Rewilding isn’t about what you add. It’s also what you stop taking away.

A rewilded yard is not just removing your lawn in as many places as possible and waiting for something else to grow. A rewilded yard isn’t just about adding a bunch of flowers once the lawn is gone, it is so much more than that. It isn’t just about the creatures that live in this rewilded space, it’s about the habitat you create for them. It is equally important to stop taking things away from the space for those creatures that are now inhabitants. (Or the birds that only stop on by for a quick moment on their migration).

Rewild with Purpose

This rewilded space filled with native plants and shrubs helped me rethink…not just WHAT the space is for—but WHO it’s for. In this garden that is in constant motion I began to see differently. Not just as something to control, but as a place where wildlife could return.

A rewilded garden becomes a dynamic landscape that mimics natural patterns. As the days start to shorten in fall, I find that amid its occasional silence there is plenty going on under the soil. As the leaves coast to ground and rest up on each other they are actually piecing together the tapestry of next year’s insects and beetles. (Those fireflies and butterflies that we all love so much, yet we question their disappearance.)

Our rewilded spaces should mimic what nature has done all along

There are a host of things happening that I can’t even see. Those firefly larvae are quietly stationary under all that leaf litter. The cicadas that wait their turn. The species of moths and butterflies that wait patiently all winter for their cue to emerge from their winter hiding spots. (There are still others that migrate back to the space.) The birds that are eating the seeds off the tops of the flowers that once bloomed all summer. September and the rest of the “ber” months become a bird buffet atop the seed heads of the plants. Because of this, pruning shears stay stashed until spring. Those stems not only provide a life life of food and shelter, but for the gardener, also an element of winter interest.

I added a bunch of plants and shrubs when I rewilded my suburban yard. However, what is just as important are the things I leave alone. They have a quiet purpose in what they do. In a tidy yard, the leaves are bagged, blown, chopped, or considered “messy”. If you take a long walk through the woods, do you think the area is a mess?

If the forest floor does not tidy up and bag all the leaves this autumn, why would I?

Rewilding is a process. And it means understanding that a tidy yard is affecting not just its current appearance, but what life returns next season, and the seasons that follow. If you wonder where all the fireflies have gone next year…I know where they are.