Here’s a copy of a presentation given recently in Knocklyon, Dublin with the report underneath:
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Féidhlim Harty explores the potential for (re)introductions of beavers into the Irish landscape – and offers some workarounds for doing their work while we wait. Published in Horticulture Connected on June 6, 2024 (link below). Without wanting to overstate the obvious: beavers are amazing landscape engineers. For those new to the subject, these small, vegetarian, water-loving animals play a role within the landscape that is way above what you’d expect from their shy, secluded demeanours. The dams that beavers build in rivers and streams are just the right design for flood prevention; holding water during downpours and then allowing some…
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Wildlife gardens are specially designed and planted to provide the maximum benefit to birds, butterflies and bees, as well as attractive places for people. They tend to be lower maintenance than ordinary garden designs; allowing the wildlife to get on with its life and you to get on with yours. A wildlife garden can be any size, from a postage-stamp urban lawn surrounded by butterfly friendly shrubs and flowers, to large wildflower meadows with hedgehogs and sparrow hawks. Have a look at Mary Reynolds’ We Are the Ark for a wealth of information and ideas about creating more wildlife friendly…
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Published by Feasta on February 23rd, 2022 (https://www.feasta.org/2022/02/23/healthy-habitats/) & updated February 2023. Underlying the discussions about carbon levels and energy efficiency is another, arguably much more important issue that tends to take second place in both policy and activism. The issue is that of healthy habitats. It is healthy soil that provides the ability to grow healthy food. Healthy river and stream catchments yield a regular supply of healthy water. Healthy peatlands, oceans and woodlands all play an invaluable role in providing atmospheric gaseous exchange; in other words healthy air to breathe. Conversely, without healthy habitats on a global scale, our…
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Féidhlim Harty tracks the principle of succession in a wild garden. First published on Nov 22, 2021 in Horticulture Connected (link below). We bought our house in 2008, just as the housing bubble was at its most inflated. I’d never really wanted to move, but it had been on the cards and now it was time. We got the keys in April. I don’t think there was a single day that summer without rain. The back kitchen door opened south onto grey skies and a growing puddle that swelled to a broad shallow pond as the days lengthened and then…
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Posted by Burrenbeo Trust on 18 Nov 2021 for the participants on the Hare’s Corner project (https://burrenbeo.com/thc/).
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First published in Horticulture Connected on May 19, 2021. Link below. Féidhlim Harty explores the boundless potential of and benefits from creating river corridors throughout our countryside Perfect Storm Globally we are in a perfect storm; and I’m not referring to the Covid pandemic. On many different levels, Earth’s health indices are at critical levels. Climate breakdown isextensively publicised, but is compounded with multiple other issues. Biodiversity losses are so great that it is claimed that we have entered the sixth mass extinction event on our planet. Our current trajectory feels akin to sawing off the branch we are sitting…
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Published in Horticulture Connected on August 13, 2020 (link below). Féidhlim Harty describes how ‘rewilding’ can produce landscapes with an abundance of plant and wildlife with opportunities for people to thrive socially and economically We are beginning to recognise that if we don’t manage our landscapes in a way that supports the natural world we may well find ourselves without all sorts of things we currently take for granted. ‘Rewilding’ is all about bringing nature back to life and restoring living systems and allowing nature to flourish. It’s a relatively new term, coined by conservationist and activist, Dave Foreman, and…
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Writing during the lockdown, Féidhlim Harty asks, has the pandemic been all bad for the planet or society? First published in Horticulture Connected on August 1, 2020 (link below). Last year, both British and Irish governments declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in response to public pressure and a growing international scientific consensus. Yet despite the declarations, politicians have dragged their feet with unbridled enthusiasm, clearly more concerned with bolstering economic growth and meeting the many demands of the industry than addressing these pressing issues. Crisis exists. Emergency declared. Essentially, no action is taken. Meanwhile, events in Wuhan have created…
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In the first of a series of environmentally-focused landscape articles, environmental consultant, Féidhlim Harty explores how edible species can be incorporated into designed landscapes. As the coordinator of Garden of Eden Projects Ireland, he has a particular emphasis on community projects, but the same plants, pointers and principles can be applied to any garden or landscape design First published in Horticulture Connected on Oct 1st, 2019 (https://horticultureconnected.ie/horticulture-connected-print/2019/summer-2019/insight-summer-2019/the-edible-landscape/) We have the potential to add edibles throughout our parks, housing estates and wider landscapes. Hedges can be grown from Corylus, Rubus and Ribes cultivars as well as the more familiar edibles such…