Скачать или смотреть Find Local Native Trees & Shrubs - How to Rewild

After giving a talk on rewilding recently, I was approached by a garden designer in the audience. "You talked about planting suitable native species, but is there somewhere I can find information about native species to plant?".

Well, there are places which provide this type of general information - The Woodland Trust in particular, has a great guide called 'Twigged' and Wikipedia is a legitimately useful tool for plant information - but I find that the best place to find trees and shrubs which are suitable for YOUR area is by looking for a really diverse hedgerow like this one. There are probably a few near your patch (also check in local nature reserves and on SSSIs), and they'll be a testbed for the types of species which will thrive on your land.

Have a problem with deer? Then you probably won't have a huge amount of Hazel in your hedges - they'll tend towards thornier species and those with tall trunks which grow up through the protection of the thickets.

If you've got a waterlogged soil, then you'll likely see more Alder, Willow and Downy Birch springing up. In contrast, drier places will get more Gorse and perhaps some Scots Pine. There are many other factors to consider, from soil acidity to soil type, sun and wind exposure and hardiness zone, but that's why a hyper-local hedge is best!

You can probably find a decent enough Plant ID app on your phone (Google Lens is great and built into the camera on many Android devices), which will help you recognise what you're looking at. Bear in mind that you'll see introduced and invasive species in there, too, so it's worth doing a little bit of reading, to check that you're working with native species.

Remember that, even if it's growing wild in a hedge, it may be perfectly happy as a tree (e.g. Holly, Hornbeam, Hawthorn), so feel free to give the plants some room. And collecting local seed is a great way of retaining the genetic diversity and 'ecotype' which has evolved to your specific environmental conditions.

Good luck, and happy hedge hunting!

#gardendesign #treeplanting #landscapearchitecture #landscapedesign #rewilding #ecology