Artificial Intelligences often get a bad rap. To me they're a little bit magic. Take today. It's distressing to see our garden in such poor shape thanks to a summer of heatwaves. It's clearly time to create a more climate-resilient, wildlife-supporting garden. So I asked AI about it.
It would've taken me hours of research via a search engine. It took ChatGPT a few seconds. I removed all the AI formatting to make it easier to read, which took no time. And now I have a workable plan. Result!
My question to ChatGPT
This was my question:
Because of climate change, our hilly garden in Devon UK is either extremely wet or extremely dry. Winter 2025 and summer 2026 have been particularly acute. We believe this is the new normal.
The thick, sticky grey-yellow clay underneath most of the garden dries rock hard in spring-summer. It's a badly drained bog through autumn-winter. The difference is dramatic. The lawned areas veer from bone dry to so swampy we can't walk on the grass.
In one area there's a permanently soggy strip of rich, damp earth made from decades of fallen beech leaves. In another there's a small, deep spring-fed bog surrounded by a few feet of marshy land. And we have a tiny copse of various native trees where we hang nest boxes.
This garden has always been a challenge. I've already decided to work with the conditions rather than fight them. I've let large areas go completely wild, welcoming native plants. There's no such thing as a weed! I've put flowers in pots instead of struggling with the clay soil, minimised lawned bits, made an enormous wildlife pond, and am trying to find cultivated flowers and shrubs likely to survive these weather conditions going forwards.
We have two types of lizard, all sorts of amphibians, many different rodents, more than 30 bird species, a wealth of interesting insects including butterflies, moths and dragonflies, plus hedgehogs, moles, and regular visits by badgers, deer and foxes. Our garden is basically a wildlife refuge.
At the moment there isn't enough food or water for wildlife. The stream bordering the garden has completely dried up. Even the most rugged native and cultivated plants are suffering badly. Established trees are dying, plants are drying to a crisp, flowers aren't flowering, everything has stopped growing.
I'm going to add more water sources for wildlife, including more bird baths and easy access shallow pools. I'd like to replace some more or the lawn with something different and exciting so I'd like your thoughts on that. The bolder and more unusual, the better. I'd love to hear your ideas to help us make a climate-resilient, wildlife-supporting garden. Can you advise and inspire me?
ChatGPT's answer
Here's what ChatGPT said:
"What you've described is exactly the sort of garden that may become increasingly valuable in the future. Many conventional gardens are designed around a climate that no longer exists. Yours already contains something far more important: a functioning ecosystem.
You have three huge advantages:
* Water naturally collects on the site.
* You've already embraced wildlife.
* You're willing to work with the land rather than against it.
If I owned your garden, I wouldn't try to create a traditional 'beautiful garden' at all. I'd create a small-scale Devon wetland reserve with ornamental planting woven through it.
First: Think Like a Beaver
Your greatest challenge isn't drought or flooding. It's that water arrives and then disappears. The goal is not drainage. The goal is water retention. Think of the garden as a sponge.
The wildlife pond is probably the single best thing you've done. Every litre of rainwater held in the pond is a litre that remains available during July and August.
If space allows, I'd go further and create a chain of tiny ponds, seasonal scrapes (shallow depressions that flood in winter), marshy swales and rain gardens.
Replace Lawn With Something More Interesting
Lawns are surprisingly poor wildlife habitats and often the first thing to suffer during drought. A wildflower meadow is good. Not the neat, colourful seed-packet version. A rough, untidy version with knapweed, oxeye daisy, devil's-bit scabious, bird's-foot trefoil, selfheal and yarrow. This will support huge numbers of pollinators.
Tall waving native grasses can be stunning. Try tufted hair grass, purple moor grass and meadow foxtail. The movement, texture and wildlife value are extraordinary.
Your permanently damp beech-leaf area sounds fascinating. I'd lean into it completely to make a mini-fen. Plant meadowsweet, ragged robin, marsh marigold, purple loosestrife, greater bird's-foot trefoil and water mint to create something that resembles a tiny fragment of lost Devon wetland.
A moss garden is a slightly eccentric idea. Where conditions are wet and shaded, encourage moss instead of fighting it. Japanese gardeners spend fortunes trying to create what Devon produces naturally. A mature moss garden can look magical.
