Ard Na Gréine Residents’ Association
(email:​ ardnagres73@gmail.com)
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Ard Na Gréine Residents’ Association
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In our last newsletter we mentioned that we would be pushing Dublin City Council to have the green area off Slademore Avenue made suitable for recreational use as per the zoning. As an initial response we asked that the surface be levelled and made safe. We sent several emails but had no response from DCC despite approaches from Councillors Daryl Barron and Tom Brabazon. Eventually Daryl Barron arranged a meeting in April with Dublin City Council Parks and the Acting Liaison Officer, and we did a walkaround of the Estate starting with Slademore Park. We suggested having a tarmac walkway around the perimeter and a small play area at the school, but Parks informed us that the area referred to as Slademore Park was not a park but a green area like Ayrfield and Rathvale and that a walkway or play area would not be considered. We request that the weeds along the walls be cut back but they said that they were “areas of biodiversity” and “will not be pruned back as they have environmental benefits”. All they offered was to put a line of cherry blossom trees along the existing walkway and to continue the wildflower areas already planted in the green at the top of Slademore Avenue. Unfortunately, Parks have not done anything in the intervening period despite repeated lobbying by Councillors Barron and Brabazon. We will continue to pursue them. With regard to outstanding issues we had with trees on the estate, Parks said that consultants will be doing a survey of trees throughout all of Dublin City and only tree safety will be considered pending the report in 2024.
The Ard Na Gréine Residents’ Association will be 50 years in existence in 2023 and we will be celebrating what is a tremendous achievement and hopefully attract some new blood. We are looking at having a boulder on a raised flowerbed on the Slademore Avenue green area to commemorate the occasion. Dublin City Council are supporting us with plans for the Anniversary and we hope to have further news in the coming weeks. We would welcome suggestions from residents to the above email address or to any of the Committee.
We are awaiting the result of the City Neighbourhoods competition. It was a major disappointment that the green area on Slademore was not finished for inclusion. Also, we had to inform DCC that we were no longer in a position to continue with the roundabout on Blunden Drive due to both health and safety and manpower. We had hoped DCC would take over the roundabout, but their response was that they “would cut the grass”. DCC’s strong focus on biodiversity & sustainability e.g., “we don’t encourage the use of boxes around trees, and we are no longer encouraging areas to use planter boxes and would rather see planting into the ground” did not help our case but we live in hope.
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We take this opportunity once again to thank residents for their support both financially and in helping with the upkeep of the estate – a special thanks to Robbie for painting the street signs.
Below are notices from Dublin City Council setting out procedures.
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City Neighbourhoods Competition & suggestions for planting at base of trees
Good afternoon everyone.
I just wanted to let you all know that the North Central Area judging for the City Neighbourhood competition was completed in June and the winners from each category have been sent on to DCC’s Litter Management Office to compete against the winners from the other 4 Dublin City Council Administrative Areas. The citywide judging will take place in July.
The North Central Area is spectacular and the amount of community input is outstanding. We are an area with a strong focus on the environment, biodiversity & sustainability and this was evident during the judging. A huge well done to all who entered the competition this year and I hope that those of you who did not enter will consider entering next year.
I will be in touch soon with a confirmed date & venue for the North Central Area Awards night which will take place in September J
***While we were out judging we noticed that a lot of communities are still putting boxes around the bases of trees. I will be in touch soon with a confirmed date & venue for the North Central Area Awards night which will take place in September JWe don’t encourage the use of boxes so I asked one of our gardeners in St. Anne’s Park to give me some suggestions for plants for tree pits without a little box being built around the tree. We also noticed beautiful flowers growing out of cracks in paths and bases of walls which were so beautiful and eye catching and great for biodiversity ( I attach some photos) The list below is based on plants that self-seed easily into cracks in paths and walls and thrive with very little soil or maintenance. These are all plants that she has seen do well in tree pits around the city.
The key with planting into these pits is to use very small plants as it will be very hard to dig into the soil due to the tree roots. Smaller plants will have a much stronger chance of taking root once they are kept watered in the weeks after planting.
Antirrhinum – I would try these as direct sown rather than as plants. Simply harvest the dried seed heads from established plants and scatter over the tree pit once the pit has been weeded and the soil scuffed up.
Verbena bonariensis – I have seen these absolutely thriving in tree pits where they have self-seeded from neighbouring gardens. I would try as direct sown or as very immature plants for the best chance at success.
Campanula carpatica or campanula poscharskyana are great rockery plants that often thrive in cracks in walls so the dry environment of a tree pit is perfect for them.
