In 2022, Incredible Edible Garforth joined the Grow Wild Community Programme to transform unloved land into Garforth Community Wildlife Area. We caught up with volunteers Joy, Gemma and Alex who told us how their project has since developed with the support of a Grow Wild Maintenance Grant.
Building a community wildlife haven
In the first year of their Grow Wild project, Incredible Edible Garforth planted a native hedgerow and wildflowers, created a path, a den building area, a compost zone, hedgehog houses and a pond, as well as hosting a community workshop.
Read more about how their project started out.
With the Grow Wild Maintenance Grant we’ve been able to keep developing our wildlife area. We have built a composting toilet to increase accessibility for visitors, set up a bird feeding station to attract more wildlife, and added extras to the pond area. We’ve also planted foxgloves, poppies, lavender, a cherry tree and cobnuts, as well as edibles including raspberries, gooseberries, and jostaberries.
Our robin has been coming since we started working in the garden a few years ago, sitting and watching us wherever we're working.
We’ve installed a camera trap, and it's exciting to see what’s been coming into the wildlife garden. There's a lot of activity around the pond; we've got videos of hedgehogs, newts, frogs, birds (including great tits, mistle thrushes, goldfinches, jackdaws, blackbirds and a little robin). Our robin has been coming since we started working in the garden a few years ago, sitting and watching us wherever we're working.
Blackbird caught on camera at Garforth Community Wildlife Area
We made a willow dome and tunnel because we had an area of really boggy ground. Although it wasn't part of the initial plan, the willow is feeding butterflies, absorbing excess water, and providing a wildlife habitat. A big part of the project now is observing the wildlife, but we’ve also been hosting activities such as apple juicing sessions and forest school sessions with preschool children. We have a family bird workshop in a couple of weeks time, where families can make bird boxes, feeders and binoculars.
There are all sorts of other things we want to do in the space, such as introducing more plants and bird boxes. Our priority this year is to get more community groups involved and using the space; we are in touch with local schools and scouting groups, and they are keen to visit.
The willow dome at Garforth Community Wildlife Area
It’s hard to know whether to remove plants to allow for more varied plantings (and attract different sorts of animals) or leave it for the benefit it’s already providing.
There's been a couple of challenges during the project. The first is how to deal with plant monocultures. In our space there's a lot of brambles, which take up a lot of space. When we cleared some of them, we ended up with wild garlic everywhere, which was a surprise. It’s hard to know whether to remove plants to allow for more varied plantings (and attract different sorts of animals) or leave it for the benefit it’s already providing.
Another challenge is getting the right balance between the space’s accessibility and the wildlife friendliness. We’ve managed to find this balance now; wanting it to be a wildlife area that’s also somewhere people can enjoy. We think there's an opportunity to have two zones: one aimed at protecting wildlife with limited access for people, and another that people can access anytime.
Everybody enjoys coming and generally tend to come back, saying they feel so relaxed in the garden.
The project’s social impact on the community and the emerging friendships among people attending our volunteering sessions has been really noticeable. Everybody enjoys coming and generally tend to come back, saying they feel so relaxed in the garden.
More about Grow Wild's Community Programme
