Urban wildflower roundabouts established in Inverness to help pollinators

A Highland Council project has successfully established five wildflower roundabouts in the Inverness area in order to provide safe havens where bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinators can thrive.

Two urban roundabouts located on the West Link road (A8082) are flowering now, while three locations on the Inverness Trunk Link Road or Sir Walter Scott Drive are due to flower soon.

The roundabouts have been sown with wildflowers which need annual preparation and seeding.  They serve both as a vibrant and eye-catching display for road users and pedestrians and, more importantly, as an oasis for our pollinators.

In September, as the season comes to a close, the roundabouts will be strimmed down and the mulch left to fertilise the ground.

In addition, for the winter months, there are crocuses and daffodils ready to grow to provide early-season-pollinators with an initial food source.

The project aims to help support fraught populations of bumblebees, which are threatened in farmland by intensive farming practices, including loss of wildflowers and exposure to insecticides.

Bee-friendly techniques are being used to maintain the roundabouts, including the restriction of the use of weedkiller, chemical sprays or other pesticides.

ENDS