Hay strewing for a new wildflower meadow will begin on Thursday 24 July 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB).

In partnership with The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, the hospitals Community Orchard and Gardens project has secured funding to create a new wildflower meadow at the hospital site, through the Nature Improvement Area programme (NIA).

Birmingham and the Black Country was designated an NIA in 2012 by Natural England as part of twelve areas of improvement across England.

Work has already begun to transform the area of unused grassland to the east of the new hospital which has been treated with a non-toxic herbicide to weaken the existing vegetation. It will then be spread with hay and seeds from a traditional meadow in Worcestershire. This will culminate in a rich meadow with species including orchids, buttercups, cowslips and cuckooflower.

NIAs were created to make a step-change in nature conservation across the country by creating bigger, inter-connected networks of wildlife habitats to help re-establish wildlife populations.

The QEHB wildflower meadow will be the only purely urban one and the designation will improve the health of the natural environment and increase the local community’s access to nature, in addition to patients, staff and visitors to the hospital.

QEHB’s Community Orchard and Gardens has been granted funding as part of the ambitious project to transform and improve up to 16,000sq metres of land around the hospital site for better community use, food production and environment enhancement.

Plans for the Community Orchard and Gardens include creating a woodland walk, a formal fruit orchard and the transformation of an area for elderly patients to exercise or convalesce outside and away from their hospital beds.

Bee colonies and raised food production beds are also planned for the site to help teach children how to grow, keep and cook their own fresh produce.

It is hoped the project will be come one of Birmingham’s shining examples of a volunteer and community led project – helping to improve the land not just for patients, but for visitors, local residents, school children, hospital staff and wildlife.”

Antony Cobley, the hospital’s lead for health and wellbeing, said: “The plans for this meadow will make it the envy of other community gardens and projects.

He added: “We are fortunate to have so much land around the site, the wildflower meadow can hopefully bring back and improve the biodiversity of the area, giving the land back to nature and really improving it for everybody’s benefit.”

Su James, Nature Improvement Area Project Officer, said: “It’s great to be able to create a new meadow at QEHB and emphasise the link between nature and health at such a key site.

“By bringing wildflowers back into the city we can encourage species such as bees and butterflies and help to connect wildlife corridors along the Bournbrook walkway and canals.”

To get involved with the project, please contact the Community Orchard and Gardens Team.

Email: Orchard@uhb.nhs.uk

For further information on Natural England and wildlife in Birmingham and the Black Country, please see the links section.