Garden group plants green oases in Wyndford

Have you ever thought about what it takes to get some planting going in a residential complex? Wyndford Gardening Group is a member of the Glasgow Climate Action Hub,

and during a visit, Pamela Yule shared their gardening journey. The garden tour gave insights into how they formed as a group, external support in the ongoing gardening process, and about the various, buzzing activities that have resulted in a number of green spaces.

-Pamela Yule in the meadow-making zone. Given space and time for natural processes, the meadow will become a place of wildflowers with nectar and pollen for bees and other insects.

Group formation

On the grounds of the Wyndford Estate, managed by Wheatley Homes Glasgow, a handful of residents found each other and formed a garden group in a way that leads thoughts towards a spontaneous, organic formation. Pamela Yule, who was there from the start, explained,

“We got going with our group by seeing there were fellow gardeners in our neighbourhood and starting to chat with each other; we’d all decided to start digging beds for planting at around the same sort of time in 2020, so it was easy to spot each other!”

There are now around 15 enthusiastic gardeners and the number is increasing. They volunteer to meet once a week from March till November, and as Pamela Yule mentioned, the activities are met positively by other residents, 

“Every time we are out gardening lots of people stop to chat and tell us how happy they are to see our green spaces improving.” 

Many a mickle makes a muckle

As we strolled through the estate, many pocket gardens appeared across an area of 55 acres, with currently 1300 homes and 400 more in the pipeline.

From a plot with flowers that springs up between a nursery and a playground, to beds with bee and other insect-friendly plants, to edible plants that all residents can pick for their cooking, to a meadow in the making. A bug hotel, bat and bird boxes and a greenhouse have recently been put into use. Everything unfolds step by step rather than a finished plan of the whole area. The planting activities arise from a multitude of interests and expressions. From wilderness to lined up, symmetrical placed irises – here is a space for it all.

As Pamela Yule said,

“I think the exciting thing is we can all see the potential here on the Wyndford to plant for all sorts of reasons - beauty, togetherness, health, nature, biodiversity, food, rewilding - across the whole of the estate.”  

An important factor in the gardening group's success is the many different forms of support. While we visited garden after garden, Pamela Yule linked several organisations and supporters to different projects,

“We’ve taken things quite slowly, planted some flowers, got a Bed4Bees flower bed from the charity Repollinate for the children’s nursery, started thinking about planting food crops … And it’s grown from there.  

We’re really thrilled this year, in particular with funding from Kew Gardens Community Fund and Glasgow City Council, to be planting mostly native flowers for biodiversity, and to be planting flowering bulbs and perennials from Enable Glasgow Fortune Works. Also we’re receiving a huge amount of support and expertise from Repollinate and our local Countryside Ranger with whom we built a bug hotel, put up bat and bird boxes and had a wildflower plugs planting day.  We’ve had lots of input from Buglife and Butterfly Conservation as well as the Keep Scotland Beautiful It’s Your Neighbourhood campaign.”

No matter how small or big your dreams and visions of planting are for your community, there is support and experience to draw on. For example, check out Glasgow Community Food Network and the GALLANT project.

-One of the many growing pockets on the Wyndford Estates grounds.

To keep going, sowing and growing

There are plenty of reasons to go on with planting projects. Climate change is a present element in our lives, and despite the abstractness of the concept, it has become common knowledge that plants are great environmental workers that support a healthy climate. Compared to concrete, green areas can absorb rainwater and bring shade to humans and animals. Birds and insects forage and build homes in a wide variety of vegetation. With crops like berries, lettuce and onions within walking distance of the home, as seen in Wyndford, carbon footprint and polluting particles are reduced tremendously. And the benefits go beyond that, as a community research report states, 

“What is readily apparent is that although participants do talk about their experiences of changing weather and climate change – and the role that the built environment and green spaces play in influencing these – they talk about the ‘resilience’ benefits of green spaces in much wider terms than simply shading or cooling. Rather, what comes across strongly is the way in which different kinds of green space can enable individuals and communities to cope with extremes through supporting physical and mental wellbeing, and fostering a sense of responsibility and connectivity.”  (Urban Nature for Heat-Resilient Neighbourhoods Project (2025) Green spaces for heat-resilient neighbourhoods in Glasgow: Govan and Pollok community research report. The Open University: Milton Keynes).

At Wyndford, the beating heart of the driven garden forces is the residents' individual interests and passion, which collectively develop into a rich, diverse group and planting ground. In addition to the many established blooming green spots, other planting projects are underway with beds ready for soil and plants. Ideas for initiatives that have not yet been launched are sprouting, for example a pond that can absorb rainwater and help preventing flooding.

At Glasgow Climate Action Hub we look forward to following the gardening group, their activities and generous sharing of experiences and knowledge. May the growing plant movement spread vibrantly.

Support from Glasgow Climate Action Hub

Through Glasgow Climate Action Hub we reach out to member organisations and groups to explore how we can offer our free support. It is an opportunity for an informal chat about ideas on how to get started or how to update practice.

Whether you want to clarify ideas and thoughts, work in depth with, for example, developing a policy and plan, or delve into specific topics, we are ready to meet. By meeting one-on-one, we aim to offer support that is tailored to your circumstances and reality. Sometimes this involves referring to experts, connecting with like-minded organisations, or providing space to air frustrations, challenges, and dreams - in order to identify actions, move forward and keep momentum.

Please get in touch if you would like to speak to Glasgow Climate Action Hub about your situation: info@gcah.scot