Regenerate and renew

Local resident Anne McClure has written this guest blog about an amazing experience she had volunteering with us

I started volunteering with Cumbernauld Living Landscape a year ago. Recently our group was able to see the results of some of the early work that we did, when we were chopping down the dreaded invasive dogwood and creating deadwood fences along the Luggie.

What a difference our work has made! The dogwood fences have begun to die down, creating habitat for a rich variety of insects as the wood decays. Hardly any of the dogwood has regrown. What was once a tangled mess, choking trees and stopping light getting to the woodland floor, is now open, bright and growing. Native wildflowers are appearing. A hawthorn that had been entirely covered with years of dogwood growth and looked very poorly is in full leaf and heavy with berries. Another tree that we thought was a goner has completely recovered.

It is incredibly satisfying, with some hard work, to give somewhere beautiful a chance to grow as it should again.

I’ve had times where worries and fears, from things real and ones I’ve imagined, have climbed all over me, stopping me from seeing the light and strangling the good. It’s taken time and a bit of work to unravel this jumble. But being in green places and working with nature has been a huge help to me in doing this.

Every time, underneath, there are good things in life ready to grow and blossom again. I’m learning to never underestimate the ability of nature – and people – to regenerate and renew.