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Can suburban housing estates become more wildlife-friendly? This is truly a huge subject that many households are starting to address, piece by piece, in their gardens to attract the birds and the bees. However, there is one particular 'elephant in the room' that is unable to change by itself and it's not just an issue faced by Johnstown Estates, it is nationwide.
Now that Spring is upon us we start to notice the stretch in the evenings and Spring flowers appearing and the grass growing. Hopefully the warming weather will bring our attention to our private back gardens. Last summer they provided a safe oasis and it's likely that they will again this year. Many rediscovered the simple pleasures that having a garden can offer with a place to chill out, BBQ and dine outside, a play space, an opportunity to grow flowers, foods, and catch glimpses of wildlife. Being Ireland it's usually only a seasonal affair but within these small spaces we can actually achieve quite a lot.
It's not just our back gardens that we've been changing. Last year saw more households adapting to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan to encourage and support our bees, insects, and wildbirds in their front gardens too. During our walks around the neighbourhood we noticed how many front lawns showed that residents had not been lazy but have changed their opinion on certain weeds. Many have stopped poisoning or pulling out the dandelions, clover, and daisies to let their lawns grow longer to benefit pollinators. If you want to complete the pollinator's Meal Deal then offer them a drink of water via a birdbath.
Plants grown specifically for bees were a huge success at garden centres last year. Wildflowers seeds are especially popular and far cheaper but they are incredibly slow to grow to provide food and shelter for wildlife. 'Bee Bombs' we're a popular novel idea but we've yet to discover a product that truly hosts only Irish native seeds. Most seed packets say EU or UK but not specifically Ireland - yes we really are different and unique here. Being an island means we have different varieties of the same species. so seek out the wording Native Irish Seeds on the packet to support our unique biodiversity. We've listed 3 suppliers below to help since you'll find the challenge incredibly hard (we're not sponsored).
Only a few households went the step further and ripped out their roadside verge. It's not a useful space for anything unless you're parking your car on it. Consider them as an extension of your home, talk to your neighbour and dig them over to replace the grass with plants and herbs. These could create a corridor of habitats if your neighbours join in too.
Although our private gardens can easily undergo simple wildlife-friendly changes the same can't be said for the vast estate lawns and roadside verges? We are being LET DOWN by this one significant and huge area. Considerably larger than our private gardens their planting and management is extremely time-consuming not to mention costly.
Lawns are our biggest estate feature and we certainly have enough of them. Within the Johstown Tidy Towns zone there are over 20 football pitches worth of grass lawns with an estimated annual cutting bill of over €50,000. Contractors are still being employed to continue the use of traditional grass management and regularly mow the lawns short to create areas that we've previously considered to 'look nice'. Looking 'nice and neat' means they are now devoid of food, shelter, and water for wildlife.
Developers market the 'chocolate box' image of neatly cut lawns but we're beginning to appreciate that the golf green style lawns only belong on sports pitches.
These vast open expanses of estate lawns are currently barren of wildlife and we don't need it all as play areas for our children.
The financial cost, rather than opportunity and motivation, is usually the reason why this hasn't changed for decades. Despite the National Policy asking Council's to implement less intensive mowing regimes it doesn't carry through with funding support that could allow community-managed green spaces to implement the same actions.
Although it really simple for mother nature to grow grasses, weeds, wildflowers, brambles, shrubs, and trees to encourage a huge range of biodiversity it is not so easy for estate groups to do the same. Some of the grass species within Johnstown Estates grow quite tall, up to 4ft in some cases. Left to mother nature it will soon become unsightly especially as the brambles take over. Knowing that the additional costs incurred by the grass contractor, even after 6 weeks of grass growth, will be passed back to residents makes it even less appealing.
Even though the grass cutting will be less frequent long grass takes more time to cut which means contractors can complete fewer jobs which impacts their daily income.
Insurance costs rise from the risk of hitting concealed objects within the grass.
More powerful, and more expensive, ride-on mowers are required to tackle grass taller than a few inches. Tackling large swathes of long grass with petrol trimmers is extremely labour intensive.
The larger volume of longer grass clippings needs to be collected and transported at a greater expense rather than mulching back into the ground or taken away by small trailers.
At the moment it is cost-effective for Developers to sow common lawn grasses which produce lush green swathes which we already know grows far too tall and too quickly for us to reasonably manage. Future Housing Estates should require alternative solutions in the planning applications.
If money wasn't an issue existing estates should replace the grass with clover and low-level grasses which could support wildlife without needing regular cutting. Unfortunately, without having a huge cash injection we don't have this solution.
