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Denzell Gardens and
The Devisdale are free
to enter at all times
Local
Nature Conservation Site
The Devisdale has been the subject
of ecological surveys since the
1990s. These became more important
as the use of The Devisdale made
the transition from sports pitches
and cricket ground to 'Local Nature
Conservation' site or LNC. The
LNC status applies to the whole
of The Devisdale currently under
Trafford's ownership and management.
The Site of Biological
Importance (Grade C) identifies
a part of The Devisdale as being
of particular local nature conservation
importance. This was designated
by the Greater Manchester Ecology
Unit in February, 2006. The
SBI covers the northwest and
northeast corners of The Devisdale
along Dunham Road. The designation
line runs straight across The
Devisdale from the kissing gate
in the track that divides The
Devisdale from the grounds of
Denzell House.
Ecological
Studies
From the earliest of the ecological
surveys of the site this area
has been identified as the most
'species rich'.
The combination
of native grasses & sedges
(common bent, red fescue, sweet
vernal, Yorkshire fog, tufted
hair grass and field woodrush)
with flowering herbs (birds
foot trefoil, meadow buttercup,
lesser knapweed, sneezewort,
common sorrel and lesser stitchwort)
supports a complex community
of insects and animals.
The Friends of
Denzell Gardens and The Devisdale
have worked hard to support
and implement habitat improvement
projects on The Devisdale, to
further enrich the SBI and the
wider LNC.
The
Yarrow has a long history
as a powerful healing
herb and was a popular
vegetable in the 17th
Century
"I
will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one"
~ Edna
St. Vincent Millay 'Afternoon
on a Hill'
Attracting Different
Species
A £5,000 grant from Greening
Greater Manchester allowed for
the installation of a wildlife
pond in the northwest corner.
Local schools worked with the
Friends to sow the margins with
wildflower seed. The maturing
pond has attracted frogs, newts
and several species of damsels
and dragons - brown hawker and
broad bodied chaser dragonflies,
and the common blue damselfly.
Stop
by the wildlife pond in
the summer and you will
be sure to see the Damselfly
darting to and fro
Borders
and Bees
Altrincham Girls' Grammar School
picked up the theme again in July
2009 as they worked to create
a wildflower verge beneath the
boundary wall on the back lawn
of Denzell Gardens. This area
links the Gardens with The Devisdale.
The wild flower verge will provide
another basking, feeding and breeding
area for bees, butterflies and
beetles. The shelter of a wall
provides warm and dry conditions
which attract many wild creatures.
The Importance
of Mowing
On the upper slopes of The Devisdale
towards St Margarets Road, winter
grassland mowing regimes have
been tried by former Head Gardener,
Fred Ives. In the trial area
cut over several winters, we
are already seeing the return
of many flowering herbs among
the grasses including the wild
orchids which showed positive
signs of moving in and flowering
during 2009 and 2010.
Clearly, no herbicide
or fertiliser is used on The
Devisdale. Cutting and removing
the grass in some areas reduces
the vigour of the grass and
removes the 'dead thatch' of
the turf which lets in the seed
of wildflowers and allows them
room to grow.
Knapweed
is beneficial to dozens
of insect species
