Let Your Garden Grow Wild | Rebecca McMackin

Let Your Garden Grow Wild | Rebecca McMackin | TED

День тому

Many gardeners work hard to maintain clean, tidy environments ... which is the exact opposite of what wildlife wants, says ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin. She shows the beauty of letting your garden run wild, surveying the success she's had increasing biodiversity even in the middle of New York City - and offers tips for cultivating a garden that can be home to birds, bees, butterflies and more.
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КОМЕНТАРІ: 518

@legendarymudkip2096 22 дні тому

I work as a landscape maintence technician currently. I went into this line of work with hopes of learning how to better care for plants. Now i just feel like i'm part of the problem. I spend all my days planting annuals that arent native, pruning exotic shrubs, and laying mulch for rich people who dont care for anything but a unique look and sterile lawn. I do all this for these people who dont care and i have no time to work in my own garden. I'm looking to quit my job, take some classes at the local community college, and maybe becoming a conservationist or landscape designer with the intent of planting native eco-spaces. I want to be part of the solution!

@eugeniafarauanu2953 20 днів тому

Where do you live?

@tfarr803 20 днів тому

Hopefully one day people will realize we need to get back to our gardening roots (no pun intended). But the good news is, covid caused a lot of people to not only take up gardening but build a much bigger sense of purpose behind it. We're seeing surge in self sufficiency practices come back. All we need it for HOAs n whatnot to start lifting restrictions for this kinda thing.

@AlexArthur94 20 днів тому

We're rooting for you!

@todwod 19 днів тому

I’m currently enrolled in Oregon state’s permaculture design program. Check it out. It’s well worth it and a great way to learn these other ways of gardening. It’s either 10 or 20 weeks. Well worth the investment!

@GaSoliNa2o 19 днів тому

Have you ever heard of permaculture or regenerative landscaping? You might find it very interesting.

@aletheist2709 26 днів тому

My neighbors spray their lawns, and one even complained that my fruit trees, garden, and berry hedges attract birds! Seeing birds and wildlife is one of my favorite things about gardening. I had found a praying mantis egg sac two years ago. This spring I found two in my hedges and plant stalks I left up. I am so glad I stayed away from HOAs.

@Frostie3672 25 днів тому

Your neighbours sound like they are so disconnected from nature that I feel sorry for them!

@tw8464 25 днів тому

Well done. The "HOA" nightmare needs outlawed.

@-OBELUS- 24 дні тому

I had one complain about bees on my star jasmine. That glorious vine perfumed the whole house.

@aletheist2709 24 дні тому

@@-OBELUS- Jeez lol. I love watching the bees pollinate!

@justagirlsd3000 23 дні тому

I would never live in an HOA. I hate those ticky tacky homes😂

@spda81 26 днів тому

I converted part of my backyard into a native wildflower garden with a small pond about 7 years ago. Every year the garden gets healthier and more robust, and attracts so many birds and butterflies!

@charlesw322 22 дні тому

I'm starting to do the same thing and I have these butterfly plants that grew really big should I trim them or just let them go?

@darinherrick9224 Місяць тому

Outlaw HOA restrictions on gardens. Federally outlaw them. Then we can have cactus in the desert and forest and grassland yards everywhere else.

@Pour-me-a-red Місяць тому

Just outlaw HOA's

@francesbernard2445 Місяць тому

The only problem with that which I know nothing about how to prevent through only having experience in home care yard area maintanence is how many more deserts are being made faster as time goes on. We need more people like Rebecca McMackin providing information to policy makers who are not going to treat her in the same way others tend to treat Greta Thunburg while sometimes they are confusing pictures of her with pictures of women in her family from past generations. I do not believe all those policy makers have to be from the Liberal party.

@fusion9619 27 днів тому

@@francesbernard2445the earth is greening overall. Some places are becoming more desert, but more desert is turning green.

@chickenfishhybrid44 27 днів тому

Most people don't live in an HOA.

@TerreHauteRemoteGoat 27 днів тому

@@chickenfishhybrid44What country do you live in? We've bought homes in 2, widely separated states and both times had trouble finding a house without a HOA.

@chessman483 20 днів тому

We have 33 acres in Australia. We took over the property 2.5 years ago. They had used poisons and generally the property was dead. Just stopping using poisons and letting things grow and establishing fruit trees and some animals. We now have beautiful birds flocking in eating our fruit etc. the ground is alive now. We have all sorts of butterflies there now. Ducks and other birds are now returning to our Dam. Things are really getting exciting now.

@gabrielalbores846 19 днів тому

That’s amazing! What part? I’m planning on buying land south of Perth and doing the same thing! Grow a paradise

@chessman483 19 днів тому

@@gabrielalbores846 we are in QLD . We really try to apply permaculture principles. Just the fact we don’t have any poisons or synthetic fertiliser near our place it’s pretty awesome to see the abundant life everywhere. We ultimately want enough food to survive on should we ever need to. We have achieved that now, so in a good place. We have had a lot of failures. But also some great successes. Always love sharing if you ever want any encouragement or advice.

