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Aside from the obvious benefit of having a colourful mix of native plants, grasses and flowers that will spend all summer attracting a host of pollinating insects to your garden... Benefits of wildflower lawns & meadows. Aside from the obvious benefit of having a colourful mix of native plants, grasses and flowers that will spend all summer attracting a host of pollinating insects to your garden... . ..the fact that you don't need to be wasting precious time and effort mowing them every weekend which saves you money on fuel costs. When you take into consideration the increase in biodiversity in and around your garden... ...then add to that the improvement in the soil structure and health of the microbial life in it... Top it off with a reduction in artificial inputs from herbicides, like moss and weed killers.... Bird life, attracted by the increase in insects and seed variety. Amphibians who enjoy the extended foraging possibilities in this food rich habitat. Small mammals like hedgehogs, voles and shrews, excited by the expanded living quarters and food supply. With specific plants and grasses that provide food for the caterpillar stages of a wide variety of moths and butterflies. You don't get that in a lawn! From April to November the average formal lawn requires mowing at least once a week in order to keep it looking neat. Add all those hours up over the year and ask yourself if you couldn't be doing something more relaxing with your time than pushing a mower back and forth. Soil is allowed to behave naturally when it isn't beneath a lawn. A more natural cycle of plant growth with less artificial irrigation and feeding lets the invertebrates and microbes within the soil develop to sustainable and balanced levels. Their behaviour, uninhibited by man made additions to the chemical or structural nature of the soil, contributes to healthy plant growth. As gardeners we should be embracing nature, not throwing punches at it. Chemical lawn treatments, in the form of 'weed and feed' or pesticides for getting rid of turf pests all alter the soils balance as well as killing plants and moss. Additional nitrogen based fertilisers contribute to imbalance. It's difficult to think of any real benefits to having wildflowers instead of a neat and tidy stripy lawn .........Oh no! Hang on..

Wilderness Tamed offer a range of niche services to benefit wildlife and enhance your garden. From adding small features to complete overhauls and redesigns. Landscape design with a difference in the North East. Full Or Partial Garden Transformations Design, Consultation & Jungle Busting Renovations. Partial transformations Wilderness Tamed can add a wildlife friendly feature to an existing garden helping to enhance your space for the benefit of birds, insects small mammals and amphibians. Bug hotel in a nature reserve. Call Now Full Garden Transformations Let Wilderness Tamed transform your garden into a wildlife friendly haven. From initial site visit to final design and construction. Complete transformation Blackhall Mill Call Now Garden Design Consultation Wilderness Tamed offer a range of consultation services to help you self design your own garden, if that is what you would like to attempt. Or I can offer a full design service Call Now Jungle Busting Jungle Busting for those who require a jolly good clearance session to rediscover a lost garden. Hedge restoration in Stocksfield Call Now

Creating & maintaining wildlife friendly garden ponds across the North East is our main aim. Increasing valuable habitats for wildlife. Creating relaxing gardens for you and interesting educational gardens for kids in homes and schools. Wildlife Ponds Wilderness Tamed is leading the way in wildlife pond installation in the North East. Instaling ponds for schools and private gardens across Northumberland, County Durham, Gateshead and North Tyneside. These are just a few of the many wildlife friendly garden ponds I have created, improved or managed over the years. I believe ponds are one of the best wildlife friendly features you can have in a garden. You'll find everything from a small wildlife pond for frogs and newts in Newcastle to larger natural looking ponds in the Northumberland countryside. Click on any of the images or text to find out more about each topic. Learn how to build a natural looking wildlife friendly pond in your garden. Learn how to use native plants in your wildlife friendly pond. Learn how to disguise pond liner using stone, cobbles or plants. Learn how to maintain the plants around your pond. Check out the pond videos on my YouTube channel. For Pond safety information check the FAQ's page below

See what is involved on our Reptile & Amphibian Surveys training day Reptile & Amphibian Surveys On the training day you will learn How to spot the specific habitat features, within a wider landscape, that are suitable for reptiles and amphibians. The techniques used to search for these animals without causing stress or disturbance. Gain knowledge of these little understood animals. Their life cycles, activity throughout the year, and ecology. Gain a respect of the importance of reptiles and amphibians within a habitat and ecosystem. Important note There is no guarantee of seeing any reptiles or amphibians on a survey, so attendees are encouraged not to build up their hopes of seeing some. But armed with the experience gained on the training day, they should be more confident of being able to spot them when out in the countryside. Book now to arrange your training Understanding Reptile Habitat When confronted with a large landscape scale area to survey for reptiles, an understanding of the key features they utilise greatly increases your chances of finding them. Survey Techniques Learning how reptiles function and using that knowledge to locate them in a visual search takes time and experience to learn. I will teach you how to approach an area in a way that helps you spot the animals before they become aware of you. Ecology Learn about the life cycles and ecology of our native herpetofauna. Gain an understanding of how these little understood animals function and go about their daily lives. Learn specific skills Survey techniques for reptiles and amphibians are very specific. Join me for an intensive training day to learn the skills I have gained over years of field work, studying these animals both in the Uk and abroad. Book now to arrange your training

Everybody needs it these days and scythe instructors are no different to any other tutor, instructor, guide, guru, or teacher.

