Client:
Belfast City Council
Contractors:
Farran Construction and Cameron Landscapes
Landscape Architect:
Paul Hogarth Company
Project:
Connswater Community Greenway, East Belfast
Date:
April 2016 – October 2016
Size:
7,235m²
Connswater Community Greenway is a £40 million investment in East Belfast. The project will create a 9km linear park through the city connecting the open green spaces and rejuvenating neglected waterways.
Key to the project is the creation of vibrant, attractive, safe and accessible parkland for leisure, recreation and community events and activities.
Landscape Architects, The Paul Hogarth Company, specified the use of wildflowers in their brief to their landscape contractors, Cameron Landscapes. Cameron Landscapes in turn brought the project to Wildflower Turf and a site visit was carried out in spring 2016.
Three different bespoke mixes of turf were bespoke grown specifically for the project, with Landscape 34 and Shade Tolerant variants being supplied in addition.
Turf was shipped in batches between August and September 2016, with 7,235m² of turf supplied in total.
The turf has been laid on the banks of the riverside, surrounding open meadow areas and in woodland spots, providing a delightful species-rich transition from naturalistic to urban areas. In less than 1 year in place, the Wildflower Turf already looks like it has been there for years.
Apart from enhancing the area aesthetically, the Wildflower Turf also has another important role to play. As well as helping to improve air quality, regulating urban temperatures and reducing C02 in the environment, wildflower meadows are crucial in enhancing the invertebrate population. The provision of a number of wildflower areas within the Connswater Community Greenway project ensures that bees, vital as pollinators, are supported within their native habitat.
