A few of the Wheatley Horticultural Society members have watched the “Turn that Patch into a Plan” webinar this winter and highly recommend it. This is a hands-on session put on by Wild Ones featuring a workshop from Heather and Zoe Evans. This mother-daughter duo both specialize in “rewilding” yards, with a focus on creating spaces that people and wildlife want to spend time in.
You can check out the video here: https://wildones.org/turn-that-patch-into-a-plan/
Because it is a hands on workshop, we do recommend sketching out a few aerial views of your yard. Heather and Zoe will walk you through drawing some concepts on them to quickly create a loose sketch of areas of your yard to focus on. Here are some notes on the concepts that you’ll be encouraged to think about:
Pathways
With the understanding that most of the yard should be a native planting, paths are an important way to get around the yard. You want your paths to draw you into your garden, be easy to navigate and ideally provide a full loop around your yard so it is easy to get out and spend time exploring. In the workshop, you’ll sketch these paths onto the aerial view of your yard. The paths should be 3- 6 feet wide and feel like they flow naturally while still directing traffic and highlighting different views in the garden. After spending time thinking through your plan, Heather and Zoe recommend putting flags along the path and then walking and mowing these areas as paths before committing with other materials.
Destinations
Destinations in the garden were the next concept that was covered in the workshop. A destination could be as simple as a bench along the pathway, but they could also add functions like play areas or edible gardens to the yard. With seating, Heather and Zoe suggested making sure that there are options in both sun and shade so that the yard is welcoming in different weather conditions. Make sure to think about the functions of areas when locating them – ie dining areas are best near the kitchen door. In the workshop, you will plot these areas near the pathways plotted in the first step. These areas may remain as lawn or another surface, and provide definition and space for the inhabitants of the house, while bringing the yard closer to “2/3s for the birds”. Creating these spaces first makes sure that they don’t end up as odd shapes to accommodate plantings. A spot for a cutting garden or dahlia collection is an example of a destination.
Views & Regulating Lines
The final sketching exercise in the workshop encouraged us to think about how the home interacts with the landscape. Regulating lines are continuations of the lines of the house and other buildings and create suggestions for shapes in the yard. Windows could also provide these lines, but are also important to think about as how the yard interacts with you while you’re in the home. Ensuring welcoming views of the yard from where you most commonly look draws you to spend more time outside. Like at other stages in the plan, Heather and Zoe encourage you to test out your ideas with furniture and elements you already have, and then spend time walking through the yard from many directions to create slight adjustments.
A bird feeder area outside of an office window is a few that one member who watched the workshop is thinking about adding.
The sketch below is a rough drawing made during the workshop by a Wheatley Horticultural Society member. It isn’t pretty, but it has given the member lots to think about as we head into gardening season!
