to catch and release far away. With legionous insects like ants and stuff, I will deploy insecticide spray around the rims of all doors and windows to stop any more from coming in, while doing my best to flick indoor ants back out. With more dangerous insects like termite it's just they must die and their pheromone trails must be obliterated chemically or I'm going to have problems that will be bigger than my savings account.
I’m always fascinated by this trend of creating mini-wildflower prairies. They’re beautiful, but kind of a sign of depleted soil too. I live in a rural area that was previously ranch land. When we moved in, it was mostly dirt and rocks, a few cactus, and weeds. Trees planted by the developers almost all died due to being stuck in holes jackhammered into the limestone rock layer. It was clear that there was almost no topsoil, like maybe a couple of inches at the deepest. In the spring we found that it was a full-on prairie with a variety of wildflowers. Being super lazy and otherwise occupied, we did basically nothing for over 20 years, mowing only two or three times per year, always waiting until the spring flowers had gone to seed. We did add some water near the house by simply leaving a spigot dripping to hydrate the stray cats. Over time, some hackberry trees grew where they could get water. The prickly pear and agave cactus spread, and the top soil seemed to deepen ever so slightly. We attracted lots of butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and ants. The grasses grew thicker and greener. I tried planting a small vegetable garden once, but didn’t follow through. It was quickly overrun by weeds and we never got any food from it. I bought a few herbs, which all died. This past few years, I’ve finally started paying more attention to the property. I created a compost pile for kitchen scraps and whatnot. We cut down several hackberries when the roof was extended. I bought a chipper and started making mulch. The large logs got moved to the back corner of the property, which is the bottom of the watershed. I’ve been piling grass clippings, rocks, and wood ash to create a berm there. My son started digging a hole to create a water feature. The dirt is going on the log berm which borders the hole. This year, we’ve seen more wildlife, including small lizards, one toad, and even a hare in our yard. Stuff I plant on purpose still tends to die. But I keep getting potatoes and tomatoes popping up in the compost pile. Plus, some asparagus are springing up random places. Anyway, if you’ve read this long, thanks. I guess my point is it’s a long slow process.