Wild gardens are a fantastic way to utilise property

CREATING a wild garden in unused areas of property is a creative way of utilising unwanted space. Many people purchase land to build a house without ever factoring in what they will do with the excess land. These spaces are occasionally left to overgrow and can look unsightly and deflating, especially if you’ve invested a great deal of effort in making other parts of the property look attractive. But a simple wild garden could be just the answer for that unsightly wasteland.

Creating a wild garden is essentially a fancy name for working with rather than against the natural composition of your garden’s landscape. I say ‘landscape’ for all gardens are part of the wider landscape, but the implications for this are less so if you have a city or town garden. However, if you live in the countryside this will determine the kind of wild plants and shrubs favourable to your garden.

When creating a wild garden, sourcing wild flowers and plants already growing in nearby bogs, ditches and wasteland offer a clue as to what grows best. Simply transplant these varieties to your garden, keeping in mind not to trespass on someone’s property when sourcing plants. Of course you can also pre-prepare an area by raking the soil and sowing wild flower seeds with some fine sand. Another trick with wild and overgrown areas is to try and cut a centre pathway through the lawn. This will look amazing when flanked on either said by high stemmed flowers and shrubs. Wild Foxgloves are really attractive, as is ribwort, cow parsley, purple meadow thistle, buttercups, and ragged-robin.

A wild garden is also eco-friendly and will help to attract and sustain insects and other hidden wildlife in your garden. A wild garden not only looks good but also provides an excellent solution if you have some unwanted property.