Keeping Westville green with indigenous plants

THE Botanical Society visited the Westville Conservancy in the Dawncliffe area recently as part of their Green our Hood campaign. The campaign aims to remove invasive alien plants (IAPs) from gardens, verges and open spaces and to replace them with indigenous species.

Sue Smith of the Westville Conservancy said the visit started at Jubilee Park. The Westville Conservancy led a guided tour around the park, explaining the restoration process, which started in 2009, and the ongoing work needed to keep the IAPs at bay in this unique example of a coastal swamp forest.

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It was followed by a visit to the ‘Welcome To Dawncliffe’ garden which was initiated by Rory Nossiter who is the founder of Dawncliffe Square Verges – a project initiated to keep the verges at Dawncliffe Square trim and beautiful.

“His passion for wanting to see a beautiful garden and entrance to the suburb on his way to and from work has inspired many to join him, either by donating funds, offering services or volunteering time. We also visited the garden at the Salamanca Triangle and the lovely shady pathway that joins Glen Heath to Chiral Drive – this will be the next project to tackle, where IAPs will be removed and replaced with shade-loving plants,” said Smith.

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The final stop of the visit was Portman Park where Sue explained what volunteers have been doing over the past 20 months to rehabilitate the park. “We have been removing IAPs and restoring grassland, wetland and forest habitats, as well as creating pathways for visitors to enjoy. We have received some very positive feedback from BotSoc members who attended the outing, which is very encouraging for us, and we hope that other greening projects will start soon,” said Smith.

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