Restoring priority habitats at The Weir Garden

The Weir Priority Habitat restoration project

Thanks to the generous funding from National Highways Designated Funds, in spring 2025 we completed the planting to restore over 65 hectares of priority habitat at The Weir Garden. This involves restoring woodland and wood pasture and establishing new orchards and meadowlands. These changes will help to create important wildlife habitats across the estate, while also capturing additional carbon and improving the soil and water quality. The land will continue to be monitored and cared for now all planting and seeding is complete. 

Watch this video with some of the National Trust team who worked on the project, created wildlife cinematographer Tom Hartwell.

 

Planting lowland and floodplain meadows

Part of this project involved planting native wildflowers and grass seed to create new meadowland habitats. Meadows have been planted and sown with species such as common knapweed, ox-eye daisy, bird’s-foot trefoil and meadow buttercup. 

Creating wildflower-rich meadowland at the Weir will vastly improve the biodiversity of the site, establishing new, flourishing habitats for important pollinators, nesting birds, and small mammals. Research shows that 97% of UK meadows have been lost over the past century, meaning it is more important than ever to ensure these habitats are restored and protected.

Creating wood pasture and native broadleaf woodland

Some areas have been planted with individual parkland trees to create wood pasture and others planted with a blend of native broadleaved trees to restore woodland.  

The predominant tree species in the woodland is oak, with added lime, sweet chestnut, beech and field maple. Countless species can thrive in wooded areas, from common birds and mammals to rare flora and fungi.

Planting traditional orchards

We have planted trees to restore traditional orchards with local varieties of apple, pear, damson, plum and cherry trees and a new hedgerow with native species, providing a much-needed habitat for insect pollinators. Research shows that traditional orchards and hedgerows have been in decline in the UK, with wildlife losing out on important habitats and resources. We are proud to be restoring these priority habitats in the heart of Herefordshire, a county famous for its fruit producing heritage.

Find out more about National Highways environment and wellbeing fund by following the link below.

Working with partners

In addition to the habitat restoration work, the project also involved working with partners on a creative programme regarding the future of The Weir.

In 2024, thanks to a UKSPF grant from the Herefordshire Council, we worked in partnership with Meadow Arts, a contemporary visual arts charity, to explore our visitors’ views on the evolving landscape and how they’d like to use it in the future.

Throughout the summer of 2024, Meadow Arts conducted a series of artist-led workshops with local communities and visitors at The Weir Garden. The workshops delved into the themes of the project through artwork, poetry, walking, other family-friendly activities with the aim of helping our visitors develop new connections to the landscape through the medium of art, and therefore help us to evaluate the needs and possibilities for the future of The Weir. 

Community groups participating in the programme included Hereford Mind, Leominster Meeting Centre, Hereford 6th Form College and Earl Mortimer College. The artists commissioned to lead the activity included Chris Poolman, Emily Hedges, Emma Beynon, Celia Johnson, Harriet Carter and Daniel Pryde-Jarman.

We invited visitors to participate in workshops on the 12 July and 14 September 2024.

The project culminated with a showcase day at The Weir Garden on 14 September 2024, where examples of the different art pieces that have been created in the workshops were on display.