Wet Woodland at Winterbourne

From PlantNetwork Newsletter No. 38, July 2009

A grant of £11 000 from the Veolia Environmental Trust (through the Landfill Communities Fund) has enabled Winterbourne Botanic Garden, at the University of Birmingham, to open up a previously inaccessible area of wet woodland within the Botanic Garden. British native species have been planted in the wet woodland, which contains a wide range of plant and insect species and is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

A raised boardwalk has been installed through the area so that visitors can view the planting without damaging the habitat, or getting their feet wet. The boardwalk leads visitors around an area containing such native species as butterbur (Petasites hybridus), yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus) alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus) and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). Interpretation boards will highlight aesthetic qualities and medicinal and culinary uses of the plants. The project aims to display native planting and communicate the importance of biodiversity.