In 2007 we created our popular Wildlife Garden with grant funding from the National Lottery Awards for All programme.
The garden was created on part of the site where bee orchids had been found, adjacent to the small river. You can find out more about how we created the garden here: Wildlife Garden » Dorset Road Allotments.
Every year the garden gets a little bit wilder and is host to lots of mammals, amphibians, lizards, insects and birds… not to mention a fox family that likes to sunbath next to the pond.
Unfortunately, after 18 years the wooden dipping platform is deteriorating and the pond needs a new liner. The interpretative signs have also faded in the sun and brambles are trying to take over!
Fortunately we have a team of Duke of Edinburgh volunteers who have started to tame the garden and make it more welcoming. On day one they have started to cut back brambles and lay new bark chipping on the paths.
We are also fundraising to build a new and bigger pond dipping platform as well as replace the liner and sub-liner. We plan to have new interpretative signs made and some additional benches. It’s also time for the native hedge around the perimeter to be ‘laid’.
There’s lots of work to do to reclaim the wildlife garden and ensure it can be safely used for the next 20 years! Watch this space for fundraising activities and progress reports.
Thank you to everyone who attended our open day. It was a lovely sunny autumn day. And thanks to those who helped set up, ran stalls and served food. Our next open day will be in May 2025.