@ausfoodgarden 11 днів тому

Fantastic. I'm stuck on a Melbourne suburban block so no ducks for me. However after only a couple of years of trying to improve the soil and providing habitat for native insects etc. The garden is literally abuzz with life. It would be even better if the local authorities didn't ban growing food in the front garden. Shh! Don't tell them but I grow a lot of unusual and not easily recognisable foods out front.😊

@wendibridge3577 9 днів тому

I have lived in Victoria for over 30 years and one of the first things I did was get rid of the lawn. Since then I have transformed an empty space to a productive garden that supports us and the many animal/insect visitors we enjoy observing. It is encouraging to know that this has stopped being "fringe" activity, a bit like being vegan nowadays, just so painfully slow 🤔.

@francineh.7825 9 днів тому

That is absolutely so wonderful to hear!

@wildlifegardener-tracey6206 11 днів тому

My gardening style for over 30 yrs. I'm in my 60's now and fear what is happening to our biodiversity. So happy you're advocating Wilding our gardens with native plants.

@annaward4606 Місяць тому

I own a small landscaping business in Central Colorado and this is exactly what we encourage our customers to do. People love the results. They find a renewed connection and wonder in their small yards. It is environmental activism when so many people feel helpless. We have a misconception that we have to control our yards so it can be very difficult for some people. A natural or ecological gardener helps to facilitate what nature would do on her own time, we help speed up the process.

@whitebluepower4365 Місяць тому

Great idea! But I think that sometimes people cultivate their own gardens in a way that majority does because they are afraid of fire among their thickets of lush vegetation or don't want to transform nearby garden into the forest . As a professional , do you have some tips for it and how to control garden but to do it healthy both for pollinators and human?

@tw8464 25 днів тому

Thank you for encouraging people to grow the native plants and less lawn.

@B01 24 дні тому

Want to add microbiological soil testing to your repertoire? 😇

@Consciouslightwarriors 23 дні тому

A few years ago I was inspired by the back to Eden documentary when I was researching garden styles. Then I visited Paul Gautchi’s garden in person to learn how to prune fruit trees. Because of his teachings our 1/2 acre has about 30 fruit trees & bushes. I’ve spread 25 truck loads of free wood chips to turn the grass into fertile soil for gardening. The front yard is now covered with strawberries. And the vegetable garden is turning into a food forest with chaos gardening taking root. 3 years ago I didn’t know how to grow a thing. Now neighbors are covering their lawns with wood chips and planting gardens. So many have benefited from Paul’s teachings ❤ Working with Mother Nature is so much more rewarding !

@killakori 9 днів тому

Where did you get free wood chips?

@mikebird3365 9 днів тому

@@killakori Search for "chip drop". You can pay a little bit to get faster delivery or wait a bit and get wood chips free. Arborists drop off free wood chips because it's cheaper than paying to take them to the landfill.

@karenjcosme 6 днів тому

@@killakori check out ChipDrop

@user-mv3qb9ze1u 19 днів тому

Even though I am over 50, I want to what this lady does when I grow up. I am working on a forest garden in the meantime. It is pretty wild. My ultimate goal is to have an orchard surrounding a small NATURAL fish pond.

@kimberleychapman8416 26 днів тому

Thank you for this! I’m from the U.K., and we dedicated a part of our garden as a natural habitat. It has now attracted birds and other insects. We make sure everything we grow in the whole of our garden is native, including the trees and shrubs. We’ve seen a difference just in a year by doing this - more native species. Our vegetable beds also help in this.

@verycool6022 25 днів тому

That’s a bit extreme since the UK doesn’t have a lot of native species and some ‘non natives’ from mainland Europe can fit into the ecosystem too. But otherwise great though!

@user-ns6js4hn3e 25 днів тому

@@verycool6022 Yeah-but species of food/herb plants native to your locale, I hear, are best to acclimate us to our home environment. Info from TCM.

@verycool6022 25 днів тому

@@user-ns6js4hn3eTrue, but not always! I did a lot of research and non natives that are closely related to native species in Europe (can) integrate well, but even some non close related ones integrate suprisingly well and are even host plants for rare native species. As long as they’re not invasive you can add some carefully selected non native plants from (preferably the same genus and closely related, a rough estimate for integration is how close they are on a phylogenetic tree and their chemical properties in the leaves, allopathy etc). Lots of times the research is outdated and not scientifically proven on the negatives non natives have, because conservationists and ecologists have a bias against them. Sorry if it’s worded in a confusing way. I’m from the Netherlands!

