York will soon be bursting with flowers, and buzzing with bees, butterflies and many other pollinating insects as part of the York Urban Buzz project, a Buglife initiative funded by Biffa Award. Work is already underway to create this colourful new addition to the city.
St Nicks, York Museum Gardens, Mancroft Park, and along the river by Millennium Bridge will be full of beautiful flowers and buzzing with life come the summer. Buglife and City of York Council, is running free community wildflower events at York Museum Gardens (18th May) and Millennium Bridge (28th May) to plant a range of native wildflower species throughout these areas.
York’s Urban Buzz Officer, Andrew Cutts, said “Although York has a wealth of open green spaces they could become even greater with the addition of more colour. Flowers lift the spirit, add vibrancy to an area, and provide food in the form of pollen and nectar for insect pollinators. Opportunities for the addition of more flowering plants exist across York from road verges to strays, and from car parks to formal gardens. The addition of wildflower areas, fruit trees, and spring bulbs can all bring great rewards for pollinators and local people. Flower-rich places provide natural beauty, colour, and brightness within an otherwise man-made environment.”
York Urban Buzz, supported by Biffa Award, Garfield Weston Foundation and in partnership with City of York Council is working very closely with the local community to find and create over 100 new places for our precious pollinators throughout the city. We are working to turn publicly accessible spaces including unused corners of parks, community gardens and patches of unused urban space into new nesting sites and beautiful flower-rich areas.
Councillor Nigel Ayre, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism said: “York Urban Buzz is a great example of a local project working in partnership with the community, helping to enhance our green spaces for the benefit of pollinators and residents alike. Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help plant wildflowers at the events later this month is encouraged to get in touch and find out more.”
