Trees are amazing!

Local resident and Cumbernauld Living Landscape volunteer Josh Chambers was out investigating trees recently.  ‘There are tons of species of trees – about 60,000+ I think.  Apparently there are over 18 million live trees in Scotland.  Scotland’s most common native trees are Scots pine, birch, oak, hazel, willow, rowan, hawthorn, juniper, elder, alder and wild cherry. My grandad use to

Fluff up and cuddle up – staying warm in winter (if you’re a bird)!

By Teri Grieve, Cumbernauld Living Landscape trainee On any winter walk a common sight, and perhaps the poster child of our snowy winters, are our resident robins, which stay with us all year round. Strangely though their bright chests may stand out against the white of the snow, they almost vanish against the bare branches of the shrubs. How do

The cleverness of corvids

By Teri Grieve, Cumbernauld Living Landscape Trainee Some of the Cumbernauld Living Landscape team were out planting trees with our volunteers last week at Broadwood Loch, so I thought I’d tell you about others in nature that have also been helping our woodlands. Magpies, crows and jays all belong to a family of species called corvids, and they are very

A frosty walk among the Hawthorns!

Our guest blogger Josh has found some cool Hawthorns this week: “During a frosty walk at the weekend I stumbled across this tree lauded with berries. Upon research I believe it to be a hawthorn tree. These are very common everywhere in the UK and Ireland.  Hawthorn is said to be one of the most magical trees.  Interestingly, hawthorns can

Deery Me!

Our volunteer blogger Josh spotted an awesome deer this week! “Its getting harder and harder to get out during the week due to the cold weather and dark nights. Luckily when wrapped up on the weekend I spotted two deer in the forest. It’s not an unusual sight for me but it’s still a thrill every time I see them,

Nature Ninjas keeping paths to nature open for everyone

At such a tough time for everyone, it is important to connect with green spaces.  These connections have been shown, in countless studies, to improve mental health. It is therefore imperative that access to green spaces remains easy and unobstructed.  These are some of Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s guiding principles. We continue to operate our “Nature Ninja” volunteer groups in these

Fabulous Fungi!

Local resident and Cumbernauld Living Landscape volunteer Josh Chambers,  has been out and about in Cumbernauld’s fantastic green spaces again and has found some fabulous fungi! On an early morning walk I stumbled across these tiny toadstools. I am not able to tell what kind they are or anything like that, but I can appreciate them. I can appreciate that

How to turn your garden into a hedgehog haven

A couple of weeks ago I had a surprise visitor. The little spikey creature wondered across the garden at night looking for beetles and slugs and my garden has plenty! I’ve never seen a hedgehog in my garden before but this is right time of year to spot them. Over the past few months hedgehogs have been starting to fatten

Our volunteers are back in the outdoors!

We are delighted to announce that our volunteer groups are heading back outdoors! These groups will be operating at a reduced capacity with social distance checks to follow current Covid-19 guidelines. We aim to carry out vital tasks in the community – litter picks, invasive species removal and path maintenance. Our volunteers are ecstatic at the possibility of heading back

It’s time to reconsider our relationship with nettles

Nettles get a bad rap. Everybody has a story of getting a painful sting from them. We’re all too familiar with the horrible, lingering, pulsating, annoying sensation after you brush past their leaves. But, I’m about to rock the boat by saying that we should be encouraging more nettles into our lives. These are plants that truly deserve a reappraisal