@jackiem3670 24 дні тому

I have 3 acres - 1/2 clear, 1/2 wooded with an ephemeral stream bisecting it. I'm meticulously removing invasives and replacing with regional natives. I can't save the whales, or tigers, but I can save butterflies, birds, herps, fireflies, etc. on my little lot of land.

@MightandMagic88 12 днів тому

Any tips on bringing back fireflies to an environment?

@jackiem3670 12 днів тому

@@MightandMagic88 I believe most firefly species need leaf litter to safely pupate and they also like long stalks to rest on during the day like native grasses and tall perennials. I'll often find them resting during the day under flower petals, etc.

@MightandMagic88 12 днів тому

@@jackiem3670 Cool, I'm planning on dedicating some of my property to plant a mix of native perennials and I know it'll attract some birds and butterflies but I'd love to see some fireflies too

@jimidaly0 23 дні тому

Rebecca, I really appreciate your ability to capture the most important aspects of local rewilding so succinctly. This TED Talk is such a keeper and deserves to be seen by everybody.

@radioactiverobin8245 24 дні тому

I lived in a 4th floor apartment with a large patio for a long time. I had a solar fountain and a bunch of plants. The patio connected to the breezeway and my neighbors often told me how much they enjoyed it. Not only that, I had frequent visits from hummingbirds and butterflies!

@debandrews7415 28 днів тому

Wonderful. I put in a 50 foot by 60 foot pollinator garden and it is so full of life! And less maintenance than regular gardens.

@jeff6899 12 днів тому

Amen ! So glad to see this approach featured on TED... this has been my passion for over 30 yrs..

@LeahBrooksJeremiahGardens Місяць тому

I have a small orchard where I’ve planted native flowers and allowed others who popped up to flourish on their own. It gives me so much joy to watch the butterflies and bees fly from flower to flower.

@madnomad 11 днів тому

I love it. I returned my backyard in San Francisco to the wild and bugs, spiders, salamanders, birds, one humming bird, even a red hawk came to find refuge. It's amazing to see the wildlife and the beauty that comes with it.

@Sq7Arno 26 днів тому

I keep my garden a fair bit on the wild side. Generally my opinion is that if a plant can live in my garden without watering, then it belongs there. This is hot country we're talking about here. And there are tons and tons of plants that do this perfectly well. I tidy a bit, and keep the weeds down to a degree, but luckily where I live native shrubs are immensely aesthetic. No regrets.

@koicaine1230 27 днів тому

This is exactly what I'm doing with our yard and Nature is showing up all the time! I have an army of Anoles that eat bugs while I garden, Pollinators of all kinds including Bats, new species of birds (new to our yard) and so on! It's incredible!

@justagirlsd3000 23 дні тому

My 1/2 acre yard is wild, no chemicals, butterfly habitat, lots of bees, tons of birds, koi pond with a natural filtration system. I do worm vermiculure and use worm castings for fertilizer. I have lots of hummingbirds, orioles, canaries, bluebirds, mockingbirds, finches, sparrows and more. I love my wild garden.

@Silkresource 19 днів тому

What natural filter system do you use for your pond?

@justagirlsd3000 19 днів тому

@@Silkresource we have a horse trough that the water is pumped into, it’s filled with those green scrubbers, plus elephant ears are growing in that, then it falls out through holes and pipes down a little waterfall which head towards an area with pipes with holes covered in pea gravel. Whenever the plants need to be thinned out it creates a huge dirt cloud but it totally clears up in a couple hours. It’s not a big pond and it works perfectly. My SO found videos on UKposts.

@louisegogel7973 25 днів тому

Beautiful!! One favorite insect species that needs the dead leaves is the glow bug, lightening bug… whatever you want to call this little beetle. It is part of fairy tales and children’s magical moments as well as adults who see a meadow light up with their bright little signals to each other. I love diversity in a backyard. I mow around the flowers, harvest the wild edibles, and basically allow the yard to always be part in sort of meadow. Thyme, clover, dandelion, plantain, and so very many more species of plants amongst the grasses. My friend has been growing crops on a fairly good size piece of land. He allows most of the weeds to grow pretty wild around the plants… some space, but often they’re intermingled. People have wondered why his veggies are so healthy, tasty, and strong when theirs are struggling in their clean tidy gardens. He has never used and never needed pesticides etc. Instead, he allows nature to do its work keeping things in balance. The birds love being there, and many different insects, snakes, and mammals. The “weeds” shade the ground from the hot sun, keeping the moisture in the soil where it’s needed. They also provide food for the insects so that they don’t devour his crops, although they do nibble a little sometimes. Diversity with Nature… truly works! Look up permaculture if you want to see some amazing abundance of growing especially in small and initially barren places in the world.

