The Greening of North Dublin City – Wildflower planting, bulb and tree planting, and bee friendly planting.
Cllr. Deirdre Heney wishes to advise constituents about Dublin City Council’s greening of areas on the city’s northside.
10,000 square metres of spring bulbs have been planted, along with 5,000 square metres of wildflowers, and 130 square metres of specially designed bee and butterfly bulb mix has been sown as part of a city-wide trial.
Fergus O’Carroll, Senior Executive Parks and Landscape Officer says “over 10,000 square metres of spring bulb planting has been carried out across the north city that focused on prominent locations that had previously little or no seasonal interest or colour or bio-diversity value along the commuter routes into the city. These areas include Artane, Donaghmede, Donnycarney, Finglas Village, Cabra, Ballymun and Santry.”
He explained “the bulbs included 15 varieties of narcissus, muscari and 15 varieties of tulip to provide an early source of food for pollinating insects and also colourful impact early on in the season. Camassia, Gladioli and Alliums extend the flowering period into May, again supporting biodiversity and reducing the need for mowing.”
Another part of this ongoing work involved planting over 700,000 early flowering spring bulbs in blues and white along the main avenue in St. Anne’s Park to provide some attractive seasonal colour and a source of food for pollinators early in the year.
A large scale wildflower planting scheme is currently being implemented along the Malahide Road, one of the main arteries into the city centre. This will begin at Clare Hall and will be apparent intermittently in drifts along the road until Coolock Village, covering a distance of 5 kilometres. A similar scheme of wildflowers and spring flowering bulbs has been implemented along the median of the Ballymun Road between Ballymun Village and Santry.
“A trial of perennial wildflower turf along the central median of Raheny Road is underway. The median was previously in grass and proved difficult to mow due to the busy nature of the junction. The addition of the turf will reduce the need for mowing while introducing biodiversity to an area that was difficult to maintain” Fergus O’Carroll added.
The gardeners in our parks are working hard to trial different mixes of bulbs and wildflower seeds that work best for particular areas, one such mix is a wetland seed mix and will be trialled in Fr. Collins Park, Stardust Memorial Park, St. Anne’s Park and Poppintree, Whiteacre, Shangan and Glasnevin Parks. 130 square metres of a specially designed bee and butterfly bulb mix was trialled in Donnycarney in cooperation with a local environmental group.
30 white flowering cherries, Prunus yeodoensis, were planted recently in Artane along Thorndale Walk. When mature they will provide a beautiful cherry walk. Further tree planting will take place at Ayrfield Estate and Streamville Park later in the year.
30 trees have been planted on the Stormanstown Green in Glasnevin in consultation with the Wadelai Hillcrest & District Residents Association who are engaged in biodiversity enhancements in the area.
The Stardust Memorial Park has been undergoing a rejuvenation since last year and already the improvements are evident. Extensive bulb planting schemes, tree planting and wildflower planting are just a few of the ongoing projects.
Community Groups in the north inner city were provided with thousands of crocus bulbs last autumn and earlier this year they were given different mixes of wildflower seeds. Local parks staff also provide the groups with advice on planting and are working with them to improve the biodiversity in the area.