Many gardeners work hard to maintain clean, tidy environments … which is the exact opposite of what wildlife wants, says ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin. She shows the beauty of letting your garden run wild, surveying the success she’s had increasing biodiversity even in the middle of New York City — and offers tips for cultivating a garden that can be home to birds, bees, butterflies and more.
If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas:
Follow TED!
X:
Instagram:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Watch more:
TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at
#TED #TEDTalks
@GilesCuckow
March 29, 2024 at 8:26 am
I love her!
@rashidabaakza8554
March 29, 2024 at 8:27 am
I love this idea especially Hummingbird🧬red flowers example 🫰 and topic of wild gardening. It really makes sense that for our view we just get rid of nature. I love conservation parks, because it has only tiny passing lanes for walking and cycling, natural water streams and lots of wildlife. We always go to big museums and attractions to see set up of, ‘Amazon Forest’ and click pictures for social media. But in real life we find it untidy and unorganized. 👌🍀🌿🦅
@DoctorDew
March 29, 2024 at 8:39 am
Thank you, McMackin🥰🥲🙂I am twitterpated
@STEAMerBear
March 29, 2024 at 8:53 am
If you decide to garden for food instead of flowers, check out Korean Natural Farming. You can still be ecologically responsible and even incorporate what she’s teaching to encourage pollinators to visit by building especially biodiverse fence-lines/margins.
@beto.aveiga
March 29, 2024 at 8:54 am
Amazing… I wonder how this affects a gardener’s role 🤔
@darinherrick9224
March 29, 2024 at 9:12 am
Outlaw HOA restrictions on gardens. Federally outlaw them. Then we can have cactus in the desert and forest and grassland yards everywhere else.
@ElliotPorter65
March 29, 2024 at 9:22 am
Plant native ornamentals (to your country!)
@darinherrick9224
March 29, 2024 at 9:26 am
I think there’s a two-fold solution needed.
1. Remove restrictions on plants that can be grown everywhere so we can rewild.
2. Come up with a plan to protect people from dangerous plants, animals insects. We don’t want poison oak and killer wasps everywhere. We need to help keep the nasty predators we’ve protected with our actions from swarming.
@garciavashchino1
March 29, 2024 at 9:39 am
We don’t use our backyard all that much, and every end of season the leaves fall. I ask my wife if we can just leave the leaves up top, but she doesn’t want them up there because the neighbors will complain.
My grass was over 2 inches once when buying the home since we had not moved in it as of that time and we got a letter on our door to cut the grass from the town.
I might need to invest in walls to prohibit onlookers to make a difference.
@ronozoro4969
March 29, 2024 at 9:48 am
Beautiful thinking great work .
@gruniach9681
March 29, 2024 at 9:50 am
Thanks. Great speech!
@saranbhatia8809
March 29, 2024 at 11:22 am
Way to go….. great work 💯
@ernestomojica115
March 29, 2024 at 11:34 am
🍉
@GaryHurd
March 29, 2024 at 12:41 pm
Every state has a native plant society. We in California have county groups with one of my favorite activities – a native plant garden tour.
They will also help advise new native plant gardeners with what and when to plant.
Good luck, and best wishes.
@carmenochoa1278
March 29, 2024 at 1:27 pm
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🙌🏽❤
@zettaiengineer4202
March 29, 2024 at 2:11 pm
With the principle of minimal intervention, what exactly does an ecological horticulturalist do?
Millennial gardener: As little as possible.
@TouristPlacesinWorld-ld9zw
March 29, 2024 at 2:25 pm
नमस्ते❤🎉
@AyuCell-Intan
March 29, 2024 at 4:16 pm
🌹sometimes my mind wanders through the garden of my soul, happily recalling a time not too long ago when I was carefree, a captive of sunshine and deeply sensitive to the wonder in every flower bloom🌼
🌻
@ShahrezadNorMohammadiy9116
March 29, 2024 at 4:24 pm
🥀when we give attention to the flowers in our garden, our children or grandchildren, or a puppy, they grow and thrive. The same principle holds true with our thoughts. What we think about becomes our life. Focus on thoughts that serve you and help you grow. You don’t have to do what anybody else is doing. You do have to follow your heart and have strong intentions to grow in positive directions. If you are unhappy, change the circumstances of your life that are troubling you. Add by subtracting. Move toward joy, and attend to the thoughts and intentions that bring you joy. Notice all the good in our world and focus on thoughts that make you feel good. Are you ready for your miracle?
I know of no better way of ensuring success than being who you are. That’s what we are best at —being ourselves. If anyone does not like our intentions, even family members, that’s their problem. We must be brave enough to follow our own unique dreams. If you want a surefire way to become miserable, try to be something that doesn’t suit your soul to please other people. This world is challenging enough without trying to become someone we don’t want to become to gain the approval of others. The good news is that we can change the direction of our lives as soon as we change the direction of our thoughts. Small steps each day lead to long-term improvements in mood. No one can win this battle for us. The victory will mean that we bring our distinct and one-of-a-kind gifts to the world during our one precious life🌿
@ShahrezadNorMohammadiy9116
March 29, 2024 at 4:26 pm
🥀remember, it is not how you fall that counts
but how you rise,
for there is no such thing
as a life lived without mistakes,
and so what matters
is how you let them shape you
and who you choose to become…
@sjohnson6607
March 29, 2024 at 4:33 pm
Gardening is a long game … yes!