@debradykstra8703 27 днів тому

A woman after my own heart. You go, girl! I love to practice permaculture in the city. 🌱

@Lupina-mp5ck 23 дні тому

Nice❤ Bless you and your plants

@iwonakaczmarczyk7839 26 днів тому

Thank you. I'm creating a wildlife area on my allotment. Pond, bird feeding station, logs/branches shelter, hedgehog house, bath station and sowing wildflowers :) I spotted ladybirds yesterday :)

@mrpepe444 25 днів тому

"Nature never did betray The heart that loved her". William Wordsworth. Thank you for this TED talk. It´s nice to share this beautiful thougts and seeds. I´m a permaculture follower also. Greetings from Saint Sebastian.

@danhartnett3030 24 дні тому

I bought a house with a perfect lawn, and I just let it go. I love it now! My little brother said you have Moles, you need to get rid of them and I asked him why he said because they make holes in the ground, I told him that he is just a grass hole😂

@JenniferSmith-lu5cn 24 дні тому

I've lived out in the woods for a while now in Kentucky where the lone star tick resides and have slowly incorporated wild flowers back into different spaces and have kept the mowing to a bare minimum. The issue I run into is that the areas of the yard where I don't mow become infested with ticks so badly that I can't walk the property without becoming over run by them. I've considered getting guinea fowl but their noises are terrible for the one neighbor that lives nearby. So I'm trying to keep a balance of flowers where I can walk to see them, trying not mow and yet not get a disease from the thousands of ticks just a step away from my porch.

@thr3ddy 13 днів тому

This is the exact issue I'm seeing, too. I let my lawn grow out for most of the last two years, but the amount of ticks that my dogs brought in every time wasn't worth it. I own 24 acres of land since 2021, and I can let most of it run wild, but I do have to maintain a short lawn around the house (3-4"). I hope that with time, animals that consume ticks will be return to the property, but I fear there are just too many of them at this point.

@davidsamson4141 24 дні тому

Get rid of city ordinances that require lawns be kept a short height

@asha8443 25 днів тому

Pulled out my lawn a few months ago, threw wildflower seeds and now am eagerly awaiting the flowers!!

@kbmehta4208 21 день тому

Thank you Rebecca. I had tears in my eyes many times during this short video. May your passion spread.

@brianbarnicle8052 26 днів тому

That is why my company is called Grow Wild. Beautiful work, inspirational talk.

@JasonsGreenSleeves 17 днів тому

Agreed!! Yes! Thank you! I’m all about wild gardening, biodiversity and supporting plant and soil life with native plants and plants that provide long bloom seasons. I would consider my own garden a pollinator garden/ semi food forest. I love supporting nature. Patience and perseverance are great words of wisdom; great video🌿🌿!

@hardstylelife5749 24 дні тому

As somebody humbly trying to preserve a wide wild meadow in front of my house I’m happy to hear that the trend is spreading amongst designers and (some) city planners. I’ve a question: since planners always claim to simply don’t enough green areas on a city, why they don’t simply use the abandoned industrial/commercial cemented areas? Without even dismantling the concrete ground but “simply” covering with a new layer of soil and plants. Nice speech, bravo

@Lupina-mp5ck 23 дні тому

I thought that too. And imagine all the roofs where green 😮

@hardstylelife5749 23 дні тому

@@Lupina-mp5ck it would be quite nice indeed :) guess I’ll need to work harder on my little project

@hardstylelife5749 22 дні тому

@@Lupina-mp5ck it would be really nice indeed! And a great way to both save and enjoy some nature for everybody. :) speaking of roof it was indeed a dream of mine to create one of this grass/moss roof over my house. For some reasons despite the numerous benefits, and several architectural projects already out there all over the world, it still didn’t get popular as an alternative system to a “traditional” rooftop

@Lupina-mp5ck 22 дні тому

@@hardstylelife5749 People have no interest to have a lot of nature around them. These people have no connection to themselves. The best garden for them is no garden. Sorry if my english is not perfect. It‘s not my mothertongue 😊

@hardstylelife5749 22 дні тому

@@Lupina-mp5ck it looks like it doubled up my responses, I apologize )) I’m sure you’re correct about the lack of interest on this subject by most of the population; still I personally think deep (deep) inside a majority people may learn to enjoy and cherish such kind of connection, especially when it allows them to have both a “city lifestyle” combined with some greenery. No need to apologize, same here, a fellow English learner ))

@aleenaprasannan2146 23 дні тому

Leaving the dead stem is such an underrated and important thing to do in our gardens. Native solitary bees and lady birds lay eggs in them. They are also nest building materials for many birds. The snails and slugs in our garden are controlled by greater coucals and mangooes. The mangooes brings their pups to the garden to play every year; some squished up plants are are fair sacrifice to watch those pups playing around. The garden would honestly be too boring without the biodiversity

@ryleesblooms 24 дні тому

We removed our lawn and turned it into an urban flower farm with a focus on working with nature not against it. We only spray water and compost tea. We hate neem and we love bugs. Thank you for spreading the word on teaming with nature.

