The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside has officially opened a new wildlife garden at its HQ.
Some of the beavers who helped create the garden with Anne Kingston, the Trust's publicity officer.
Staff of the Trust at its HQ, the Barn, Cuerden Park, Bamber
Bridge, produced a small wildlife garden next to the car park as a
place for staff and visitors to sit outside and enjoy wildlife. A small amount of funding was obtained for materials and plants and there were generous donations of
a recycled plastic picnic bench, trees and plants.
The hard work was provided by Trust staff, volunteers and a local Beaver pack working
towards their environmental badges.
Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidaries) on chives (Allium schoenoprasum) in the garden.
To inaugurate the garden, celebrate World Environment Day and link the whole project with the Wildlife Trust/RHS 'Wild about Gardens' campaign, the Trust held a 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party' on Sunday 5 June. Many of the Trust's staff and the Beavers responsible for building the garden were present on a beautifully sunny afternoon.
A good area (about the size of a 'medium' sized plot) has been given over to the garden. A circular seating area (housing the picnic bench) is the focal point of the design and a stylish curved path leads to this, nicely sectioning the garden into several different compartments. There are areas of naturalistic meadow and more formal elements with cultivated, wildlife-friendly, garden plants. Despite being a young garden, it has impact and, as it matures, it will potentially be a vibrant space for people to meet and relax amongst the wildlife. As well as being a place where staff can escape the confines of the office when they have only a few minutes to spare, it could also be used to great advantage as a resource to educate visitors to the Trust and the surrounding park about the benefits and techniques of gardening for wildlife.
