Carts Greenspace

Our Team in Action!

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This page describes some of the interesting activities Carts Greenspace supports or undertakes directly.

Recent Activities

Carts Greenspace launches "Creative Catalysts" initiative
Artists frequently lead participation workshops
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Preparing mosaic panels for an ornamental "sun clock" in a school's grounds
Carts Greenspace is currently exploring ways to improve its links with artists in a bid to maximise the quality of greenspace projects on the ground and increase community participation in these projects.  Over the years we have collaborated with artists on several occasions.  These collaborations have significantly enhanced the quality of the resulting greenspace projects and, at the same time, given artists an opportunity to explore greenspace as new territory in terms of inspiration. To date these projects have ben small scale and have heppened only intermittently.  We wondered if the scale and frequency of collaboration could be increased if a more organised structure could be devised: hence our plans to launch the Creative Catalysts initiative.  So far, an in-house feasibility study has been prepared for presentation to the Carts Greenspace Technical Support Group and Local Area Partnership.  Next we intend to spread the consultation net much wider and then start making funding enquiries.  Our initial goal is to secure enough financial support to appoint a Greenspace Artist in Residence.  Watch this space for any developments or contact us if you would like more information about the Creative Catalysts initiative.

Works at Eastwood Nursery School's entrance area
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Visual interest of featureless grass area will be enhanced by creating planting beds and raised beds

Work has started on a "Kingfisher Schools Initiative" project at Eastwood Nursery School in Glasgow.  Funded by Glasgow City Council Education, Awards for All and Greenspace Scotland, the project will bring much needed visual and structural variety to what were previously rather featureless grounds.  Two areas are being treated.  One near to the boundary fence will introduce shaped ground-level and raised planting beds, a winding stepping stone trail and an ornamental bridge to a grassy area.  The other will see a tarmac playground next to the building being enhanced by the construction of four raised beds with built-in seating and by an artist's commission to create a colourful mural with an "enchanted forest" theme.

Work underway next to Eastwood Nursery building
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Construction of raised beds from untreated oak sleepers

HERIOT PRIMARY SCHOOL PLANTS ITS NEW ECO GARDEN.

On the 12th May 2006, the pupils and staff of Heriot Primary School planted their new Eco Garden with the help of Carts Greenspace and Renfrewshire Council’s Sustainable Communities Project.

The garden was designed by members of the school's gardening group. The school was given technical help with the design and project management by Carts Greenspace, as part of its Kingfisher Schools Initiative.

The garden consists of 3 raised beds, 4 brightly coloured Plaswood benches and some stepping stones for access around the beds. It has been planted with a number of wildlife friendly and sensory species and also a variety of vegetables. The garden will give the children of the school somewhere to go to learn about the environment, whilst also giving them a special place to play, eat their lunch, relax and enjoy the outdoors.

The construction work for the garden was carried out by the Renfrewshire Environmental Project, which works with long term unemployed young people from the local area to help them gain skills and to support them back into employment. REP is managed by AEL Enterprises Ltd.

The funding for the school garden came from Carts Greenspace’s core allocation from Renfrewshire Council’s Environmental Improvement Budget and plants were donated from Sustainable Communities Project.

The school now hopes to work with Carts Greenspace to create a more ambitious garden area which will benefit a larger number of pupils.

Planting event at Heriot Primary School in Paisley
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The team celebrates the end of its hard work!

Projects in Progress

"The Triangle" village green at Howwood
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How the site looked prior to work commencing

Work has started on the transformation of "The Triangle" village green in Howwood, Renfrewshire, into a space that will be much more attractive and welcoming to the local community.  A local action group, the Howwood Wildlife and Woodland Group, raised more than £35,000 in grants through the Aggregates Levy scheme and from Scottish Natural Heritage towards the project.  The Group also produced its own outline designs and artist's impressions for the project.  Carts Greenspace's practical role has been relatively minor here, finding some funding to cover professional fees and pointing the Group in the direction of technical landscape design help from Renfrewshire Council's Planning & Transport Department when required. Projected completion date: March 2006.

Two weeks into the landscape construction phase...
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The site will have a new focus of stone raised beds around a central surfaced area.

Langbank Primary School celebrates National Tree Week

 

In the early part of 2005 Carts Greenspace helped Langbank Primary School in Renfrewshire to secure a “Trees for Schools Fund 2005” grant from The Tree Council.  This grant was awarded by The Tree Council to help the school create its own native woodland within the school grounds.

 

On 1st December the Carts Greenspace staff returned to the school to help plant this new mini-woodland.  During the morning each of the school’s 72 pupils had the opportunity to escape from classroom lessons to wrap up warm, rush outside and plant their own individual tree.

 

A mixture of attractive native trees was planted: Alder, Hazel, Hawthorn, Ash, Crab Apple, Aspen, Gean, Bird Cherry and Rowan.  Some of these will have attractive blossom in the spring and berries that will attract more birds to the school grounds in the autumn.  Together they will create a small haven for wildlife in future years.

 

The children learned other important lessons during the morning, for example:

  • worms may be wriggly but they are vital for healthy soils;
  • tiny trees need protecting from the elements and hungry herbivores like voles, rabbits and deer;
  • Renfrewshire’s soils are extremely resistant to spades. 

The Primary 1 pupils frankly did not believe that the tiny transplants they were tending would be three times their height by the time they leave to go to secondary school.

Tidying up after the children's planting efforts
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Straightening a tree stake amongst a forest of plastic tree tubes...

Langside Parish Church Biodiversity Garden takes shape

Carts Greenspace has just finished its first "faith garden" - in partnership with Langside Parish Church.  The Church had already been awarded Eco Congregation status, in recognition of its environmental efforts, and was keen to devote a small corner of its compact grounds to encouraging local wildlife.

After the Church’s Brownie Pack had worked with Glasgow’s Countryside Ranger Service to make bird feeders, nest boxes, etc. Carts Greenspace was called in to provide technical advice about transforming the selected corner of the grounds.

Given the urban neighbourhood of Victorian tenements and the carefully managed nature of the rest of the grounds, it was decided that biodiversity would have to be encouraged within the framework of a formally designed garden.  Therefore Carts Greenspace designed a garden with a recurring motif of circles and arcs, inspired by two adjoining rounded turret shaped extensions at the corners of the church itself.

The main landscape construction work for the garden was completed by Clyde Landscapes Ltd. in March 2006. 

The garden design comprises three framing raised beds (themselves constructed from machined round timber logs), four lower beds retained by log walls, an innovative bog garden feature for wetland plants—surrounded by a circle of artificial sleepers (manufactured from concrete to resemble timber) and lined on one side by three backless benches made from recycled plastic.  The Biodiversity Garden is linked to the church’s main entrance by a sinuous trail of stepping stones in the turf—each stepping stone again manufactured from concrete to resemble a tree slice (with growth rings and bark but without the inevitable slip hazard that accompanies genuine wood).

The initial planting of the beds concentrated on ornamental species known to attract bumble bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinating insects.

Creation of the Biodiversity Garden has been enabled by a £6,000 funding award from Greenspace Scotland, supported by further financial support from Glasgow City Council and the fund raising efforts of Langside Parish Church itself.

Langside Parish Church Biodiversity Garden
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View of the garden just after planting with wildlife friendly species

For more information about Carts Greenspace's activities, see our "Contact Us" page.

Copyright 2007, Carts Greenspace