@adyingbreedofman9112 25 днів тому

This reminds me of a book I read some 20 years ago called "Bringjng Nature Home". If this interested you then you would love this book. I highly recommend it.

@jerplotkin 29 днів тому

Great talk Rebecca! Well spoken and paced and funny and true! Thanks for sharing this important message.

@teacherericka 24 дні тому

Wow! This is wonderful and inspiring! Thank you. ❤ I am a teacher, and I will put this into practice and teach the next generation and implement this into my garden. Thank you so much. Bravo! 👏👏👏

@1lasmith 23 дні тому

We’re so obsessed with beauty it’s unhealthy. Between destroying natural ecosystems to gross consumerism, our obsession with how we are perceived will be our downfall. Love this advice I’m trying to rewild my yard now and just a tiny patch of wildflowers attracted so many bees it was beautiful !

@insertnicknamehere 22 дні тому

And for some, having wildlife is beautiful and will make an effort to force it to grow, would that be considered an unhealthy obsession ? I ask you because you start your comment by writing about beauty but then you end writing about how beautiful you're patch is.

@mzindyg007 28 днів тому

Woman after my little gardening heart. Allowing me to feel proud of my grass free Front and backyard. Giving voice to my natural growing backyard forest. Nothing is symmetrical or balanced. Thank you

@iazap 18 днів тому

A very great man once said if the hour of the world ending is upon you and you have a sapling in your hand then plant it. I think this would be a great start to understanding our role in the eco system gifted to us on this planet

@jonr6680 Місяць тому

Never mind wildlife (great as this is), this woman's work has probably saved human lives in NYC.

@Sundancer8 25 днів тому

This talk was very encouraging. I've been doing this "wilding" in my farm on Barbados for some time now, abandoning traditional vegetable planting in the face of a challenge from wild monkeys searching for food outside their shrinking environments (I plant fruit trees for them) and what has occurred is remarkable. I have birds, bees, bats, butterflies, fireflies and many more creatures and insects populating the area in unusual abundance. I have started seeing the amazing Stick Insect again and there has been a spontaneous, voluntary regeneration of a multitude of traditional medicinal plants and wild edibles that I now use in the creation of healthful "bush teas" and other useful by-products to maintain my livelihood. I also still get many fruits sharing with the birds and monkeys there is such fertility and abundance.

@AB-cool 24 дні тому

wow sounds amazing

@Austin-wr2zh 22 дні тому

Thank you for sharing this video. I am growing a "back-yard garden" and I've found that external factors to harm my plants some-times. For instance, an area of my garden intended as a corn patch looks like someone pushed away my corn plants in the middle of the segment to make a 'hang-out' for themselves. I am left with about 15%-20% of the corn I planted to harvest. Creating a thriving ecosystem is important, I think especially in this area littered with bad influences. I think I should just continue benefiting the life of my micro-ecosystem and that eventually the bad influencers will be influenced to be good.

@maggietaylor9713 Місяць тому

Thankyou 🙏 by combining growing food for ourselves and the pollinators everybody wins. So simple and yet rarely practiced. Let's all start doing it now. ❤

@HarendraKumar-my4le Місяць тому

5:39 It's one of the example of "Mutualism", where both organism benefitted itself! Being Bio student always happy while reading, watching even observing such nature wonders...

@PreachingTruth 28 днів тому

This is how I try to garden. Regenerative farming practices work. The soil in my garden has nearly tripled in depth, has gone from sandy crap to one work a nice texture that holds moisture much better in just the few years I've been here. It does require effort but it's paying off. I see more praying mantises for example over one small area than most people see in their entire lives. The amount of native bees as increased dramatically since we stopped fighting the weed so heavily. Even hummingbirds. The mycelium has increased dramatically. But one of the most amazing things is since our desert like climate gets so hot sometimes, many people lose their entire crops due to the hot dry climate. However, because I left the ground cover and weeds, God allowed me to have good production when others got nothing. You may mark my biblical views but it was my biblical views that showed me that I needed to change my ways many years ago. I know it was God who gave me the increase. Traditional wisdom doesn't work. By the way, the Columbine comment about the hummingbirds also shows there was a design in creation. But in any rate, regenerative farming practices for letting things be more wild is a beautiful thing.

@tinkeringinthailand8147 Місяць тому

I use the "Organic no dig" method in my Thai garden, all the farmers around me cannot believe how good and healthy my veg is. I use no pesticides or chemical fertilisers, I have ladybirds, frogs, toads, humming birds and many other beneficial insects in my garden. The farmland around me is dead and sterile through the use of tilling and chemicals. It makes me so sad to see the destruction being done in the name of profit.

