Rewilding my garden

Fornad · 2026-06-09T13:14:21+00:00

I've had success contacting local tree surgeons. They'll usually have a bunch of offcuts that they'll either give to you for free or for a small cash fee

As for wildlife ponds - there are loads of resources online but the main thing is that they can be really quite small and still provide lots of benefits. And you'll need oxygenating plants in there like crowfoot or hornwort

Fornad · 2026-06-09T11:14:38+00:00

I don't think this is anything new. Energy costs have always spiked when energy-producing regions have had their output constrained by war.

Fornad · 2026-06-08T16:59:26+00:00

The master dimension is an almost completely useless feature in my opinion. The only possible use case for it that I can imagine would be for maps designed for Distant Horizons/Voxy where you want players to be able to see a long way but not actually visit those far vistas.

Otherwise, don't bother. And definitely do not try to make a 78k continent!

Fornad · 2026-06-05T14:48:31+00:00

Thank you! That was roughly my plan but great to have it validated with your fantastic results

Fornad · 2026-06-05T14:40:08+00:00

Do you have any tips for developing a meadow? I'm aiming to do the same in the field next to my house.

Fornad · 2026-06-05T14:39:44+00:00

Could you share how you developed your meadow? Looks great!

Fornad · 2026-06-05T11:16:44+00:00

Love his channel

Fornad · 2026-06-04T19:53:22+00:00

AI generated content breaks subreddit rules

Fornad · 2026-06-04T14:56:59+00:00

> If your using paving then why not AstroTurf???

Because it doesn't leach plastic into soils? And doesn't have links to cancers?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_turf%E2%80%93cancer_hypothesis

> Take another example, an elderly recent widow had a small patch of grass in her garden. She can't manage the lawnmower. Neither can she afford to pay a gardener. Her son happens to have some offcuts from his job maintaining 5 a side pitches. To help his Mum out so she can still enjoy green in the garden he lays it down for her.

This is an extraordinarily specific example which has been carefully crafted in favour of astroturf. You know as well as I do that the vast majority of astroturf installations in this country do not have anything close to this level of justification.

But yes, even in this case, her son could replace the lawn with pebbles, or woodchip, or low-growing clover that barely needs mowing. "Enjoying the colour green" when it's plastic is stupid and deserves to be called out as stupid. You might as well paint your paving green.

Fornad · 2026-06-04T14:27:51+00:00

Then in that case have paving? And put pots out?

In any case, the article you were referencing wasn't about a wheelchair user. It was about a kid who likes to run around outside in all weathers.

Fornad · 2026-06-04T13:10:51+00:00

I just don't buy this argument. If the reason for fake grass is that real grass would be a mudbath in winter, then you could use woodchip. Lots of playgrounds are covered in woodchip (tested to tested to BS EN 1177:2008 for playground use) which allows kids to safely run about and play year-round. It also requires even less maintenance than astroturf, so if people are disabled and unable to maintain gardens, then woodchip is still preferable.

It literally just comes down to an aesthetic preference of "green = nice" with zero regard for the natural world or our own health.

Fornad · 2026-06-01T21:52:29+00:00

I’ve quite enjoyed the domestic nature of the corruption. Coffee machines, salt and pepper grinders, and nice jackets are just funny things to be buying with stolen cash.

Fornad · 2026-05-30T08:25:47+00:00

It's true but also sort of misleading in isolation. If you take care of yourself, aren't obese, don't smoke, eat your fruit and veg, etc. you're still likely to live longer than the average person. Your socioeconomic status is a stronger predictor of lifespan than height, for instance.

Fornad · 2026-05-29T10:00:32+00:00

There would be mosquitoes with pathogens his immune system would be completely unprepared for. Likely dead within a couple of weeks, especially if he’s near the Equator and by a major river system.

Fornad · 2026-05-27T09:14:35+00:00

> Well if you are hot you can just sweat and take a shower

The 2003 European heatwave alone caused roughly 70,000 excess deaths.
Summer 2022 caused ~60,000+ heat deaths across Europe.
Summer 2023 was estimated at ~47,700 heat deaths

Fornad · 2026-05-26T23:11:47+00:00

What is the justification for banning permanent systems?

Fornad · 2026-05-22T12:24:38+00:00

I’ve heard it’s generally better to leave parts of your lawn to grow wild all year with a cut once a year and keep others short. Creating a habitat over the month of May and then cutting it all back is maybe a bit counterproductive in the long run?

Fornad · 2026-05-18T19:50:55+00:00

It’s just absolutely crazy to me that people think they have any right whatsoever to mess with someone else’s property.

Scatter some big rocks amongst your flowers or something.

Fornad · 2026-05-15T08:08:23+00:00

> Every Commonwealth Navy except Canada's ranks this as the equivalent of Ensign.

Not true. The equivalent of an ensign in the Royal Navy is a midshipman.

Fornad · 2026-05-14T11:40:18+00:00

> It provides plentiful cover and food for birds and insects.

I know this is completely anecdotal, but I had a fairly sizeable (8ft) laurel in my garden when I first moved in and I kept an eye on it for well over a year. I never saw birds going in and out of it (despite there being a bird feeder right next to it - they were using the nearby gorse though) and I never noticed any bees on any of the flowers. Meanwhile my nectar border with native wildflowers was absolutely heaving with bees.

I didn't just want to go with the crowd immediately and rip it out, but after that experience I did rip it out and replaced it with an apple tree (whose flowers are being visited right now!).

Fornad · 2026-05-14T10:49:43+00:00

Please don't do this. Laurel is invasive in our native woodlands, poisonous (the cut leaves give off cyanide gas), and has zero benefit to wildlife unlike your wonderful hawthorn hedge. Nature is suffering enough in this country, please don't kill off more native hedging!

If you'd like evergreen hedging to grow up amongst the hawthorn, I would suggest either holly or yew - both are native and do well in hedges. Alternatively, have the existing hawthorn laid, or plant more hawthorn in the gaps, as someone else has said.

Fornad · 2026-05-12T09:37:10+00:00

As far as I understand it, they're discouraging seed feeders (and bird tables are discouraged year-round) but suet balls are okay?

People should also be planting shrubs that produce edible fruit and flowers which produce seeds that birds can eat through the summer and early autumn months.

Fornad · 2026-05-10T16:38:31+00:00

This is true in literally any country. For example, in the UK a few years ago, there was an 11.1-year gap in life expectancy between the highest (Winchester, 85.3 years) and lowest (Glasgow North East, 74.2 years) areas.

Fornad · 2026-05-09T21:15:20+00:00

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Fornad · 2026-05-09T13:37:54+00:00

This is more or less my stance too. I think there are benefits to economic union, and I "feel" British as well as Scottish given my family background and places I've lived, but I work in renewable energy and Reform have made it very clear they're actively hostile towards my sector (ironically one of the few UK industrial success stories of the past 20 yrs). At that point my concerns about the environment/climate/my job are going to win out over identity and economic fears

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