Council to trial Cooper Park living lawns and create wildflower areas across Moray
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LIVING lawns and wildflower planting are to be trialled at Elgin's Cooper Park to increase biodiversity and improve natural habitats.
Over the next three years Moray Council also aims to create up to eight new wildflower plantings a year across the region. It is asking communities to help identify suitable locations for these.
The living lawn concept for Cooper Park is based on a trial at the Royal Botanic Garden, in Edinburgh. The trial will allow grass to grow longer between cuts to promote a diversity of flowers.
This will encourage low-growing flowering plants such as clovers, daisies and dandelions to thrive and provide essential resources for pollinators like bees, moths, butterflies and beetles as well as structure for insects and other invertebrate to shelter.
Grass in the trial area will be cut every four to six weeks to a height of 150mm, while the perimeter of the site and path edges will still receive regular grass cutting.
Open spaces manager James Hunter said: "The introduction of more wildflowers in our landscape helps to improve the diversity of our natural environment, supporting our health and wellbeing, as we use and enjoy outdoor spaces more, and helps wildlife, which have declined in numbers in recent decades.
"Since the council no longer maintains the traditionally more expensive landscape features in our open spaces, like flowerbed displays or verges, it’s not anticipated that any savings in maintenance costs will be made through this initiative.
"Indeed, it’s likely that sites nominated for consideration will result in a modest increase in costs. However, responding to the challenges our environment faces is of great benefit to us all."
The council’s Community Support Unit is inviting community councils, and other groups, to help identify and nominate potential wildflower areas for consideration.
Anyone interested in getting involved in maintaining the habitats is asked to get in touch with their local community council.