@comfortablynumb9342 26 днів тому

You might like to try Dr Earth's fertilizer mixes, they're organic from food waste and they're full of beneficial microbiology. I use them for cannabis, veggies, fruit trees, bonsai and ornamental trees in the yard.

@MirandaCozzette 23 дні тому

I’ve been letting the “weeds” grow. They’re beautiful. I have green bees in my yard. There’s blackberries all throughout my neighborhood but they’ll be cut down soon bc they have thorns :(

@voiceinthenoise3357 2 дні тому

Thank you so much for this. It literally mentions every critical, mind-opening point I try to make to people. I will share it repeatedly. I have planted native plants in my garden, left the stems etc. and let it go a bit "untidy". And now I'm seeing insects (including multiple types of ladybirds) I've never seen before.

@olfhausen 24 дні тому

I am just planting Aster dumosus and Myosotis alpestris while watching this video! Rebecca has a HUGE point here, let's do this folks!

@gabrielleannacormierart 19 днів тому

I was just telling a friend today that spring is the season of hope and I cannot wait to get planting. I'm fortunate to be in a new yard surrounded by native trees and wildlife. I want to bring all the right flowers and plants into our garden for our specific climate zone and area. Is there a place where I can learn more about how to do this? Thank you for this wonderful talk! ❤

@zanewalsh1812 28 днів тому

AND... If you are lucky enough to have some land it's important to grow your own food as well 🌎🌏🌍🕊️ For all of us 🙏🏼💖

@guaranteedV 9 днів тому

We have been doing this since the 80s; let your garden grow! We are part of a system and every year the soil organisms, insects, butterflies, birds, and wildlife prove it. Use comfrey or nettles to provide nutrients, instead of man-made alternatives. Last year the dance of the house finches over our house was enlivening and when they rested on the sunflowers, consuming the leaves, I felt connected and alive in a whole new way.

@BackYardbiz Місяць тому

Great talk, i love that more and more content encouraging eco-friendly garden practices are being made. Thank you, from all of us and the future generations that are going to suffer the most if change doesnt occur

@chezraks 22 дні тому

This reminds me of the book Secret Garden. Love that book!

@robertfallows1054 19 днів тому

It is amazing!! I sowed wildflowers in a corner of my garden. They replaced Japanese yews. What a difference

@tonioyendis4464 12 днів тому

I love my backyard all organic veggie & herbs garden! It is my happy-place & my pharmacy for health/healing.

@HeIsNakedLunch 19 днів тому

12:18 one key point you didn’t mention verbally ~ but, we can only assume is that gardening in this manner is, or should be, much less work. Right? Because, by planting native, we’re reintroducing what was once part of the natural environment. And, as such, won’t require constant care or intervention by us. True? Well, before living in Indonesia between the years 2018 and 2022, I had a hard time taking care of plants. Every attempt to have plants ended in failure - cacti only lasted longer because, they can stand drought for longer. But then, Indonesia changed all that. For example, I buried turmeric and ginger roots - some partially and some fully - in the ground. Watered them once and never tended to them again. They grew and grew! What an exhilarating feeling. Thank you for the talk and keep up the lovely work!!!

@Green.Country.Agroforestry 9 днів тому

There are a number of roles that need to be filled in an ecosystem, and under normal circumstances, only a species that is particularly good at its role will fill that niche .. native species are guaranteed to be capable of filling those niches .. but they may not be the BEST species in every case (ecosystems that have been degraded to the point where ideal niche species are no longer in the soil seed bank, and re seeding through other natural vectors has not or will not occur, for example) So, in those ecosystems, the human is the superstar, bringing in diverse species to fill ecological niches that have been vacated .. not always expertly, but we are learning.

@ladel2o1a48 Місяць тому

YES GARDENING!!! YES NATURE!!!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

@john1boggity56 Місяць тому

Wonderful talk - thank you so much Rebecca!!! I remembered listening to Emma Marris ted talk on what is nature and I was very changed by her talk. How do people and nature intersect? Turns out mutualism applies to us too....I am a horticulturist studying environmental science. Your work is inspiring !!!

@tonyalewis9053 25 днів тому

Thank you! I’ve been slowly transitioning my small corner lot in a lakeside community in SW Missouri.

@sujitjilludimudi7684 28 днів тому

"Gardening is a long game" So true!

@kiethj7 7 днів тому

My yard is coveted in dandelions and i never try to kill them. Everyone else around me does and look at my yard with disgust. Its frustrating but i have bees, butterflies, moths, and birds. Love them all

@PeterSIpeli 23 дні тому

this is such a great talk, shes brilliant

@sinkintostillness 5 днів тому

I have a pretty garden! It is full of fruit trees and bushes, flowers and shrubs. Raised beds for annual veggies. It's slightly wild and I find immense pleasure "foraging" my own garden!

