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Wildlife Garden |
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| This triangle of land was once a wildlife garden for Niddrie Mill Primary School. Although it's been left to run wild, it still contains many different plants. | |
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There are many Alder trees here, on the Burn’s edge (Niddrie Burn). Alder is very valuable in many ways. Firstly, it grows in wet places. Growing beside streams, its roots help to bind the soil together to stop erosion. Its roots also have nodules on them, which contain bacteria that ‘fix’ nitrogen in the soil. This means that nitrogen is converted to nitrates, which can then be taken up by the tree, and the other plants that grow beside it. The trees produce male and female catkins before the leaves, in winter. The female catkins become woody when they form seeds and they look like small pine-cones. Small birds like to eat these seeds, especially Siskins. |
The wood is resistant to rotting in water and was used for clog soles in days gone by. The timber was also used to build waterside structures, including the ‘crannogs’ that were built in many Scottish lochs. These were artificial islands, used as sanctuaries for people and livestock when villages were attacked. Perhaps this is why the Alder was known in folklore as a symbol of secrecy and places of refuge.
Other trees here include Cherry, Birch, Ash, young Scots Pine, a large Willow by the burn, Rowan, Elm and Sycamore. On the other side of the burn are Sycamore and Birch.
There are also some shrubs that are very valuable for wildlife: Elder, Hazel, Brambles and Dog Rose. Ground plants include Dock, Cow Parsley, Ground Elder, Hogweed, Giant Hogweed, Rosebay Willowherb, grasses (mostly Cocksfoot), Few-flowered Leek (in spring), Cleavers, Lesser Celandine, Creeping Buttercup, Daffodils, mosses, Stinging Nettles, Butterbur, Common Reed, White Dead Nettle, Comfrey, and Ivy on the wall.
Keep a lookout for Starlings taking baths in the burn, Mallard ducks on the water and Siskins in the Alder trees.
What to look out for and When |
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| Spring | Summer | Autumn | Winter |
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White flowers of Few-flowered Leek Kidney-shaped leaves and starry yellow flowers of Lesser Celandine Yellow Daffodils Spikes of Butterbur flowers |
Drooping yellow flowers of Comfrey
Different flowers of Grasses Delicate white flower heads of Cow Parsley, Ground Elder and Hogweed Red/pink flowers of Rosebay Willowherb Butterflies and insects |
Green cones on Alder
Giant Hogweed skeletons Papery catkins on Birch trees Huge Butterbur leaves Bright red Rowan berries Birds eating seeds and berries |
Reddish catkins and small, dark cones on Alder trees
Siskins in the Alder trees |