Ways To Rewild
Ways to Rewild is a project in Woodstock, VT in partnership with Sustainable Woodstock showcasing different options for creating pollinator friendly habitats.
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Rewilding can mean letting habitat return to wild or look wild. For this project the focus is on creating habitats that encourage increased populations of wild native insects. While creating wild spaces may fit this goal, spaces need not be wild to do so. That is what this project is about.
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Would you like to add pollinator habitat to your outdoor space? Are you unsure how to transition from the existing landscape? Are you concerned that a pollinator habitat is too wild or would require too much space? This project aims to demonstrate that one size does not fit all and seeks to encourage habitat experimentation in a way that works in a variety of settings.
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Below are 7 local re-wilding examples. The first 6 spaces were planted late spring 2025. As the season progresses, pictures will be updated and additional habitat details will be added.
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All spaces contain a mixture of native perennial and other pollinator-friendly plants. All spaces are meant to be lower maintenance including low water needs. All are meant to fill in to cover or mostly cover the soil. The overall goal is to have habitat covering the lifecycle of native insect activity and needs.
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01
A Bit of Wild
Where: Backyard home garden, previously unplanted
Style: Maintained garden beds
Size: 2 small-medium beds
Prep: Minimal, planted through thin grass and then cleaned up around
Planting approach: Specifically placed groupings, color consideration, short to tall plants
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02
Farmhouse Flowers
Where: Front home garden, previously unplanted
Style: Semi-maintained garden beds
Size: @6'x30'
Prep: Dug out top layer of grass with a pick but did not dig out or replace soil
Planting approach: Specifically placed groupings, lots of variety with some smaller perennials, some second year, and many annuals in year 1 to fill out and add quicker color and pollinator forage. Was watered because of heat and timing of seedlings.
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03
Native Border
Where: East End Park, rock wall border
Style: Mostly native plants, many varieties in a border
Size: approx. 3'x60'
Prep: Thick goldenrod rhizome mat removed in the fall, planted Spring 2025
Planting approach: Random placed groups, some smaller and tall, but most medium height plants (many plants grown by the high school CRAFT program and planted with assistance from middle school students)
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04
Contained & Curated Mini-Meadow
Where: Patch in a mowed field
Style: Mini-meadow in a mowed space
Size: 12'x16' square
Prep: Tarp to solarize laid end of April 2025, first planting beginning of May 2025 (planted through tarp), tarp removed at second planting beginning of June
Planting approach: Plants randomly placed, paying attention only to height zones (small or medium)
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05
A Disturbed Edge
Where: Disturbed area along a driveway
Style: Mini-meadow, minimal care
Size: 6'x24'
Prep: Minimal cleaning of regrowth while planting an area that had been disturbed and cleared of grass because of utility trenching
Planting approach: Wilder style placed in clumps by height
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06
The Sliver
Where: Roadside strip in front of a house
Style: Wilder edge
Size: approx. 3'x40' strip
Prep: Solarized late fall, planted late spring
Planting approach: Random placed groups, some smaller but most medium height plants
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07
Let it Go
Where: Home lawn completely converted to meadow
Style: Full wild
Size: All of the front yard
Prep: Minimal, let go wild
Planting approach: supplement wild regeneration with some curated plantings
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** This garden was not created in cooperation with Wilde Bee, but was the inspiration for this project.