@AT-rw3ou 26 днів тому

Planted several gardens totaling 2200 sq.ft. 15 years ago and magic happened. Almost immediately we got species of pollinators we’d never seen before. I began counting, but soon stopped at 50 species. And we began to get volunteer native plants and trees, most of which we kept. One note, though. I told the landscapers to fully plant the new garden, against their advice to leave plenty of room for the plants to fill out. Starting the third year I have to find homes for extra plants every spring!

@yanina.korolko 15 днів тому

I am letting my garden grow wild this year for sure!

@JoyandSerenity. 19 днів тому

So one of the most beneficial things is allowing a spot for nettles to grow (if they are native) as an English person, nettles are a very common weed that people rip out in bunches. Not only is the nettle nutricious and can be made into perfect compost tea, but lady bugs nest on them! Without the baby lady bugs you can't have the aphid busting super powers!!! If you love roses, you should learn to love nettles.

@rich-ard-style6996 Місяць тому

Thank you for this beautiful speech. I had one year SEVEN different Butterflies in my garden, bc I do not spray, a lot of different pollinators too. Instead if buying herbs planting themselves in your garden helps insects and a bird bath (keep it clean) ❗️

@butterflyj685 25 днів тому

There are many asking where to get started and what books to read about integrative and regenerative practices. There are lots of books written by those practice integrative and regenerative practices. Here are several: Bill Mollison the founder of Permaculture, "Permaculture the Designers Manual", David Holgrem, "Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability", "Essence of Permaculture", Toby Hemingway, "Gaia's Garden", Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution, Perennial Vegetables, Paradise Lot and Edible Forest Gardens, Aryana, "A Permaculture Design, A Step by Step Guide", Amélie des Plantes, "Think like an Ecosystem", Sepp Holzer, "A Practical Guide to Small Scale Integrative Farming and Gardening". I have almost all these books. Geoff Lawton has many videos on UKposts and teach courses on where he discusses integrative and regenerative practices. There are many more great books and videos out there that discuss integrative & regenerative practices. Good luck!

@TrinketTheDragonsHoarde 24 дні тому

Have you read Doug Tallamy's books as well as what you've already listed above? Such as "Bringing Nature Home" and "Homegrown National Park"?

@butterflyj685 17 днів тому

@@TrinketTheDragonsHoarde No I haven't.

@VeganDoris 22 дні тому

Thank you! It’s always great to have reminders and specific examples of why we shouldn’t turn our world into pesticide- and herbicide-laden lawns.

@hemanthk4075 Місяць тому

Gardening has many perspectives thanks for showing good version of it❤

@alamofw1 Місяць тому

Excellent presentation on such an important topic. A very important message, very Well communicated.

@samshakiroff8340 Місяць тому

Thank you,Excellent presentation!!!

@nidhivyas908 Місяць тому

Thank you for this amazingly beautiful perspective on gardening 🧑‍🌾

@techwithdipufrom0ton621 Місяць тому

❤ this talk. I see the saver of biodiversity has descended to this beautiful lady, Rebecca McMackin, to recover the biodiversity. Let's join the saver to save the biodiversity. I'm already in

@jalapenopapper 29 днів тому

Sooo good, thank you!! I'm trying to turn my back yard into an area rug this year. 👩🏽‍🌾 ❤✌🏽

@comfortablynumb9342 26 днів тому

This sounds great, but if you live in a place with an HOA you can't let the yard go wild. And a lot of cities won't allow you to leave the yard long. When I was a kid my grandma had her whole front yard turned into a veggie and flower garden. She was kind of ahead of this movement in that way. I loved helping her in the summer.

@truenorth5787 26 днів тому

I'd venture to suggest resist, just do it bit by bit, year on year. Encourage neighbors and friends to do it. Over time HOA lady will back off. They would not change their policies officially but would think twice about enforcing it. I'm doing it the last few years and don't receive their letters anymore.

@comfortablynumb9342 26 днів тому

@@truenorth5787 I like my idea more. I'm not moving to a place with an HOA. I have too much stuff and I garden. My mom and sister live in a place in NC with a bunch of rules and I don't think it's worth it. They could have had more land with less rules for less money.

@robinschachat5747 11 днів тому

It's always possible to create a "wild garden" that, with framing, edging, tidy swathes, or occasional intentional non-living focal points like repeated urns or potted plants or stone columns suddenly appears to be formally designed. It's hard for HOAs to complain about6 gardens that are clearly designed, purposefully built, and intentional -- even if the plants growing in them are what many consider wild. Step by step, with intention and purpose.

@comfortablynumb9342 11 днів тому

@@robinschachat5747 that's all great if you live in a place like that. I don't and won't. I'm more into letting people live how they want.

@cattuslavandula 9 днів тому

This is an excellent TED. Ms McMackin is an interesting and informative speaker.