Create climate refuges for wildlife, places that stay cool during heatwaves. I would deliberately make 'dead hedge banks' where you pile branches and brash between posts to provide shade, moisture retention, insect habitat and nesting sites. Or log jungles, big piles of random wood loved by beetles, fungi, amphibians and hedgehogs.
Bramble sanctuaries may sound heretical to gardeners. But a controlled patch of bramble is one of Britain's most productive wildlife habitats. Flowers for pollinators, fruit for birds, shelter for mammals.
A bold option? A Devon jungle including natives and exotics. Climate models suggest much of southern Britain may experience hotter summers and wetter winters. Some surprisingly exotic-looking plants already thrive in south west Britain. Consider rodgersia, darmera, tetrapanax, gunnera, Japanese anemones, ligularia and persicaria. The effect can be spectacular.
Feed Wildlife Through the Drought
One of the biggest hidden problems now is lack of insects. Plant more late-flowering species like ivy (invaluable), verbena bonariensis, sedums, Michaelmas daisies, hemp agrimony and devil's-bit scabious. When everything else has finished, these keep pollinators alive.
Consider a Wet Forest
Your copse could evolve into something resembling a tiny wet woodland. Species that tolerate flooding and drought surprisingly well include alder, goat willow, downy birch, rowan, guelder rose and hazel. Underplant with ferns, primroses, foxgloves and wood avens to support insects, birds and mammals year-round.
The Wildest Idea
Create a Climate Ark. Instead of a garden organised around human preferences, organise it around wildlife needs. Every new feature answers one question: What will still work during six weeks without rain and three months of winter flooding? The answer is usually more water storage, more shade, more trees, more dead wood, more structural diversity and less lawn. The wonderful thing is that almost every measure that increases climate resilience also increases wildlife abundance.
Many people spend thousands trying to make their gardens look like a perfect magazine photograph. You have the opportunity to create something rarer: a living landscape where dragonflies breed, amphibians thrive, birds nest, hedgehogs forage, badgers visit, and the garden becomes more beautiful precisely because it is alive. In fifty years, gardens like yours may prove to be among the most important pieces of wildlife habitat in Britain outside nature reserves.
I have to say, your garden sounds wonderful
As I was reading your description, I found myself thinking, This isn't really a garden any more—it's becoming a nature reserve with a house attached. Many people talk about supporting wildlife, but very few have the combination of features you already possess: clay soils that hold water, natural boggy areas, a spring, mature trees, a stream corridor, varied topography, and a homeowner who is prepared to let nature take the lead. That's an incredibly powerful starting point.
What particularly caught my attention was the spring-fed bog. Most gardeners would spend years trying to get rid of it. Ecologists would get excited about it. Wetlands are among the most threatened habitats in Britain, and even a tiny one can support a surprising range of specialist insects, amphibians, mosses, fungi and plants.
The beech-leaf bog sounds equally intriguing. Decades of leaf litter create exactly the sort of rich, moisture-retaining soil that becomes a refuge during drought. If I were wandering around your garden, that's one of the first places I'd want to explore.
One thought that occurred to me is that you might consider creating a garden map based on moisture levels rather than traditional garden zones. Think permanent wetland, winter wet/summer damp, winter wet/summer dry, permanent shade, drought refuge and sunny south-facing slope. Note where frost lingers, which patches stay green during drought, where the first butterflies appear, which areas amphibians favour, where birds forage most often, and which plants survive without help. Then choose plants that naturally belong in each zone. Once you start doing this, gardening becomes much easier because you're no longer asking plants to fight the site.
The really exciting thing is that your garden may be entering its most interesting phase. Traditional gardening often aims for control and predictability. Wildlife gardening rewards observation and surprise. You never quite know what will turn up next. One year it might be another type of dragonfly breeding in the pond. The next, a new orchid or a rare moth. An expanding breeding population of frogs or newts, expanding into areas they couldn't previously use. These discoveries become part of the pleasure.
As a fellow lover of the slightly unconventional, I know some experiments will fail. Others will become the parts of the garden you love most."
Not AI 'slop'
As you can see AI's response is well written, useful, inspiring, accurate and creative. It even manages to sound warm, friendly and interested!
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