Wetland Creation, East Sussex

Looking to improve the water cycle within the landscape, we designed and built a new wetland area which connects two self feeding ponds and a seasonal stream.

This new area adds a whole new feel to the beautiful 8 acre family garden in which it sits and supports the creation of new aquatic habitat, boosting biodiversity across the land, water retention and infiltration in the soil and aquifer below reduce risk of drought, and attracting new wildlife such as herons and ducks.

To start the project we undertook a detailed topographic survey of the land, understanding how water moves across the landscape - mapping the veins of the land. The goal was to store as much water on the land as possible and create rich new habitat. We built a large scrape and wetland area fed by a beautiful stream that flows seasonally from October to June.

The wetland area catches any rainfall from the fields above and the pond runoff. We planted a mix of water loving trees such as Alder and Willow and sowed riverside grasses and flowers to cover and hold the newly disturbed soil. 

Overall, the scrape soon filled with huge success and holds a tremendous amount of water which gently seeps into the ground over time. The wetland area has created incredible habitat for insects, amphibians, fish, ducks, deer and now herons have arrived to catch their breakfast. New species of grass and sedge have appeared and the whole area bursts into life each spring.

We are incredibly pleased with these results and look forward to observing its progress further.