Now in the fourth year of our Grass Cutting and Pollination Plan, things have settled with areas being mowed, or allowed into meadows.
It has also been a noticeable feature that when the Council staff come across a patch of wild flowers of any description, they mow around them till they finish blooming. Thus, there always changes but the overall scheme stays the same. Further developments continue to be made in response to feedback from local representatives, grounds staff and citizens of Clonmel.
The implementation of the tree strategy has also seen planting of trees that are more suited to our insects providing a food source when they are in flower. Keeping hedge rows healthy is also an important part of the pollination corridor and we are working on this along Greenane.
As part of the ongoing work of the council, Slievenamon Nurseries have taken over the maintenance of the corridor on the bypass, from the Cahir Road Roundabout to the Moangarrif Roundabout. This has freed up the Council Staff to concentrate on other areas of their work which includes everything for litter picking, road sweeping, tree management, flower planting, graveyard maintenance, mowing, bin management, flood barrier installation, naming some of their tasks.
Using our social media we continue to promote such initiatives as #NoMowMay as well as informing residents of the importance of our native pollinators. We continue to encourage people to adopt their own #alittlepatchofgreen in their gardens to allow native pollinators to emerge.
Now in the third year of our Grass Cutting and Pollination Plan, further developments continue to be made in response to feedback from local representatives, grounds staff and citizens of Clonmel.
Using our social media we continue to promote such initiatives as #NoMowMay as well as informing residents of the importance of our native pollinators.
We continue to encourage people to adopt their own #alittlepatchofgreen in their gardens to allow native pollinators to emerge.
Now in the second year of our Grass Cutting and Pollination Plan, developments have been made in response tofeedback from local representatives, grounds staff and citizens. The 6 week plan was adapted to green spaces thatare regularly mowed with areas of short flowering meadow as appropriate as many are sited in residential areas.
2023
Green Area on Map Combination of regularly mowed 6 week plan (Action 3)
Actions in Pink on Map Meadows cut in Autumn
2024
Green Area on Map Combination of regularly mowed short flowering meadows (Action 2)Actions in Pink on Map Meadows cut in Autumn
While No Mow May is aimed at gardens and local communities not councils, our partnership with Tipperary CountyCouncil in developing a long-term strategy for creating a network of long and short-flowering meadows has been hugely successful. Given the scale at which they manage areas of grass, they face unique challenges including managing large volumes of grass cuttings and balancing the needs of different land users.
Below are excerpts from the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. You can view the full guide as a PDF here > view guide.