Offering a concise mowing regime for wild flower meadows and lawns in school, business and domestic situations. Contract Mowing & Meadow Management Consultations For land owners wanting to manage their meadows in a more eco friendly traditional way. Contract Mowing John Grundy of Wilderness Tamed is available to carry out contract mowing of wildlife lawns and meadows across the North East of England. To arrange to have your meadow mown click the button below. Contact Meadow Management You may be a voluntary community group, conservation charity or landowner wanting a large area of land mowing. Wilderness Tamed can help with meadow management and improvement. Consultation If you are looking for a concise management plan or some guidance Wilderness Tamed can help you out. Perhaps you want to know how to manage a newly acquired or existing area of grassland. You may be starting from scratch on bare soil or have a neglected meadow that you would like to see restored. Contact Wildflower meadow creation near Wylam.

As mentioned on the formal lawns verses wildflowers page, this is an easy process carried out no more than twice in a year. Managing your wildflowers As mentioned on the formal lawns verses wildflowers page, this is an easy process carried out no more than twice in a year. As you will probably guess from other pages on this site my preferred method of mowing is with a scythe. Honestly, they're so much easier and eco friendly than people imagine. So simply mow the wildflower lawn and either immediately rake off the cuttings or leave for a few days to allow seeds to drop into the soil. Wondering if a scythe is a better option than a strimmer for managing your land? Check here for a comparison of the two. That's it! It really is as easy as that. I could end this page here, but I like to waffle on a bit, so there'll be more. You're wondering what to do with all the stuff you remove, aren't you? why not donate it to someone else who wants what you've got. They can spread it over a prepared area of their own garden. Allow the seeds to drop over a few days, then remove the vegetation. It's how many large scale meadows are created, with cuttings from an already established meadow. Failing that, perhaps some locals would like it to feed their pet guinea pigs or rabbits. I know some folk bale their wildflowers and sell the bales for a few quid. In other news, keeping the nutrient level low also means keeping the lawn free from too many Autumn leaves. Here's a quick video all about it.

learn all you need to know about prepping for your new wildflower lawn. Preparing the soil for wild flowers This might come as a surprise, but you might have been spending the last few years preparing the soil for wild flowers. If you watch some of my videos about lawns and grass cutting you will hear me mention how 'cut and remove' is the perfect way to manage a wild flower lawn or meadow. Cut and remove? I hear you ask...Thats what most people do when they mow their lawns with a grass box. All the nutrient the grass has taken from the soil in order to grow, is collected in the grass box and dumped in a compost bin. Or worse still a local authority garden waste bin. This constant depletion of nutrients in the soil is just what wild flowers want. It's the opposite of what a lush grass lawn wants. Yet this is how people have been conditioned to mow their lawns. Then they wonder why the grass is struggling to compete with moss and broad leaved weeds. Either that or they combat the nutrient loss from their mowing regime by introducing chemical or granular fertilisers. More cost! This video below shows me sowing seeds in my own small front garden. The ground was previously planted with a mix of perennials and shrubs. If you have a lawn that you are considering removing or changing the simplest way to get it ready for wild flowers is to remove the turf. Hire a turf lifter for this, it makes the job so much quicker. While you're on, hire a cultivator. You'll want to use this to turn the soil. It doesn't have to be deep. Rake the area level once it has been dug over. Firm the soil with a roller. Also easy to hire. Then either follow the video above or lay your rolls of wildflower turf. Make sure you get a full plant list for the seed mix and the turf. Insist that a native species mix is included. None native plants serve no purpose other than colour and some pollen. When should you do all this? Ideally in Spring between March and April but the best time is Autumn between September and November. Whether seeding or turfing, it's a good idea to plant some native bulbs in the soil first. These will provide an extension to the season of interest. Snakehead fritillary, snowdrops, bluebells and old English narcissus are great for adding a splash of colour early in the year.

