Developing Realistic Expectations

Your efforts will be more gratifying if you develop realistic expectations for your project. You can build realistic expectations by quantifying each of these factors:

Projected costs Anticipated time commitment on your part Project timeline

Anticipating your time - A restoration project is as much a commitment of your time as it is your money. For some of the approaches, the major portion of the work is completed during the first year. But additional time may be spent in the following years for some maintenance work. Patience is important. Depending on the current condition of your property and the approach you select, it is possible that it may take 2-3 years before you begin to see the effect of your efforts.

Suggested Timeline

Estimating the Outcome - With the information you have accumulated, you have a base for estimating the outcome of your project.

Ecological Reality - No matter how much time and money you have, you will never be able to replicate the complexity of nature. Restoration is a methodology for re-creating natural habitat - it is not a substitute for nature.

For all these reasons, it helps to factor in patience as a necessary resource when developing realistic expectations.