Here, on this little nature blog, we've looked at ways in which one can create spaces in their garden for nature before. It isn't a new topic, and it is one I may return to again. Garden space in the UK covers more land than all of our nature reserves combined, so if each of us set aside just a portion of our gardens for the benefit of nature and wildlife it would make a real difference.
In this post, we will be looking specifically at some of the ways in which one can acquire the materials for creating spaces in their gardens for free!
1. Facebook, Freegle, Freecycle . . .
I know that Facebook is a tad problematic for some, and with good reason, but it is the social media platform on which, in my experience, it is easiest to reach local people. And I have discovered a number of pages on the platform dedicated to either selling items cheaply or items that people are prepared to give away for free. In a world where people are trying to be more conscious of the impact they have, people are quite happy to give away items they have no use for themselves, rather than throwing them away.
Freecycle is a nonprofit organisation whose purpose is to divert reusable items from landfills by encouraging people to pass on or "gift" items that are still useable to others. You should also see Freegle, which works in a very similar way. If you sign up to the site, you can then leave a post to either state that you are looking for something or that you have something you are willing to give away. If you need a bird box, put a post up and wait. You never know, somebody might have one that has just been sitting in their shed for a while. If you want to create a space for insects, a "bug hotel", you may need materials such as logs, pots, or bricks; items that some people have sitting around, materials surplus to jobs they've had done, and would be more than happy for someone to come and take away for them!
Link to Freegle - https://www.ilovefreegle.org/browse
Link to Freecycle - https://www.freecycle.org/
2. Flytippers and litterbugs!
I love to go out walking but I hate, hate, hate the litter and piles of rubbish I find along some of the routes I take!
However, perhaps there is something in those piles of rubbish that might be useful to the gardener wanting to create a space for nature . . . Hmm . . .
Okay, so sifting through another persons rubbish might not sound appealing but, as mentioned above, sometimes, when you want to create a space for nature, all you need is materials such as brick, wood, or pots. Now, unfortunately, some people, rather than disposing of items properly, or signing up to sites like Freecycle, will dump their surplus materials on the side of a road or country lane. I hate it, as I said, but before reporting it to the local council, are there materials there that might be useful to you, and can you transport them safely?
I wouldn't encourage you to just grab hold of anything you have found if there's any doubt in your mind about hygiene and safety (certainly don't go digging into piles of rubbish with your bare hands!), but if you stumble across some planks of wood or something similar and it would make an ideal addition to your bug hotel, for example, why not?
You'll be taking care of two problems at once essentially - removing rubbish and creating space for nature in your garden!
3. Leaving things be
One of the easiest ways to create space for free is to do nothing, or a little less of something.
For example, leaving the lawn mower in the shed or mowing less of your lawn, letting grass and flowers grow instead. After all, nothing knows how to create space for nature better than nature itself - it did just fine before we came along, and I imagine it'll do much better once we're gone!
If you've fruit bearing trees, let the windfall stay where it is - moths, butterflies, birds, squirrels, foxes . . . plenty of wildlife will enjoy the meal. Allow things to be a little untidy.
Of course, to enjoy our gardens, there will be a need to create some tidy areas (for playing sports, space to just sit and enjoy the garden, etc.), but people are starting to ask the questions, "Is there really much beauty in the dead monoculture that is a perfectly manicured lawn? Or, can at least some of that space be given to our wildlife that is in need? Isn't a garden full of life better for everyone?"
Doing nothing, or a little less, is sometimes the best thing that you can do. And, it's free!
4. Jars, candle holders, pots, pans, broken barrows . . .
Okay, so this one isn't technically one hundred per cent free, since you probably paid for these items when you desired or needed them for their original purpose, unless they were a gift. But, once the jars have been emptied of jam, or the kitchen pans have been replaced, why not reuse those items? Give them a new life and help nature out?
You don't need a garden to help nature, and if you have a balcony, why not take some of those emptied jars or candle holders, clean them out, and use them to grow some wildflowers? Fill the jars with some peat-free multi-purpose compost, pop in a couple of seeds (depending on the size of your container), and you've created a home for flowers and a space for nature.
This practice of recycling can be very useful for the gardener that is conscious of nature and wildlife. A broken wheelbarrow can make a pretty good trough for a mini meadow, or maybe even a miniature pond (just remember to allow for the fact that little creatures will need a means of getting in and out of water).
Before you throw away some of the items that have outworn their original uses, get creative and ask yourself if those shelves, the empty jars, or that broken wheelbarrow can be repurposed.
If you have any ideas yourself, or if you have put into practice any of the above suggestions, I would love to hear about them in the comments. You could spark someone's imagination!
Thank you for reading - if you enjoyed this piece, you can buy me a coffee on ko-fi.com. The caffeine keeps me searching for materials and pottering around in the garden, before coming back here to write al about it! Thank you!
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