Frequently asked questions

There is plenty we can do to make your garden a more inviting and diverse place, while working with what's already there. A blank canvas is actually quite a rare gift.

Absolutely — nature loves a micro-haven. If your space is truly tiny, you might benefit more from a one-to-one ideas session than a full redesign package. Get in touch and we'll steer you in the right direction.

Yes. We can help you to put together a plan for your land, balancing the human needs with the land's. We can work in stages to help you maximise the ecosystem layers within the land, and to guide it over time.

We usually suggest a once-a-year general tidy in the autumn to prepare a wildlife pond to over-winter. We can do this for you, or walk you through it. It is no more than you would do in a typical garden, and involves things like removing excess overhanging foliage to keep the pond in balance and securing any pumps and pipes against winter frost. The water will move towards a naturally balanced ecosystem over time, so there's no need to manually filter it, clean the pond or empty it.

A natural swimming pond is much less maintenance than a traditional swimming pool, but it does require a little ongoing love in the form of tending the plants occasionally and making sure any circulating pumps are working effectively. It does not require specific cleaning, chemicals, or emptying out.

Once the pond is planned and marked out, we can typically complete a medium pond build in three to six days.

Yes. Winter is a great time for planning and for installing larger structures while wildlife is sleeping. Get in touch to find out what we can do for you depending on the season.

No. In fact, to create a truly layered, diverse habitat on the scale of a garden, human intervention is actually needed. There are ecological jobs that would traditionally be done by large mammals roaming the land — grazing a wildflower meadow, for example. We have to take on those ecological gaps, which might mean mowing the meadow down to a height you enjoy, or cutting in paths and shapes.

There is space for human and nature in a garden, although really the two are not distinct. What we have to let go of is the idea we've been sold that beauty in a garden only exists in a very manicured, neat form. We can walk in a woodland and see only beauty, then step into a garden and view the exact same thing as a moral failing. Breaking up from this viewpoint can be hard at first, but you can go as gently or as wild and free as you like.

Absolutely. Our vision is an endless, interconnected series of sanctuaries, and as such we offer special services for neighbourhoods. If we've worked on a garden in your area, we can usually arrange discounts for further work completed in the same area. We also offer DIY guides to pass on to neighbouring gardens, and group or community planning advice.

We have printable introductory guides that you can hand out or slip through the door for any neighbouring gardens, explaining that a wildlife sanctuary has been created nearby and inviting them to join in. The guide includes inexpensive and free DIY ways they can integrate their garden. Alternatively, we're always happy to be contacted by a neighbour if they have any questions.