@alamofw1
March 29, 2024 at 7:14 pm
Excellent presentation on such an important topic. A very important message, very Well communicated.
@ghanditw
March 30, 2024 at 5:55 am
cameltoe
@kahlospirit24
March 31, 2024 at 5:05 am
And that’s your take home from this talk!
@00juwu
March 30, 2024 at 2:16 pm
really liked this one!
@ladel2o1a48
March 30, 2024 at 4:26 pm
YES GARDENING!!! YES NATURE!!!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤
@maggietaylor9713
March 30, 2024 at 5:14 pm
Thankyou 🙏
by combining growing food for ourselves and the pollinators everybody wins. So simple and yet rarely practiced. Let’s all start doing it now. ❤
@skullandbones1832
March 30, 2024 at 6:16 pm
💚
@annaward4606
March 30, 2024 at 9:47 pm
I own a small landscaping business in Central Colorado and this is exactly what we encourage our customers to do. People love the results. They find a renewed connection and wonder in their small yards. It is environmental activism when so many people feel helpless. We have a misconception that we have to control our yards so it can be very difficult for some people. A natural or ecological gardener helps to facilitate what nature would do on her own time, we help speed up the process.
@whitebluepower4365
April 1, 2024 at 3:56 pm
Great idea! But I think that sometimes people cultivate their own gardens in a way that majority does because they are afraid of fire among their thickets of lush vegetation or don’t want to transform nearby garden into the forest . As a professional , do you have some tips for it and how to control garden but to do it healthy both for pollinators and human?
@MermanManly
March 31, 2024 at 3:20 am
💕🌺🐞
@halolosers
March 31, 2024 at 10:45 am
Was I the only one that thought this was a video to talk about growing your bush? 😅
@China-129
March 31, 2024 at 12:09 pm
“People write negative things, cause they feel that’s what sells. Good news to them doesn’t sell.” *-Michael Jackson*
@francesbernard2445
March 31, 2024 at 2:23 pm
That sounds like all great ideas to me. Way better than being a people pleaser trying way too hard to make my garden look properly cultivated when sitting next to a perfectly manicured green lawn with not one quack grass blade and not even one dandylion present there. People pleasing only while being very careful to not disturb the sensiblities of all those who seem to fear only environmentalists like Rebecca McMackin most. People pleasing only which is always going to be a losing game.
@mubashshirmusa2443
March 31, 2024 at 2:35 pm
Don’t forget to introduce mosquitoes
@rich-ard-style6996
March 31, 2024 at 3:27 pm
Yes. To much chemicals in every Suburb .
@samshakiroff8340
March 31, 2024 at 3:30 pm
Thank you,Excellent presentation!!!
@rich-ard-style6996
March 31, 2024 at 3:32 pm
People di not care enough for our companions sand the word l”its a nonsense animal” is what is said. But there is no nonsense animal in this world at all.
@rich-ard-style6996
March 31, 2024 at 3:36 pm
Thank you for this beautiful speech. I had one year SEVEN different Butterflies in my garden, bc I do not spray, a lot of different pollinators too. Instead if buying herbs planting themselves in your garden helps insects and a bird bath (keep it clean) ❗️
@rich-ard-style6996
March 31, 2024 at 3:38 pm
Use your garden for food and veggie plants snd bees and butterflies, makes it a sanctuary
@sperng1
March 31, 2024 at 9:19 pm
👏
@techwithdipufrom0ton621
April 1, 2024 at 3:23 am
❤ this talk.
I see the saver of biodiversity has descended to this beautiful lady, Rebecca McMackin, to recover the biodiversity.
Let’s join the saver to save the biodiversity. I’m already in
@HarendraKumar-my4le
April 1, 2024 at 10:04 am
5:39 It’s one of the example of “Mutualism”, where both organism benefitted itself! Being Bio student always happy while reading, watching even observing such nature wonders…
@Ritza.Elefteria.Michaki
April 1, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Insecure did not despair, it’s Fack Stop saying they despair. They arrive inside your house but we don’t realize it. We are the ones WHO will despair since we’re intelligent and in the same time stupid.
@bogreen1872
April 1, 2024 at 5:18 pm
I had to click to see if this was about gardening or grooming.
@jatc11yey
April 1, 2024 at 9:37 pm
Name a more beautiful plant name than pearly everlasting 😊😊😊
@user-rc6bu4vu3x
April 2, 2024 at 2:52 am
Hallelujah!!!! The daily jesus devotional has been a huge part of my transformation, God is good 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻was owning a loan of $47,000 to the bank for my son’s brain surgery (David), Now I’m no longer in debt after I invested $12,000 and got my payout of m $270,500 every months,God bless Chloe Linda Henderson🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸..
@Jorge_Zarate_DSL
April 2, 2024 at 8:32 am
The nerdiest and sexiest gardener, you’re great! I loved this Ted Talk