A botanical garden for Manchester
03 May 2024
Lost Gardens of Fallowfield
In the heart of the University’s Fallowfield campus sits the Firs Botanical Grounds and Environmental Research Station. This site is home to vital environmental research, teaching, wellbeing activities and community outreach.
The Firs’ mission is to provide a green oasis in Manchester, researching, educating and engaging the community about biodiversity, food security and the environment. As part of this, the team are hoping to co-develop the site with the public – creating a botanical garden for the 21st century.
The team have already started engaging the community at various events, including the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s Green Together event back in February, and more recently, they attended the RHS Urban Show at Mayfield Depot.
Between 18-21 April, the Firs displayed a ‘Content Cube’ with various tips and tricks to show how to ‘Grow your own’ in small, urban spaces, as well as different techniques for plant propagation. There was also a stall which shared the incredible work already going on at the Firs, featuring student groups like BotSoc, the Green Wellbeing Project and Manchester Food Partners: Commit to Community, as well as research from some of the PhD students who use the site. On the stall, the team chatted with Urban Show attendees and got feedback about whether they’d like a botanical garden for Manchester and what they might want from this.
Open Day on Saturday, 18 May
The next stage of community engagement will be through the Firs’ community open day. On Saturday, 18 May, 11am-3pm, the Firs’ will be hosting ‘Lost Gardens of Fallowfield’. This event is a chance for the public to visit the site and enjoy a series of talks, tours and displays, as well as contribute to plans to develop it into a botanical garden for Manchester.
If you work with or know any local community groups who might be interested in this event, please email firs@manchester.ac.uk
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