• Garnock Connections

    Connecting people and places within the Landscape

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Growing For Garnock

Wildflower meadows and riparian woodland habitats have been identified as key habitats in the Garnock Connections area and are priorities for habitat improvement work.

Eadha Enterprises manage a specialist tree nursery growing rare native species with a focus on aspen and willow.  Through the Growing For Garnock Project, they have expanded their range of target species to include a range of wildlflowers, shrubs and plants.

As part of Growing for Garnock they also teamed up with people from our local communities to conduct seed gathering, sowing, and planting work. Together they grew some plants from seed and cuttings while others were translocated, with permission, from local ancient woodland sites. These species included Bluebell, Dog Violet, Dog’s Mercury, Wood Sorrel, Enchanters Nightshade, Broadleaved Helleborine, Wood Avens, Wild Strawberry, Germander Speedwell, Ramsons, Honeysuckle, Primrose, Red Campion, Sweet Woodruff and Greater Woodrush.

We worked with a wide range of groups and organisations, including local primary schools and youth groups, to instil an interest and awareness of nature in participants who may have had limited connection before, providing new skills and learning. The project aimed to connect participants to their local environment and promote a sense of pride and stewardship.

Eadha Enterprises supervised and led visits to key habitat sites within the project area where participants could learn about the native plants found there, including their identification and traditional uses. Seeds and cuttings were collected in follow up visits for propagation at Eadha’s nursery or at schools. Site visits were run by expert botanical guides.

The project also led to the improvement of habitats at various sites within the project area through enhancement planting. Together with the projects that make up our Habitat Network, along with Community Habitat Restoration, we have had the chance to make a massive difference to the greenspaces in the Garnock Connections landscape.

Click HERE to see the presentation that Peter Livingstone delivered at our Year Two Celebration event in July 2020. Peter is the CEO of Eadha Enterprises and managed this project.

Watch this fantastic video that sums up what the project has achieved over the course of the partnership, and hear from some passionate participants who have been involved in some of the exciting work through Growing for Garnock:

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Outputs achieved

300 people trained

5227 wild plants planted

1950 trees planted

206 wildflower plugs and shrubs planted

1 education pack produced

1 film produced

1 new access route created

1 exhibition developed and displayed

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Did you know?

Did you know that while new planted native woodlands can benefit many types of wildlife, often they lack the diversity ground flora to be found in ancient woodlands, as these species can take many hundreds of years to become established and some may never find their way there naturally.

Contact Details

Name: Peter Livingstone

Email: peter@eadha.co.uk

Phone: 07968 745 196