Designing a Wildlife Garden in Devon

Beautiful, Functional, and Genuinely Biodiverse

Devon is one of the most biodiverse counties in England. Ancient hedgerows, diverse agricultural landscapes, coastal habitats, and the connectivity provided by the county's river systems create conditions that support species no longer found in more intensively managed parts of the country. Gardens in Devon sit within this context, and the design decisions made in them have a meaningful effect on local biodiversity.

At Unique Projects, wildlife garden design is not a compromise between aesthetics and ecology. Done well, it is the most interesting and rewarding form of garden making.

The Connectivity Principle

A garden, however well designed for wildlife, has limited ecological value in isolation. Its value increases significantly when it forms part of a connected network of habitats that allows species to move through the landscape. In Devon, the ancient hedgerow network provides this connectivity at the field and parish scale. Gardens that incorporate native hedging, permeable boundaries, and links to adjacent green spaces contribute to this network.

Simple interventions with significant impact include leaving gaps at the base of fences (hedgehog highways), using permeable rather than solid boundary treatments, and choosing hedging plants that provide food and nesting habitat for birds and insects.

Native Planting as a Design Tool

Native plant species have evolved alongside the native insects, birds, and mammals of this landscape over thousands of years. A native oak supports hundreds of insect species. A native hawthorn in flower provides a food source for early pollinators, nesting habitat for birds, and late-season berries that sustain fieldfares and redwings through winter.

The design challenge is to use native species not as a compromise but as a positive aesthetic choice. A well-designed native hedgerow or wildflower planting scheme is visually beautiful through a sequence of seasonal interest that no formal planting can replicate: the sequence moves from snowdrops and celandine in late winter through the wildflower peak of May and June to the late summer seed heads and autumn colour.

The Wildlife Pond

A garden pond of almost any size has a disproportionate positive impact on local biodiversity. In a county with healthy amphibian populations, a well-designed pond will be colonised by frogs and newts within one or two seasons without any deliberate introduction. Dragonflies and damselflies, of which Devon has a remarkable diversity, will follow.

Design considerations for a wildlife pond include: avoiding fish (which destroy amphibian populations), including shallow marginal areas for amphibian access and emergence, using clay liner where possible rather than plastic, and planting with native aquatic and marginal species rather than ornamental exotics.

Managed Roughness

The best wildlife gardens include areas that are deliberately less managed: a log pile in a shady corner, an area of longer grass with native wildflowers seeded in, a section of hedge left to develop naturally. These areas of managed roughness provide the habitat complexity that makes a garden genuinely functional for wildlife.

The skill is in integrating these areas with the designed and maintained sections of the garden so that the whole reads as intentional rather than neglected. This is a design challenge we find genuinely interesting to solve.

Biodiversity Net Gain and Planning

For clients undertaking significant development or garden redesign, the concept of biodiversity net gain is increasingly relevant. New planning requirements in many areas mandate that development delivers a measurable improvement in biodiversity compared to the pre-development baseline. A well-documented wildlife garden design can contribute meaningfully to demonstrating compliance.

Contact Unique Projects to discuss a wildlife-focused garden design for your Devon property.