Ideas for putting more nature into my life

[Slicesofquince]

I spent most of my childhood and majority of my adult life in the countryside. I was the child who kept caterpillars in jars until they turned into butterflies, had tadpoles in an aquarium watching as they turned into frogs, watched sticky buds open into leaves.. As an adult I spent hours outdoors in my garden, helping in practical conservation projects, walking for miles.

Now, through force of circumstances, I find myself stuck in a flat in the bleak suburbs of a major city. I look out of my window and see a litter strewn street and parked cars. I have no garden - the only birds I see are feral pigeons and crows.

I pine for nature and am asking for your ideas about how I can bring more of it into my life.

Sorry OP, that sounds very hard! I'd look at two fronts - at home and adventures. At home, maybe focus on houseplants, see if you can make your flat lush and green on the inside? Things like ferns and spider plants can be easily divided and propagated so they can keep you busy and you get new plants for free!

Then maybe you can plan adventures in your free time - do you have a car? Can you go climb mountains or visit waterfalls at weekends to get your fix? Or even day trips on the train?

Sounds like you're being proactive and making plans ready, best of luck with it!

Can you get to put in your flat:

• indoor plants
• a fish tank
• a pet
• pictures of nature to hang on the walls

Somehow bring the nature in ?

People do that urban jungle thing where they plant bee friendly flowers on roundabouts. Maybe that?

Obviously plants etc in your home but don’t forget the power of your mind, try some guided meditations through nature and waterfalls, have some nice earthy scents around and nature sounds audio playing.

If that is too hippy…,
Go to a gallery to see paintings of beautiful landscapes and nature.

Do You have nature art work? Don’t underestimate how nice that can be to fill your space with. Also physically bringing bits of nature home from your walks. Pine cones and such. Craft your own pieces, the classic being a wreath but you can be more experimental than that.

When you say you are stuck in a flat do you mean that's just where you live or you physically can't get out of your flat?

You can certainly bring nature in with house plants. Could you have window bows to plant things that would attract bees? They are mesmerising to watch. I also suspect there are other smaller birds out there that you can't see. Maybe a good pair of binoculars to try and see other birds? If getting out is hard is there someone who can take you for a drive in the countryside?

Window boxes that should say.

Yes to houseplants. Hanging ones and trailing ones are great.
Fish tanks are easy to keep too.
You could get one of those wallpapers with a forest picture and put it on one of your walls.

Are you able to go out for walks? Most cities have large parks that are served by public transport and can be very much 'urban oasis'.

If you're housebound, I know it's not the same but there's lots of webcams where you can see all sorts of nature, for example.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/

Do you have a balcony that you could put a nest box up on or something like a small insect hotel?

Get your name down for an allotment. Also have a look at local farms, sometimes they do private allotment rental. Join community gardening efforts or permaculture groups, we have a group near us creating a food forest in the middle of town. Learn how to keep bees? Plant wildflowers around your area? Befriend the crows!

One of my colleagues gets the coach (she reports cheaper than trains) and goes for hikes in nice places, another volunteers at an urban wildlife place in London.

There are some amazing nature shows on iPlayer and YouTube, you could leave them running on your tv as a background to daily chores

Can you get out much? There's an explosion of community gardening, adopt a plot etc at the moment. Your nearest neighbours with gardens may welcome you taking a bit over. Ask your local councillor or community centre who will know.

Could you grow your own small veg, cut and come again salad, tomatoes and chilli, that sort of thing.

What about one of those bird feeders you put on a window with suction cups?

House bunny?

Have you got room for a banana plant in the flat, they can grow massive like having an indoor tree.

Are there parks and green areas you can get to?
Nothing beats that but you could also have lots of houseplants, herbs in your kitchen, pictures up on the walls, nature screensavers, nature sounds like streams and waterfalls playing at times.

Loads of plants. Easy. Propagate them and it can be very cheap. Don't bring caterpillars, butterflies, tadpoles or frogs inside again; it's cruel.

Fresh herbs inside
Floral and leafy artwork and decor
Rainforest or bird song playing on Alexa
Walk barefoot on grass whenever you can
A bird feeder that attaches to outside of your window

An aerogarden or similar which has lights so you can grow tomatoes, lettuce or chilli.
Definitely look around to see what community garden projects there are.

How tied are you OP?

Children?
Work?

I mean by that do you NEED to stay there.

So many estates look for individual or couple to help with gardens and provide accommodation. Same for farms.

Can that be a longer term project. To look at relocating?

Shorter term butterflies. I've had such amount of joy from the caterpillar kits and growing them to butterflies. They don't take up much space at all and are so satisfying and beautiful to nurture.

Ultimately though, as a fellow country blood are there ways we can help you explore how to get back to that.

Do you have a hospice (or similar) which has a garden in your city? If so, I am sure that they would like someone to volunteer to weed the garden or prune the shrubs etc. You also get the feel good factor that you ate helping terminally ill people to enjoy the outdoor space that the hospice has to offer.

Find about local conservation volunteers. It's surprising how many small pockets of nature there are in cities, tucked away by railway lines for instance, with groups of people looking after them.