GREEN & BLUE INFRASTRUCTURE
Volunteers from the Burncross Action
Team and pupils from Ecclesfield
School and Windmill Hill Primary
School helped prepare the site for
sowing, which has led to an abundance
of wild blooms. They also created a
super bug hotel to encourage wildlife.
The wildflower annuals established
quickly and looked great the first
summer. Wildflower Perennial’s take
a year to establish so first flowered
in 2018. The wildflower display was
such that the team was proud to win
the Britain In Bloom 2018 ‘Platinum
award’ for their Burncross Gateway
Garden.
RHS Community Outreach Advisor,
Gavin Hardy comments,
“Previously a material-handling area
for Sheffield council the Burncross
Gateway Garden has a higher than
normal salt content and the raised
seeded areas are largely comprised
of loose road chippings making it
incredibly free draining. The team
at John Chambers provided us with
all the help and advice we needed to
choose a seed mix to thrive under such
challenging growing conditions and
the results have been outstanding.
The creation of a wildflower garden
has been a huge benefit to the local
community from the noticeable
increase in biodiversity to the
school engagement opportunities
the project has generated. One of
the big advantages for wildflower
areas for community groups is that
the maintenance required can be
relatively minimal, in this case
consisting of an annual cut in mid- This is a fine example of how beautiful
summer and the odd bit of weeding to a wildflower meadow can be if you
remove undesirable species. A small have the patience to see it through.
price to pay for one of the most eye- I am delighted that the Burncross
catching floral displays in the area.” Action Team are so pleased with the
John Chambers Wildflower Manager,
Stuart Ball added,
“Burncross Gateway Garden was an
old council depot which with the help
of the Burncross Action Team, the
Royal Horticultural Society, Ecclesfield
Comprehensive School and Windmill
Hill Primary School, was turned from
grey land into a green space with a
wildflower garden and landscaping.
results. The first year of sowing the
residents enjoyed a nice display of
Annuals coming through. Two years
on; there are many more species,
giving it more colour and attracting
more biodiversity. The annuals
have continued to pop through but
these have started to dwindle now as
they’ve done their job of giving colour
in Year 1 while the perennials were
establishing. The show this year is
simply stunning.”
Now in its fourth year, the RHS
Greening Great Britain programme
supported by M&G Investments
encourages communities to come
together to transform unused or
unloved sites into vibrant spaces
bursting with plants.
Rabbit Hill Business Park,
Great North Road, Arkendale,
North Yorkshire HG5 0FF
www.green-tech.co.uk