Gardening service in Durham & Northumberland GB | wildlife friendly ponds | wildflower lawns | Learn to mow with a scythe | wildernesstamed.com Putting nature before neat. With my background in horticulture and conservation I can provide a niche selection of wildlife friendly gardening offers. Wilderness Tamed provide a unique range of services aimed at you the customer and the wildlife you share your outdoor space with. Working with nature, not against it, to create relaxing spaces for our customers to enjoy. Phone Call to arrange consultation Mail Email to arrange consultation John Robson Grundy What can wilderness Tamed do for you? Full Or Part Garden Transformations Wilderness Tamed will design a wildlife-friendly, relaxing haven using native plants, scented flowers, and sensitive design techniques for easy maintenance. Services Wildlife Lawns & Meadows Wildlife lawns can be created using either bespoke seed or turf mixes to suit your garden soil, location and your personal preference. Lawns & Meadows Wildlife Ponds We create natural looking ponds with gently sloping, planted edges. Balanced populations of aquatic plants, invertebrates and amphibians. Ponds Learn To Scythe Learn to mow with an Austrian scythe. The perfect tool for managing lawns meadows and weeds. Buy one of our eGift cards for yourself or someone who you think would love to learn how to mow with an Austrian scythe. Scythe eGift Card Contract Mowing & Meadow Management Consultations I am available to mow wildlife lawns and meadows and offer consultation on meadow management. For businesses, schools and landowners looking to manage grasslands in a more sympathetic traditional manner. Call to arrange consultation Email to arrange consultation Talks & Training Offering a wide range of training and talks to local interest groups, colleges, ecologists and wildlife trusts. Audience at a recent talk given at Kirkly Hall college in Northumberland. Email to arrange consultation Call to arrange consultation

Check out some of our previous projects. Projects of Old My own pond When it was first put in it was full of exotic plants. That's all changed. Stone edge disguising pond liner Nothing worse than a visible pond liner. Streams My own pond When it was first put in it was full of exotic plants. That's all changed. 1/41

A volunteer group set up to encourage mowers with scythes to help each other out as a community. Join our mailing list. The North East Cereal Killers Scythe Group Are all scythers from around Northumberland and Durham who have trained with John R Grundy of Wilderness Tamed. A volunteer group set up to encourage mowers with scythes to help each other out as a community. Some of our members have large gardens or areas they help manage in a traditional way. They can call on the rest of the group to help out with mowing in exchange for refreshments. This helps mowers practice on different vegetation types, meet each other and enjoy a pleasant day in good company and surroundings. Scything was traditionally a group effort. Whether harvesting crops or managing the lawns and verges of stately homes and local byways or common ground. Join the North East Cereal Killers mailing list Now Available to help with mowing and management of wild flower meadows, lawns and control of invasive plants. If you would like any help with vegetation you want managing please get in contact Find out how to mow with an Austrian scythe here We also do ingrowing toenails and soul removal.

Showing the qualifications, training and experience that makes Wilderness Tamed stand out from the rest. Location Covering both Northumberland and Durham Being based at the top end of County Durham, close to Gateshead and Newcastle I am well situated for access to the A1 which allows for easy travel into Northumberland & the coast. More local roads lead into Weardale & Teesdale. Working in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural beauty is part of what makes the job so appealing. Over the hills I can get to the Tyne Valley for Prudhoe, Corbridge, Riding Mill, Hexham and surrounding villages. Qualifications I studied horticulture at Houghall College in Durham from 1988 to 1989. gaining extensive experience in plant knowledge. With skills in propagation, cultivation and identification. After passing with distinction I went on to work in a variety of practical garden situations. From 2007 to 2012 I worked for the National Trust at Gibside. The final three years of this were spent on the Careership Training programme in conservation management. Experience After studying horticulture I worked at several leading North East garden centres including Peter Barratt's, Cowell's and The Beamish Clematis Nursery. I have worked in horticulture since 1989 in various fields and then moved into conservation for the National Trust. The first three years at Gibside was spent coordinating the Grass Snake Habitat Enrichment Project. Then during the Careership Programme learning a variety of conservation skills. I was the Revealing Reptiles Project Officer for Durham wildlife Trust from 2016 to 2018. This involved recruiting and training volunteers to help me survey the whole of County Durham for reptiles. I also gave talks to many local groups. Services Installation and maintenance of ponds Installation and maintenance of wild flower lawns and meadows. Regular maintenance of existing gardens. I offer an online consultation service as well as garden designs provided by a network of professional designers across the UK. Training in scythe use for meadow management, both for individuals and conservation groups. A range of talks on various wildlife friendly garden subjects. Training in reptile and amphibian survey techniques as well as ecology and habitat management.