Stachys byzantine – lamb’s ear. Divides very easily and not difficult to establish from small divisions. Great groundcover for dry sunny tree pits. Will not like shady spots.
Hardy geraniums – establish as small divisions from mature plants. Great groundcover.
Erigeron karvinskianus – Mexican flea bane – small daisy like flowers that self-seed very well. If you get a couple established on a road they will spread so easily and look incredible, growing out of cracks in walls and pavements and in the neighbouring gardens.
Erigeron glaucus – bright pink flowers that will be a carpet of blooms all summer.
Poppy – the field poppy, Papaver rhoeas do very well in dry poor soil so will establish well in tree pits once the soil is scuffled a bit. Harvest seed from ripe seedheads and scatter liberaly on the soil.
Cetranthus rubra – red valerian – seen in abundance in coastal areas and establishes very easily from seed.
Linaria purpurea – Purple toadflax – a beautiful purple wildflower that will spread very easily and requires very little maintenance.
Diascia and nemesia are two bedding plants that I have seen thrive in tree pits also and will often survive for a few years providing we do not have a very hard winter. They are both very easy to propagate from cuttings.
All of these plants are pollinator friendly.
With best wishes
Joanne
Phone: (01) 2228541 I 087 2868325 I * joanne.osullivan@dublincity.ie I northcentral@dublincity.ie
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Reduce Waste in the North Central Area
Joanne O'Sullivan joanne.osullivan@dublincity.ie
21st May 2023
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Good afternoon everyone,
I am seeking the help from the amazing environmental groups working with us across the North Central Area.
In line with Dublin City Council’s Corporate Plan and our mission to keep the city green and clean through our
environmental, waste management services and our commitment to Climate Action we are trying to reduce the
amount of illegal household garden waste being left out in bags right across the area by private households. Garden waste placed in DCC branded litter bags and black sacks is collected by waste management service vehicles and is disposed of in landfill where it takes up limited space and generates methane gas that is damaging our environment.
The North Central Area Public Domain Team have started erecting new illegal dumping of green waste signage at
hotspots across the area. The first 10 signs were erected this week and we plan to erect a further 10 next week.
(Image of the sign attached). Litter Wardens will be patrolling the area and will be issuing on the spot fines of €150 to people they witness engaging in this activity. We are also asking groups to post the attached illegal dumping of green waste notice on your media pages or whats app groups or alternatively we can print some for you to distribute to households when you are distributing your newsletters.
The Area Office can’t change things by ourselves but with the help from environmental groups across the area I think we can make a difference.
We all need to reduce our waste in any way we can. Grass does not need to be collected – try and encourage your residents to take the collection unit off lawnmowers and allow the grass to mulch back into the ground. We all need to think about how we can dispose of our waste locally – promote composting, leaf composting, use of brown bins and encourage residents to take their green waste from their private gardens to our recycling centres where it can be disposed of in the correct manner – green waste from our recycling centres is taken to Bord na Móna to make compost and does not end up in landfill.
DCC will continue to work with you as registered groups and we fully support the work you are doing to keep
your areas clean. We will continue to supply you with our branded litter bags and compostable leaf bags in
the Autumn, supply equipment to help you with your cleaning and will collect the bags when you are finished.
All we ask is that you give us 10 days advance notice when you are doing a community litter pick or if you are
doing regular litter picking on set dates and times that you give us this information. Please do not give our
branded bags to people outside of your groups.
You need to request your bag collections via our new platform Citizen Hub so if you have not already
registered please do so as soon as you can. Here is the link https://citizenhub.dublincity.ie/
It is very easy to request collection of your bags after your community clean up- simply log in to citizen hub
then click on other services at the bottom of the page and select Community Clean Up Collection. Images
below show what the pages look like. If you need any help please get in touch and we will help you as much
as we can.
I will be in touch soon seeking applications from groups who would like to hold a leaf composting workshop in their area this year and receive some free leaf composting baskets and don’t forget that the theme for this years City Neighbourhood Competition is Zero Waste - judging will take place next month and we wish the best of luck to everyone that entered.
Finally don’t forget that National Food Waste Recycling Week 2023 runs from the 5 th June until the
11 th June. Visit https://www.mywaste.ie/ for practical advice on how to recycle food waste with hints and tips on how easy it is to recycle and get everyone involved.
Thank you for all you do in your communities.
With Kindest Regards
Joanne
A/Environmental Liaison Officer
Dublin City Council
North Central Area
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CITIZEN HUB
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The Citizen Hub is new. Log on to it at the link below for a wide range of services
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