Wildflower Nursery
Conservation
Volunteers' Wildflower Nursery grows and supplies native wildflowers grown
from locally-collected seed. The nursery is based at Knockbracken Healthcare
Park in south Belfast.
The nursery has a 34m x 8m polytunnel used to grow native wildflowers once they have been transplanted into 'plugs'. A new 'gene bank' is being developed to provide a convenient source of seed and various demonstration habitats have been created including a meadow, a wetland and a pond. We also grow native pond plants, culinary herbs and ornamental shrubs, chosen for their native status or wildlife value.
All these plants are available for any individual or project, however large or small to purchase. We hope that, by providing this service, we are playing our part in maintaining the gene pool of native species, replacing some of the wildflower meadows which are in decline, and thus helping to preserve our irreplaceable insect, mammal and bird life.
We can now offer individuals with restricted mobility the opportunity to visit the nursery and participate in many aspects of the work carried out there. Work benches have been specially designed and built out of recycled plastic to accommodate both standing volunteers and those in wheelchairs.
As an environmental charity we are very much about recycling and reusing. We would ask you to please return pots and trays to the nearest Conservation Volunteers office so that they may be reused at our Wildflower Nursery.
Our pots are made from the by-products of annual crops such as coconut shells and grain husks. When finished with, the pot can be crushed, breaking the protective glaze and then placed on the compost heap. The pot fully biodegrades within 18 months.