Dom Hall from Glasgow National Park City shares news of a community celebration at the Hidden Gardens in Pollokshields on Saturday 2nd September and outlines what GNPC is all about in this guest blog…

The idea of a National Park City is simple – to use the familiar idea of a National Park to inspire a shared vision for Glasgow as a greener, healthier and wilder city for everyone where people, places and nature are better connected.

But a National Park City is very different from a traditional National Park which is a formal designation with statutory powers and involves the funding and resourcing of a National Park Authority. Instead, National Park Cities are a movement and network with a shared vision for greener, healthier, wilder cities.

The National Park City group believe that this movement & network can help deliver two crucial elements for a greener, healthier, wilder city:

1: That people see cities differently and recognise the key role that things like nature, greenspaces, heritage, adventure and play can have in cities just as much as they do in traditional rural National Parks. We believe seeing the city differently is key to encouraging people to get out and explore cities more and to collectively see that a positive, greener, healthier, future is possible.

2: There’s a fantastic network of individuals, organisations and communities who are contributing to this greener, healthier, wilder vision. They believe the National Park City designation would provide recognition for their work, and the opportunity for greater collective voice and resources for these organisations in the future.

The first National Park City was declared in London in 2019, followed by Adelaide in 2022. In Glasgow the National Park City group is a community movement led by volunteers who have been working to develop a local vision and a network for the National Park City since 2018.

By the end of 2023 we’ll submit an application to the National Park City Foundation with the aim of Glasgow being recognised as a National Park City. We’ve produced a proposal for a shared vision and charter for Glasgow and since then nearly fifty organisations from across the city have signed up as supporters of that shared vision ranging from community groups and charities through to Glasgow City Council.

Now we’re expanding ways for you to get involved:

1 – Come along to the Event at the Hidden Gardens behind the Tramway in Pollokshields on Saturday 2nd September

2 – Coming soon – share your ideas and opinions on the National Park City – watch the National Park City website and social media (Twitter / Facebook) for an online questionnaire soon to have your say

3 – Get involved – this can be as simple as signing the charter, through to joining the committee or developing your own projects. Find out more here.

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Thanks to Dom for this guest blog. South Glasgow Heritage & Environment Trust is a supporter of Glasgow National Park City – discover the city-wide range of supporter groups & organisations and get info on joining the Glasgow National Park City network.

Header image: Hidden Gardens in bloom and Tramway brickwork by Deirdre Molloy

Photos of GNPC outdoor exhibition in June 2022 copyright of Friends of King’s Park

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The trail is a circular route starting and finishing at the gates to Queen’s Park and leads trail followers through three Southside parks. The route introduces walkers and cyclists to 12 Southside trees, which are also common across Scotland. We suggest you set aside a good hour or two to enjoy the route.

To embark on the tree trail, pick a leaflet up from South Seeds at 514 Victoria Road or check out and download the leaflet online.

The tree trail leaflet is packed full of information explaining how to identify the trees. There’s a clear map to follow and the locations of the trees are marked. It also features descriptions of the trees and an illustration of the leaf shape.

During the winter, when some trees lose their leaves, tree identification can be a bit tricky. For this reason, we’ve included ‘What three words’ for each tree. Using the three unique words and the What Three Words app you will be able to easily locate each tree.

Spotting & identifying historic and everyday trees

The route introduces walkers to some outstanding southside tree planting. This includes the tree-lined Queen’s Drive, the ancient yew trees in Queen’s Park, the cheerful Rowan trees of East Pollokshields and the magnificent Ash trees In Govanhill Park.

Once you have walked the trail and located the tress you can keep an eye on those trees throughout the year and notice how they change throughout the seasons.

Learning how to identify trees at any point in the year is a valuable skill. The next time you’re out and about in town or the countryside, you’ll be able to tell the different between a Beech and a Birch tree.

South Seeds’ urban croft for the community

The tree trail route takes walkers past the entrance to the Croft on Queen’s Park recreation ground. Through the chain link fence passers-by can see the community garden where residents are invited to adopt-a-raised bed each March. There are 24 raised beds to be adopted and they are allocated to those that apply in March each year.

There’s a programme of support for the growers delivered by South Seeds’ expert gardener Eric. Growers adopt the beds until November, when they will have harvested all their produce. South Seeds looks after the beds over the winter to nourish the soil and conduct any maintenance in time for the next round of adoptions.

Southside Tool Library & home energy advice

South Seeds has an office on Victoria Road, open 9am–5pm on week days and 10am–2pm on Saturdays. From it South Seeds also runs the Southside Tool Library where you can borrow tools. In turn, we have energy officers who can help people reduce their energy bills.

If you’re interested in any of our projects or services, mitigating climate change, saving the environment or becoming more sustainable drop in to our Victoria Road unit!

Share ideas Sat 21st Aug at Queen’s Park Recreation Ground Croft!

South Seeds is holding its open AGM at the Croft, our beautiful community garden on Queen’s Park recreation ground. We’re keen for locals to help us shape the next 10 years, so please do come along and share your ideas. The AGM is on Saturday 21 August 2021, it starts at 10.30am and will finish by 11.30am.

Guest blog post by Lucy Gillie, South Seeds

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For more information about South Seeds visit www.southseeds.org and find them on Twitter and Facebook and at their premises at 514 Victoria Road, Glasgow, G42 8BG.

