Woodland and scrub / Grassland / Private project
Project details
Manor Stables is a rural property in Rippingale, Lincolnshire, where we have spent six years increasing habitat diversity across our 4-acre site—including roadside verges, a 150m drive, house grounds, a ¼-acre lime copse, and a 3.5-acre paddock.
When we arrived, the paddock was simply grazed pasture. Since then, we’ve created a 20×10m drawdown pond, planted hundreds of trees and shrubs, established a new hedge connecting our copse to surrounding boundary hedgerows, and balanced mown paths with areas left to naturally regenerate.
We take an experimental and eclectic approach rather than following a strict rewilding model. Alongside native planting, we planted a 13-variety fruit orchard and grow willow and eucalyptus as fuel crops. We are interested in seeing how different approaches affect the landscape.
Wildlife has responded brilliantly: bird species have gone from very few to over 50, alongside bats, badgers, foxes, muntjac, visiting barn owls, and breeding tawny owls.
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