Planting pockets of wildflowers isn't the solution either since they will quickly become swamped and overgrown with the encroaching grass. Therefore perhaps the only realistic alternative is to remove the grass completely one section at a time and to spread the financial cost out over a number of years. We see evidence of this happening in Navan where the Council contractors reseeded the verges near the Navan Firestation and the verge bank at the Moatlands ('Woodies') roundabout.
Technically the estate lawns 'Taken In Charge' are owned by the Council but their own policy currently states that they will not pay the costs of maintaining estate lawns. This is despite the Council's planning permission requiring that these large areas of lawn are created within Housing Estates. Whilst they allow developers to use general grass species, as a cost-effective landscaping option, this vicious cycle is perpetuated.
Perhaps the best intermediate answer lies not with financial aid but with mechanical aid to give the National Biodiversity Plan the biggest possible boost. The Council can afford to hire a contractor to cut specific areas of long-growing grass once or twice a year on behalf of estates. As with golf courses the lawn area around this taller grass would continue to be managed by Estate Groups for play areas, sightlines, and to keep up appearances.
A more beneficial solution is to reseed areas of these lawns with suitable swathes of pollinator-friendly plants that will in time produce a more suitable habitat. Individual estates cannot afford this but a program of government funding could.
We're heartened to see that the Green Party is proposing ideas for discussion with the Minister for the Environment. We would like to see a solution that breaks the cycle that currently prevents our suburban environment from achieving its pollinator-friendly potential.
Johnstown Tidy Towns (JTT) recently submitted a proposal to help the Council avoid using weedkillers in the Green Km Initiative. Their vision is to assist estate groups too on a bi-annual basis.
Despite the large greens having this great potential, it is unlikely that they will undergo an instant change but there are small things which we can all do to improve common areas.
Removing sections of grass for planting displays certainly create pockets of colour and habitat potential. The www.Pollinators.ie website shows a wide selection of option and by placing enough of these close together they will create corridors for bees. It's worth remembering that they'll only work for bees if there is a suitable nesting site close by. By 'close' we mean within 800m since they don't travel far from home!
Similar to the main lawns there are considerable amounts of grass strip verges that could easily be managed by individual households and the common verges by volunteers. Dig them over to replace the common grass either with a different species or with plants and herbs. Create a corridor of colourful habitats and encourage residents to do the same.
Removing large areas of grass lawn and swapping it for shrubs will take considerable time and funding. Increasing the number of trees brings considerable benefits although the grass still remains. Recently the group Wild About Navan made an offer for everyone to become a part of the Navan Dispersed Woodland Orchard. The group are currently offering free trees to residents and estate groups.
Read an extract from their March 9th Social Media Page.
Extract from Wild About Navan Facebook Page
'Wild About Navan are giving away tree saplings to be planted in gardens or greens* around our town. These trees are the first of many that we aim to plant with you over the next few years.
This project is a combination of three biodiversity actions outlined in the upcoming Navan Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP):
creating a dispersed orchard;
planting native trees; and,
promoting the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
If you would like to help biodiversity in our town, send us an email with a description and/or photo of where you’d like to plant 1-4 trees, and why. For now we will only be able to organise for pickup/delivery of trees to within a 5km radius of the Bull’s arse. Please make sure the space where you aim to plant is suitable for trees. If you’re not sure, send us a photo and description anyway and we will be in touch!
Still not sure if you want to plant a tree? Consider the many ecological services that trees provide:
Absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Help improve soil
Prevent flooding and erosion
Food and shelter for thousands of wildlife species (and humans, too!)
Increase the value of your home
Improve your community
Get in touch: wildaboutnavan@gmail.com (please write “Navan dispersed woodland orchard” in the email header). The trees will be delivered over the next few weeks and should be planted as soon as possible (before the end of March).
*If you want to plant on estate greens, please consult with your RA first. We are also happy to help with large-scale plans of improving the biodiversity of your estate. '
No connection to us and promoted simply because they sell Irish Native Seeds.
A plan to inject colour through planting by Johnstown Tidy Towns.
We were attempting to record the local seasonal wildflowers in the Johnstown area but it's clear that others know far more about the subject.
If you've been offering them food your garden should be vibrant with colour and activity.
1 year on and we're reminded of something we read at the outset of this Pandemic.
What does it mean for an Estate to be Taken In Charge and is yours?
Homeowners are doing their part and now we encourage Estate Groups to make a contribution to the All Ireland Pollinator Plan.
We're all concerned about our environment and Johnstown Tidy Towns have proposed a step in the right direction to reduce harm.
Joe McCormack reveals 'Six of my Best ACE Revision Signposts'
We've all walked, or more likely driven, past the first item in our mini series about Navan's Art and you might be surprised to discover it's relevance to Meath.
