Team Wilder Story Emersons Green Park

Friends of Emersons Green Park is a friendly, organised and dedicated group of lovely people. It is worth a visit as there is a lot to see! The area itself is a haven away from the busy roads nearby and has remnants of the original farm house that once owned the land. There is also an ancient meadow just up the road.

Projects taken on by volunteers are benefiting the local community and wildlife in the area, helping to spread the good word, acceptance and creation of connected wildlife friendly practices. The volunteers and visitors to the park are (and should be) very proud of the community sprit ensued and the beautiful space they have and help maintain.

The large pond, wildflowers, wild areas and general maintenance of the park by volunteers and the local council, encourages many wildlife visitors. The varied wildlife gardening practices and sustainable living practices undertaken at the park land in local gardens, enrich water, shelter and feeding habitats.

Visiting wildlife to Emersons Green Park and local connected gardens include hedgehogs, many varieties of bird including Owls, Little Egrets, Tits, Blackbirds, Sparrows. Butterflies such as the Holy Blue Butterfly, Dragonflies, Slow Worms, Bees, foxes, Badgers and Otters have also been spotted.

You can see the work and intentional wildlife friendly practices in this area. It is based on forest garden principles, viewing the area as layers, mutually beneficial for each other and creating valuable wildlife habitat space with food and shelter. It feels natural and flows nicely from orchard trees with local apple variations and plums, two herb patches, wildflowers and strawberries with hazel barriers.

A bog garden has also been added to the orchard area, embracing the wetness of the area and creating even more valuable habitat space.

Impressive dead hedges help to show people where to walk and creates valuable habitat space for wildlife. Some impressive examples are shown below of community created and managed natural borders - dead hedges, beautiful hazel and willow borders. 

Located next to the Village Hall, library and local shops, on the edge of the park. Easy to replicate parts of it at home to continue the green corridor.

Volunteers are very active in local community. But this wasn't always the case! The orchard was planted originally by 2 or 3 people, not many people used to attend the volunteer sessions. I asked Chris about how they gradually built up volunteer numbers:

• Make everyone welcome. Advertise continually for volunteers. Include children (with parent/carer) if insurance allows. Even a friendly dog!.
• Have regular meetings on a set day and time in the same place. Emersons Green meet in the orchard. Originally they were ad hoc and stopped in the winter.
• Social media in the form of a Facebook group helps communicate to the whole area (weekly posts), while a signal group is used among the volunteers.
• Make it social! Everyone joins in a hot drink together at half-time.
• Recognise skills – some are better at social media than others and some may bring specific expertise like woodcraft
• A sign on site (funded by South Gloucestershire Council) says who they are, what they do and links to their blog.
• Offer a variety of tasks and events for all interests. Creating willow domes near the playpark had a huge impact.

Garden Open Days – celebrating their Community Nature Reserve and providing a map to visit local gardens and allotments to share wildlife friendly practices. Organised by Emersons Green Town Council.

Community Nature Reserve 
Emersons Green has launched its own community nature reserve to encourage the growing interest in nature in the area. The idea is to tie in the concern for wildlife in public spaces like the park with the potential to welcome wildlife in private gardens. The community nature reserve was launched in January 2023 by Emersons Green Town Council and currently has more than 200 private gardens registered. More on the Community Nature Reserve here.