@ShikokuFoodForest 20 днів тому

Hello Rebecca. Your message is critical to saving our planet. Our present and future food supply and food nutrient density completely relies on biodiversity above and below the soil. Modern agriculture has completely failed and has caused more problems than it attempted to solve.

@kwilsonnc 25 днів тому

I'm tremendously inspired. A million thank yous for the simple and hopeful message. 🌱

@sjohnson6607 Місяць тому

Gardening is a long game ... yes!

@voiceinthenoise3357 2 дні тому

While on a natural stretch of beach in Dorset, a woman commented that it was lovely, but it was just a shame that the seaweed and debri marking the tide-line was so untidy, and wouldn't it be nice if someone cleaned it up. While in the woods I asked a passing dog walker if they knew why the trees had been cut down, and she said, in a well-meaning attempt to bond over the issue "I know, it's messy isn't it!" So I replied that I hoped they were harvesting the non-native pine crop, so that the native shrubs and trees could recolonise themselves. An old colleague looked at a lawn carpeted in daisies, bright as a smattering of spring snow, and said it was "unkempt" and needed a good mow. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but she missed this because she saw it through eyes trained to see nature as something ever-encroaching that should be cut into squares and bound tight at the borders. Something can be a little loose in looks, a little "untidy" in traditional terms, and still be beautiful. See beneath the surface and you realise that beauty lies not in how something appears, but what that appearance means. Sometimes ugliness is beautiful because it is honest. And sometimes ugliness isn't ugliness at all, but blindness.

@erinhellebuyck7527 6 годин тому

Thank you. You have inspired me to reassess my property allocation.

@siyabongakunene5052 24 дні тому

Our backyard has been growing wild for the last few years after we stopped farming on it. My mom is astonished at how nature has reclaimed all that space in just a few years. The drawback? Someone said they saw a python 😮there.

@LittleSpaceCase 22 дні тому

This is the future! I'm so glad these ideas are being showcased at TED

@kludgescraftsplus8631 27 днів тому

It has taken me many years to repatriate my backyard to the field it was before our development was constructed nearly two decades ago. I spent many a spring going from field to field in my area rescuing plants before they were bulldozed for development. I've lived in this area my entire life, and I see critters in my yard now that I have never seen before, and more pollinators than I can identify. It's all well and good to to say we should leave the leaves, but those leaves will eagerly kill the local grasses. We need to get over this idea that we can have grasslands and forests in the same space. No waste should leave your property that's for sure, but leaves need to be mulched and composted otherwise they can smother smaller plants below.

@rich-ard-style6996 Місяць тому

Use your garden for food and veggie plants snd bees and butterflies, makes it a sanctuary

@pinskiplantpower9409 26 днів тому

Absolutely! Thanks for this speech.

@jesswatt5824 22 дні тому

I killed about 2,000sqft of my lawn 3 years ago and planted a ton of natives, they should be looking amazing this year I can't wait to see it progress into the summer. I had a surprise trillium come up this spring and I about died. On another note- I need to know where she got her top.

@effortaward 16 днів тому

Gonna go ahead and make this a metaphor for my ADD. But also, excellent talk!!!

@udoheinz7845 24 дні тому

Great talk! Everyone that has some space for native flowers and planst can plant some and help nature out

@hemanthk4075 Місяць тому

So insightful ❤

@K2blades2 28 днів тому

YES!! THANK YOU FOR THIS!

@bettymonson7044 26 днів тому

Hopefully she inspires a new generation to follow these age-old guidelines. Simple, beneficial, beautiful and a legacy for the future.

@magorzatastefanowicz8356 24 дні тому

Amazing!!!!!!!! Thank You for this speech!!!!!

@niek_lol07 Місяць тому

Love this!!!! This year i also seeded wildfllowers, let's hope i get some biodiversity :)

@vanessamonster5038 6 днів тому

Great work...I'm familiar with that park in Brooklyn. I live in Eastern long Island and share the let nature be nature aesthetic .

@thehillsidegardener3961 24 дні тому

I have some land in the country and fortunately we have no HOAs, I am working hard to turn our traditional orchard into a jungle, by simply not mowing, not raking leaves, leaving prunings where they are. It looks messy but natural, and so much greener than my neighbours' plots which are mowed constantly leaving nothing for wildlife and nothing to prevent water run-off. And so many more insects, reptiles, native squirrels, badgers, marten, and gradually birds. Oh, and the land is increasingly feeding us too.

@borisnecakovski3805 22 дні тому

I started properly gardening about 2 years ago, and my first year I hated all the pest insects and did my best to get rid of them. The following year I let it be, I noticed some more lady bugs, bees, wasps and didnt want to bother the other bugs. This year I've had barely any pests, instead there are lace wings around, my peppers got damaged by caterpillars last year, this year I found a bunch of baby praying mantis on them. Its become easier and better for the environment just by leaving them be