If you spot any trees around the Southside and have identified or guessed the species, share your images and tell us on Twitter or Facebook.

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The wind is biting and there’s still frost in the Bungo. However, if we look closely, green shoots are peeping up from the earth in our gardens and snowdrops are blooming. The days are growing longer and we can sense that new life is beginning to stir after the dark days of winter. So thoughts will be turning to our gardens and green spaces which are such a solace for us in trying times. Our worlds have shrunk but nearby nature has drawn us to look more closely.

A deeper sense of community, a love of nature and a desire to address climate change prompted a group of us in the red and blonde sandstone terraces of Strathbungo to form an Eco group. We’ve been looking at how to make our homes greener, how we can encourage biodiversity, and reimagining our local environment as a space for people by reducing traffic and pollution. We now welcome everyone interested in all of Strathbungo so please get in touch if you’re interested; email us at strathbungoecogroup@gmail.com.

Biodiversity

Declining biodiversity is one of the biggest threats to our planet and it’s not just about the tragedies of melting ice caps or raging wildfires. Biodiversity concerns our local environment too! As a community, we too can improve things by not waging war on the natural world. Hard landscaping, minimal gardens, pesticides, overzealous cutting of hedges and lawns have made barren places for wildlife and upset the balance of our ecosystem.

We can look to our children who are so aware of the threat to our wildlife and our planet and want us to take action as well as themselves. 12 year old Ava Griffith, a Strathbungo local, is a fantastic example to us. As a member of 141 Glasgow Guides, she has designed and created an amazing pack to Save Our Bees which can be sent electronically or delivered in covid free envelopes. Just get in touch with the Eco Group if you’d like this. The sheets can also be downloaded here. Great work, Ava!

• Save the bees! (pdf)
• Bee colouring sheet (pdf)
• Printed copies & Badges – Order from the Eco Group

It would be good to share some thoughts on what we can do in the coming weeks and months to help wildlife in the Bungo. I’m not an expert on either gardening or wildlife, merely an enthusiastic nature lover, but all of us can help redress the balance of our struggling ecosystem. You don’t even need to do much. Just work with nature, not against it! Nature gives us so much in improving our wellbeing and helping us cope. It needs to be nurtured!

Tidying up, or not

Spring will soon be here and so too the opportunity for a big tidy up. However, it is important to spare a thought for creatures who may be starting to nest or even still hibernating in your gardens unbeknownst to you. Take care when you’re clearing to check and please, please, take extra care if you use a strimmer!

Many hedgehogs, who are now officially an endangered species, suffer horrific injuries and are killed by strimmers each year. You may have heard about our hedgehogs in Thorncliffe Gardens. Our postie found one in a bad way on our path and I discovered that our wee spiky friend had lost a front leg to a strimmer so couldn’t scratch for insects to feed. Sadly, the poor wee thing died before I could get it to Hessilhead Rescue.

Regarding insects, leave a patch of your garden unkempt with piles of leaves and twigs or even have an open compost heap so insects can shelter and breed. If you’re cutting back vegetation preparing for spring, let seedheads lie for a couple of days to let any life crawl out.

Small mammals like hedgehogs need beetles and caterpillars and other insects to eat. Insects are necessary for your garden’s ecosystem …yes, even slugs and snails. These creatures break down decomposing vegetation and also…ugh… eat excrement and dead animals – a very useful service!

The reason slugs and snails get out of control in our gardens and eat our lovely plants is because our ecosystem is out of balance. Birds, especially thrushes, love to scoff slugs and snails as well as frogs and toads. One of the worst things you can do is put down poisonous pellets which kill these creatures but also everything else which eats them. Pesticides are bad for all living things including us as they’re linked to all kinds of health issues.

Water

It’s a great idea to make a pond. Even a tiny pond will be teeming with fascinating wildlife before you know it. Last Spring, I dug a small pond and had frogs living in it within a couple of weeks. It was a source of joy and wonder watching these little guys through the year and they’ll keep slugs and snails in check.

Hedges

Hedges, shrubs and trees are needed by birds and by mammals like hedgehogs who need leaf litter to coorie down. I love watching the sparrows popping in and out of our hedge at the back. It provides protection and a quick hiding place when predators like cats or even sparrowhawks are around. But do you need to cut your hedge as much? It’s a thorny point as neighbours may object to hedges being too high, too messy etc.

The RSPB advises you not to cut your hedge between March and August due to nesting birds, so maybe a trim early on in the year when it starts to grow then after baby birds have fledged is enough. Better a few unkempt hedges but a healthy bird population! Remember to leave at least a 13 x 13cm hole in boundaries for hedgehogs who need to roam around from garden to garden to find food each night.

Pollinators

Nature’s pollinators desperately need our help. Follow Ava’s advice to Save the Bees and plant nectar rich native species if you can. Butterflies, moths, hoverflies and also beetles are necessary for pollination. There’s lots of advice online about what to plant but you can find information here.

• Plant flowers for bees and pollinators (Wildlife Trust)
• Planting for pollinators (NatureScot, pdf)
• Plants & Butterflies (The Hidden Gardens, pdf)

Nature has helped us get through these tough times so let’s go wild to help nature!

And here’s a link for other ideas, from the Wildlife Trust; Attract Wildlife to your Garden

Julie
For the Eco Group

Strathbungo

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