Advice about rewilding a couple of areas of garden

To me they are too small for any worthwhile 'wild areas'. Would you not just clear the grass and moss and plant a small copse of moisture living trees?

There were 2 large trees whose roots damaged drainage pipes and necessitated their removal, 

These replies came while I was typing my last answer. Any trees that will be happy in damp soil will tend to have invasive roots, especially alder and willow. Is there drainage in that part of the garden? Going on the next field it does seem that the land is generally damp and there does not appear to be much natural diversity in the wild area beyond the fence. That is really all you would get if you left it to itself, basically rushes. On the other hand wild flowers are only going to grow if the area suits them so you would have to do a bit of research -http://www.wildflowers.ie/mixes/mm/mm06.htm might help.

It looks as though the land could be limey, which might not suit wild flowers, it certainly won't be a matter of just throwing down some seeds and producing a meadow.

Its a bit 'left field' as a suggestion, but a couple of hawthorns just in the grass, like the odd fairy trees that are left in cultivated land, might work. In that case you could put in a bit of extra soil to lift the areas.

Thinking of doing similar at home. Have half the garden dug up right now for extension and drainage works anyhow. So great time to do it.

its an area probably about 90sqm on a bit of high ground as there’s percolation area beneath and some high trees overlooking the space.

Where is the best place to source seeds or as you say just let it grow ?

Having dug a lot of areas recently it is ‘sandy’ below surface. I am low lying and have areas that remain moist or even damp/soggy. Some but not all.

However the area in question is raised as there is a percolation beneath so a lot of stone about 6 inches below surface to percolate septic tank and 4 inches of topsoil and grass above that.

That's a nice idea, though sourcing and moving big enough boulders could be a very expensive job. It doesn't look like an area with much in the way of natural erratics (boulders left from ancient glacial activity). Local quarries would only have cut-looking or jagged rocks.

@NIMAN these maps might help https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/soil--soil-fertility/county-soil-maps/ or get a soil testing kit from a garden centre. That is provided the land has not had a lot of brought in soil put on it.

I like the idea of just planting a couple of hawthorn as it is cheap to do, they don' get very big and should provide a good resource for wildlife as the trees mature. Another option to consider if you are interested in rewilding the natural dip area that stays damp most of the year could be a small pond as this is one of the best ways to make a garden more nature friendly. Did this a few years back with just a shovel and a liner I ordered online and it has been great to see the different types of wildlife use the area now with birds drinking, dragonflies and even some tadpoles this year. I made mine only about a metre deep at its deepest point so even someone not very tall could stand up on the bottom if they got into the pond by accident.

Happy gardening!

This thread is a bit mad.

Just stop cultivating the area and let it go wild. There is no effort required.

The conventional advice about growing "wildflower meadows" or whatever (like reducing soil fertility with yellow rattle) isn't really re-wilding, it's a different type of cultivation.

I've a couple of areas in my garden that I've just ignored for a couple of years and there's a real variety of flowering things that come and go with the seasons. It helps that I've dumped a few logs there (for lack of anywhere else to put them).

I'd agree with this - just throw down a few logs, let it grow wild and see what pops up

Brambles, reed and nettles most likely. Re-Wilding to wild flowers etc is not as simple as it sounds.