Rewilding is a topic that's generated a lot of interest recently but is generally spoken of in terms of large areas- country estates for example or tracts of the Scottish Highlands. I've long been intrigued by the idea that back gardens can be havens for nature.

 This diary of back garden botany refers to two back gardens in particular. One belongs to the flat where I live in London, the other to the house I grew up in Hertfordshire (above) where my father still lives. I've spent a lot of time in Herts this year what with the lockdown and one thing and another. 

 When I was a child it was a garden in the more conventional sense: a long lawn (quite sunny) with borders down each side containing a mixture of small trees, shrubs and perennials. As time goes by it has become shadier and -by a mixture of accident and design- taken on the feel of a woodland garden. It's quite sizeable but it's in the middle of town. Yet the depth and variety of wildlife is remarkable. Here are some of the things that have made my heart sing over the course of the year...

 The dawn chorus in spring, incredibly loud. A pair of owls hooting to each other at night. A bird of prey on the roof of the house. A hedgehog snuffling across the patio in darkness. The pond writhing with mating frogs and frogspawn. Bats flitting around at twilight. Bumblebee nests, butterflies on the Buddleia, wasps on the ivy. An eruption of funghi in autumn. A pile of compost crawling with worms. Bugs and creepy crawlies in every nook and cranny.

 So yes, let's rewild the countryside but back gardens can be pretty wild too. The neat and tidy garden is not bereft of nature but let the wildness in and the abundance of wildlife is really quite something.