ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES
Riverside's Nature Haven
Above courts 7 and 8 there is an area of land belonging to the tennis club that is a haven for wildlife. It is sandwiched between the council-owned Kensington and Fisherton Meadows rewilding project that is enhancing the biodiversity of the local area by turning former paddocks into wildflower meadows. The project also has dug a wildlife pond, put in 'bug hotels' and is increasing the number of hedges and tree species. The patch owned by Riverside aims to remain sympathetic to its neighbouring meadows whilst allowing the club to maintain its boundaries under the conditions of its lease and retain the potential for future development.
Over the last few years selective cultivation and ground clearance activities have increased the number of wildflowers, butterflies and insect life. Large clumps of grass, nettles, blackberries, teasels and burdocks have been left to give cover, nesting potential and food to small birds. Nine new trees (three different types of native species) have been planted near the rear gate from the club to the right of way that runs along the back of Palmer Road and Sarum Close.
Future activities will seek to increase the diversity of our native wildflowers and keep the current growth under control. If you are interested in helping or providing advice on how this could be done, please talk to Liz White.
Spotted in July!
A twenty minute wander with a wild flowers and insect app found the following in flower. They are all good nectar sources for pollinators.
Flowers
Black Knapweed (Centaurea nigra),Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), Common Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), Common Yarrow (Achillea milleflorium),Cow Parsley (Anthrisus sylvestris), Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans), Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigrum), Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) – although ragwort is beneficial for pollinators, we remove the majority of it as the tennis club is in close proximity to horse paddocks. Horses are very susceptible to ragwort poisoning.
Smooth Hawksbeard (Crepis capillaris),Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), Wild Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
Insects
Bumblebee
Common Red Soldier Beetle
Butterflies
Gatekeeper, Small skipper, Common Blue, Comma and Marbled White butterflies, were all spotted in July.
Other Environment Initiatives
Riverside has several other environmental intiatives:
1. We use Wilson Triniti Tennis Balls.
2. We have converted all our floodlights to LED bulbs.
3. We recycle our clubhouse waste.
4. We recycleour old tennis balls by donating them to local schools.
5. We have installed bicycle racks to encourage players to cycle to the club.