Hello,

First of all, sorry if this is not the appropriate subforum to post.

I have dedicated no time to my land as what I like most about it is letting it thrive with life. I just clear the property once a year. This lack of dedication and "let it be" philosophy for some years has resulted in 90% of the plot being covered by stinging nettle and 10% by brambles.

I want to recover the land so it has more variety of plants with the hope of bringing more wildlife. I will also stripe-mow it so my cats can enjoy it too (they are very old, won't damage wildlife too much).

The plot's size is around 1,000 square meters (0,25 acres). I have now mowed/cleared half of it, I have several questions:

Please, take into account that I would prefer my actions to have the least impact to the wildlife.

1) By what I have read so far, the process should be to clear the brambles and dig them out. And preferably dig the stinging nettles out without mowing them (which I already have done :/). Is this correct?

2) I think that the last time that I collected what I cleared was three years a go, meaning that the soil is covered with rotten plants. As a consecuence, how do I plant the native plants? Do I need to till the land and then plant the native plants?

3) In case tilling is the best solution, won't it "mass-destruct" all life on the land, at least this year?

4) What about covering the plot with plastic for a year (this also very bad for the wildlife)?

5) This year spring is coming earlier and stronger than ever where I live, is it too late to do anything about it now? Should I let it be this year too and prepare now for what I should be doing next autumn?

Thank you very much, I hope its not too thick!

You're going to have to give us some idea of where this is.

If you have land that has been allowed to fend for itself... I really doubt that it only has brambles and stinging nettle.

Property that has reverted to wild is where I prefer to spend my time... And that kind of land is never monoculture.

Suggest giving it more time, and get a plant person to point out the stuff that you are missing.

I'd do it... If you were nearby.

Re the brambles? lots of stuff eats the berries, and the entire plant is medicinal.

The stinging nettles are edible, and, Some people use them to feed the soil.
https://homesteadandchill.com/...

Your place sounds really nice... Hope that you don't go too nuts trying to make it be something else.

Welcome New Forum Member, and hurrah for going for some natural landscaping.
This may not be exactly what you're interested in, and is almost certainly not from your area, but here's a link to some information you might find useful:
https://wildseedproject.net/20...
This tends to be an ongoing, multi-year project, don't expect it to be one-and done.

to NGA
One of our members has been converting her acreage to a native prairie. Here is a link to her thread.
https://garden.org/thread/go/1...
Maybe she'd be willing to offer some pointers.
@gardengus - Cinda, how is the prairie project doing?

Thank you very much for your welcoming and answers!

@stone , writing from southern Europe, close to the atlantic, with an annual mean temperature of 14° (57 °F) and around 1200mm (50inches) rainfall. The land is near a river and sun hits all day through. Yeah, there probably is more plants than those two I mentioned, I will attach a picture later to see what you think? Thank you very much for volunteering to help me, I have been thinking about contacting some local organisation to help me figure out this stuff. So far, I have decided to keep half of the plot as it is and need to decide what to do with the half that I have already cleared.

@MsDoe , the header of the article you provided is exactly what I'd like the plot to look like and the article has very valuable information so thank you very much.

@NMoasis, thank you for the link to the thread. That is indeed what I am looking for. I see she uses some tarp to cover land and then plant the native plants. I might have to do that. Thank you.

Hello again, I took some photos of the plot that hopefully might be helpful.

I also hope the post not to bee too dense, here is the "index" of the images I will upload:

CLEARED HALF
1 picture

CLEARED STINGING NETTLE
3 pictures

CLEARED BRAMBLE
2 pictures

DIFFERENCE CLEARED and NON CLEARED AREA
1 picture

COMPARISON PICTURE
2 pictures

NON-CLEARED AREA PLANTS
3 pictures

--

CLEARED HALF



CLEARED STINGING NETTLE






As you can see, the field has a considerable layer of rotten flora from previous clearings, the soil is nowhere visible. If I wanted to plant native plants, I believe I'd have to get rid of existing mulching in order to ensure that the seeds make contact with the soil. I think that this could be one way to recover the plot:

Rake the cleared area of the plot.
Get rid of existing mulching.
Probably clear the area again.
Cover the land with a tarp for some time
Plant the seeds.

This actually looks like at least a couple seasons project. Could this work? Do you see any alternatives?

CLEARED BRAMBLE





This is the biggest patch of bramble. Around 2 meter (6,5 ft) wide and 4 meters long area.

DIFFERENCE CLEARED AND NON CLEARED AREA



COMPARISON PICTURE
First picture was taken in September 2021 and second one on March 2023:





NON CLEARED AREA PLANTS








I am sorry this is too dense, thank you for your attention.

I like the direction you're taking. Save some of the nettles. There's allot you can do with them. Were it me the brambles would go. There are so many meadow/prairie plants to look into. Exciting project!

You could plant through mulch. Clear small areas and spread seed or plant plants. If you disturb the mulch it will allow more weed seeds to germinate than if you clear small planting spots.

I agree. I'd be inclined to leave the matted undergrowth for mulch, insulation and eventual compost.

Thank you very much all. I think I now know what to do, I have to do some research on how to do it tho. Thank you very much, hopefully I'll keep this thread uptaded with some meadow pictures in the future!