When it comes to rewilding, Irish people must “embrace a bit of scruffiness”, according to gardening expert Brian Burke.
As part of Newstalk Goes Green with SSE Airtricity, The Anton Savage Show spoke to the Super Garden judge about how to develop a green thumb and a green mind.
He said it’s important to remember that rewilding is not “a bad excuse for gardening”.
“We have to embrace a bit of scruffiness,” he said. “We're in the middle of a biodiversity crisis, we’re in the middle of an ecological crisis.
“We all know, the dogs in street know that the simplest way to restore the balance is to let nature reassert itself.”
Mr Burke also said it’s important to know exactly what rewilding means.
“We should make a distinction between rewilding and planting for pollination,” he said.
“The strict definition of rewilding is standing back and letting nature do its thing.”
He noted a man named Eoghan Daltun who bought 70 acres of land in west Cork to develop a “native Irish Atlantic rainforest”.
“He just stood back and watched it redevelopment into a temperate Atlantic rainforest,” he said. “That is what the landscape in Ireland would revert to if we all just stepped off the island for 100 years.”
Rewilding in urban areas
If people aren’t willing to fully let nature take its course, they can get involved in “regenerative ecology”, particularly in urban areas.
“we’re talking about nudging nature in the right direction,” Mr Burke said.
“We can introduce native pollinating plants... into smaller settings.
“Any native plants that have co-evolved with native indigenous animals... there’s a symbiosis there.
“If we plant native species, our native animal kingdom knows what to.”
Mr Burke said native Irish plants that you can put in your garden while helping the environment include wild thyme, red and white clover, meadow sweet and oxeye daisy.
People can also plant native shrubs such as hazel, holly, spindle and honeysuckle.
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