A few years ago I pulled out all the grass in my backyard and planted drought tolerant ground cover and laid down mulch. This year I am going to add to my backyard to help out the local species that are struggling under climate change. How I plan on doing that is to rewild my hillsides to offer animals and insects an extension of their wild environment in my yard.
What is rewilding? Rewilding.org states that: The ultimate goal of rewilding efforts is to mitigate the species extinction crisis and restore healthy and sustainable ecosystem function in areas that require little or no human intervention or management.
When I hike I note the plants that are pollinators and are hearty for my climate region. I am NOT going into a nursery and assuming their section of native plants is true, because as I hike extensively, I would disagree with the plants that are offered as local and native species. This requires a bit of research to rewild your yard. It does not require a person to go out hiking to identify what works, so if you are unable to, focus on more research for your climate zone. I would suggest looking at the pictures and information of your nearest preserve and identifying the plants that are hearty from that preserve you think will help promote the healthiest assistance to your local ecosystem.
To look up what zone you live in, check out the USDA Hardiness Zone Map.
One important aspect of rewilding, is to reduce your pruning of shrubs and trees and removal of weeds from your yard. Keep it messy because the birds, bees, and other animals benefit significantly from a yard that is untouched. Leave the leafs. Let the dandelions grow. Weeds and leafs are tremendously important to insects and animals, but we are often pushed to remove them from our yards as they are considered unsightly. Leave them and let the wild grow through.
NEVER USE HERBICIDES, INSECTICIDES, PESTICIDES, or RODENTICIDES in your yard. Even if you are unable to rewild your yard, this is a huge assist to the environment and something each of us can do.
What we need in the US is a change of policy for HOA’s who come after homeowners for weeds and pruning. We also need builders and developers to include rewilding practices. When I bought my home, the builder did a decent job incorporating drought tolerant plants, but we need plants from our local ecosystems to bolster animals and insects access to these plants.
I have identified a beautiful shrub that I’m going to be planting in the next few weeks, along with some other gorgeous pollinators that I know thrive in my area.
Even if it is a few plants, start small and see what you can add to your yard to help support the ecosystem you live in.
Let it grow. Let it be wild. Let nature take its course with a bit of your help.