Biodiversity at SRUC, Elmwood Golf Course

In 2014 SRUC replaced 150m2 of grassed verges on their entrance road with a native annual wildflower meadow. The meadow was received well by visitors to the course and removed the need to mow the verge weekly, reducing labour, machinery and fuel costs. Some visitors to the course asked for advice on how to create their own annual wildflower meadow and greenkeeping staff visited their sites and gave advice on how to get wildflower meadows established. Each year the meadow is cut back once the flowers have gone to seed and re-established the following spring. Each year the meadow is teeming with pollinators and has added to the sites natural biodiversity.

The golf course has had problems with people accessing the driving range to walk dogs or steal balls and it was proposed a security fence should be built alongside the range to prevent access. It was decided that planting a row of native shrubs such as Blackthorn, Hawthorn and Dog Rose would be able to provide as much security whilst also promoting biodiversity and creating habitat for small birds. In 2014, 170 meters of hedge was planted with the help of work placement greenkeeping students, and in time it will provide a much needed food source and habitat for mammals and birds.

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Biodiversity at SRUC, Elmwood Golf Course

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