Projects
Tyfu’n Wyrdd
The seed of Growing Green began from Zero Carbon Llanidloes’ vision to help people get together to increase biodiversity and attract wildlife in Llanidloes and the surrounding area.
The project aims to plant nectar rich plants to attract pollinators, reduce herbicide use to protect our human and our wildlife health, put up boxes for bats and birds, relax some of the stricter mowing regimes to provide foraging spaces for our wildlife, and change the ways public spaces are managed and increase biodiversity.
We have collaborated with the Rotary Club to replace bedding plants with perennials, and to remove peat use on the small roundabout in the town. Plants were grown and planted by the community and the site is regularly weeded by volunteers. Although this is a tiny space, already where plant leaves drop and cover the soil, they are providing an over winter refuge for butterfly chrysalises, wasps, and other insects.
With the support of the Llanidloes Town Council (LTC), Powys County Council, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust (MWT) and of course members of our local community we planted the Severn Porte Park with native plants and bulbs provided by the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and their Green Connections funding. In some areas of the park where areas were left unmown and glyphosate (weed killer) use suspended hedgehogs have been seen foraging for food. Nest and bat boxes were also erected thanks to MWT.
In 2023 and 2024 we have held Earth Day events in collaboration with Compton’s Yard Charitable Trust.
We have secured support from St. Idloes church to expand the project to create a wildflower meadows in part of the church grounds (and in the grounds of some other churches nearby), to create habitat for slow worms, slightly shift the mowing regime, plant the borders with wildlife friendly plants (with the help of some volunteers to grow and provide plants) and swift boxes have also been erected by the Gwenoliaid Duon Llanidloes Swift Group have installed swift boxes on the site. The local school Eco committee is also keen to increase the biodiversity in their school grounds and the local community so are getting involved with future projects, they too have added swift boxes to their school site. We are also hopeful to work with LTC and MWT to expand the project to include Allt Goch woods subject to community support and funding.
We are very keen to create a volunteer network to expand and develop this project further. Please do get in touch on our main email if you have time, skills or enthusiasm and want to get involved.
