Biodiversity

Biodiversity within our grounds is something we are continually looking to improve, with Michael Pirie, the College’s Head Gardener working on a number of projects.

 

Grow Fresh Herbs

Our amazing gardening team work with the kitchen team to grow fresh herbs to use in various menus

• College has two bat boxes

• Climbers around college often provide nesting space for birds.
• We maintain log piles to create habitat for wildlife and grow plants with berries to feed the birds
• Recently the team had to remove a dead pear tree and although much of the trunk was taken away,  some wood was kept to create log piles in a new location within the grounds.

 

• We grow plants with berries to feed the birds

 

• We use leaf mulch piles where appropriate which encourages both detrivores and Mycelial life in the soil. This produces a more complex and self-sustaining soil ecosystem.
• College owns a small part of the river bank near Rewley Abbey Court accommodation.
• Composting green waste throughout our sites and reuse of compost on our gardens
• Four areas in the college grounds where the grass is routinely left long till June to encourage wildflowers
• GTC Allotment
• St Margaret’s Road student houses has spaces suitable for nesting swifts
• The Garden features mainly perennial planting which reduces digging supporting a more stable soil ecosystem.
• There are always at least some plants in flower
• There are solitary Ground bees under the Magnolia tree in one area of the college

 

• Trees or shrubs that are removed get replaced
• We don’t plant double-petaled varieties  that have nectar which is unavailable to pollinators
• We empty the green house entirely for a few months in summer, this naturally breaks the life cycle of pests and reduces the need to use pesticide
• We never use pesticides in the open gardens