You can follow Bootle’s wildflower trail – scan here for the map
2024
Expanding Bootle’s wildflower trail – helping us to ‘Breathe Better Air’
With massive thanks for all the help provided to local residents by the children from All Saints Catholic Primary School, Scouse Flowerhouse and Sefton Council Green Sefton we had a great time sowing wildflower seed at what was an unloved spot by Peter Mahon Way.
Supported by the Breathe Better Air Community Fund, which is a partnership between the Community Foundation for Merseyside, the UK Community Foundation and the Clean Air Fund (CAF), we’re growing our mosaic of wildflower plots in Bootle to capture more carbon to help to improve air quality.
With sustainability in mind, this will become a crop field meadow to produce seeds for all our other meadows in Bootle, and hopefully to add some more.
Peel Road Park
With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and keeping as much grass as possible for the dog walkers and children playing, the community decided to add a wildflower corridor along the railings of Peel Road Park to bring a splash of colour and add biodiversity.
At the end of April, residents were joined by 48 children from All Saints Catholic Primary School at our community wildflower seed sowing event.
Substrate plots
And developing natural spaces on brownfield sites, we’ve added two new substrate plots at Irlam Road and Moore Street, using a growing medium combining recycled local rubble – known as Mersey grit – and biochar, an amazing substance which draws and stores carbon from the atmosphere (every kilogram used sequesters around three kilograms of carbon). This demonstrates how wildflowers can thrive in low nutrient substrates.
2023
Becoming more established, Bootle’s wildflowers continue to bring colour, biodiversity and joy throughout the summer months
May 2022
Wildflower Rangers tending to the meadow behind Bootle Asda, which is really starting to bloom. This has been made possible thanks to the support of Linacre Ward Councillors.
The Wildflower Ranger team are keeping an eye on Bootle’s wildflower meadows in their second year. Here’s Wordsworth Street, with the Gormley statues in the background, demonstrating what can be done with a little bit of Merseygrit, Biochar and a sprinkling of peat-free compost.
And the meadow at Marsh Lane Park is also coming on nicely.
Not only does it provide a beautiful splash of colour for another year, but summer flowers means a whole lot less mowing, meaning meadows help reduce CO2 emissions too.
Bootle’s wildflower meadow trail
Head North
Collaborating to create a wildflower meadow trail with and for the communities of north Liverpool and south Sefton, we are adding colourful spaces to our urban spaces, increasing local biodiversity and carbon capture for healthier neighbourhoods.
Follow the trail from north Liverpool to south Sefton so that you can enjoy a bit of nature close to home.
Big and small, these new wildflower meadows add little pieces of nature to our urban landscapes and increase biodiversity for bees and pollinators.
Head North at the movies
View these films to find out more about Head North’s objectives and how our sowing has been progressing.
Our meadows have been featured on the telly!
Click here to see a great feature on Granada Reports.
Marsh Lane Park/Gray Street
Bootle MP Peter Dowd found out more about Head North when he visited the Marsh Lane Park
meadow site where children from All Saints Primary School have been lending their support
to the project.
Pupils from All Saints Primary School have been offering a helping hand at Gray Street and
Marsh Lane Park.
Everton Park
Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School pupils enjoying sowing at Everton Park – the new
Head North meadows mean that Everton now has the largest collection of wildflower
meadows in Liverpool.
Albion Street
Pupils from Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School also sowed at Albion Street so they
had a very busy morning.
Longfield Park
Volunteers get busy sowing the new wildflower meadow at Longfield Park.
Tynemouth Close
Children from All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield helped with the sowing of the
new meadow at Tynemouth Close.
Violet Road
Sowing in progress at the new wildflower meadow site at Violet Road in Bootle.
Langtry Close
Work in progress on sowing the new wildflower meadow at Langtry Close in north Liverpool.
More from Everton Park
More photos of the sowing at Everton Park and the busy bees from Our Lady Immaculate
Catholic Primary School.
Liverpool John Moores University
Wildflower meadows capture carbon, helping to improve our air quality. Liverpool John
Moores University will be testing soil samples before sowing and when the meadows are
in full bloom to measure and compare the levels of pollutants.
Wordsworth Close
Wildflowers love substrate! We’re experimenting with Merseygrit and Biochar at our
Wordsworth Street meadow which has an artistic plot design – titled ‘The Wave of Words’
by our volunteers. Plus a generous donation from a local resident has helped to add a
splash of colour to the site.
Wildflowers show their faces
Our new wildflowers are now starting to show their faces and very welcome they are too.
These photos show how the new meadows are taking shape at Albion Street, Langtry Close
and Tynemouth Close.
Head North Wildflower Rangers are learning all about seed sowing, meadow maintenance
and harvesting and biodiversity net gain.
Here they are with Richard Scott of the National Wildflower Centre, learning about the
different plant species, knowledge they will share with local residents.
A day exploring possibilities with John Little from the Grass Roof Company.
Blooming meadows at Marsh Lane Park and Wordsworth Street are beginning to show real promise.
Our day with the Metro Mayor
Children from All Saints Catholic Primary School in Bootle were delighted to share their new wildflower knowledge with Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham.
Follow our wildflower trail
Why not explore our Wildflower meadow trail? Pick up a map at Liverpool Museums and from local community organisations.
Here comes the sun
Look out for the sunflowers as you explore the wildflower meadow trail.
Figuring it out
We’ve not only planted wildflowers, we’re counting them too!
Looking forward to Spring 2022
Creating spectacular pathway borders, the meadows in Anfield Cemetery will use wildflowers to highlight Edward Kemp’s original interlocking circular and curved path design which unfortunately has been lost over time by a number of the paths being grassed over.
Working together, Liverpool City Council, the Friends of Anfield Cemetery, our Wildflower Rangers and the community have sown the borders in September 2021.
Preparing the site alongside the path to the underpass running behind Sefton Asda in August for community seed sowing in September 2021.
Be patient, nature takes time! Wildflowers will bloom in 2022.
Summer of success
Our latest video looks back at some of the highlights of the Head North project during the spring and summer of 2021.
