riversidenaturally

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Riverside Naturally is a community group and registered charity based in Stirling that aims to make Riverside a better place to live by making it a better place for nature.

06/04/2026

💛Spring is here & so is our first evening volunteer session of the year. Meet us at Riverside Community Orchard on
Thursday 9th April 2026 from 6.30pm - 8pm 💚

🦋Continuing with our ethos of reusing as much as possible on site, we cut some of the thick dogwood we coppiced earlier in the year into poles & we’ll be using them as fence posts up near the orchard where we’ll be creating rustic fencing around our vital nettle patch, come & be part of protecting & celebrating the wondrous nettle.

🐌Down at the Story Garden we’ll be replanting a conifer and pruning the buddleia.

🦉We will also have a look at initial thoughts for establishing a boundary at the back of the Story Garden, our idea is to move self-sown saplings and create some dead hedges.

🪲And if all that is not exciting enough there’s always selective weeding to be done! Dress for the ever changing weather

🌦️ ☀️⛈️ 🌳🍃🌱🌿

07/02/2026

Happy Imbolc! People have celebrated this halfway point between the winter solstice and the Spring Equinox since ancient times. This year it was on 1st February and while the wintry showers continue, we have been noticing the evenings getting lighter already.

Last weekend we got together for our first maintenance session of the year. Our main focus was down in the Story Garden - although there was work to be done in the orchard too, pulling out suckers and seedlings from between the fruit trees and preparing for the winter pruning that we'll start soon if there's a dry spell.

Down in the woodland gardens, we embarked on transporting the wonderful woodchip for mulching and supplementing paths. We dug out spreading sedge and couch grass and checked the status of our biodiverse planting. We brought our new tools to bear on the red dogwood, which has sprawled luxuriously out and up with only sporadic interventions; we decided it was time to get it under control. Some of the long slender stems that we cut off with our pruning saw and magic secateurs were woven into the willow arbour, bracing the structure in anticipation of new growth. We have other weaving-themed ideas for the rest!

30/01/2026

Tomorrow is the last day of January, and our first volunteering session of the 2026. But some of our members spent their holidays getting a head start on work in the gardens, during a rare frosty day of this mild winter.

Come and speak to us tomorrow if you see us around the orchard or woodland gardens, during our session 9.30 - 12pm. Breaktime at 10.30am, either the orchard or the arbour depending where most people are.

Photographs by Paul Dumbleton

26/01/2026

Saturday maintenance session
🍏 31st January 2026 🍎

🪾 Happy New Year! Come and join us out in the fresh air and lend a hand to our practical activities. All welcome!

🌲 This Saturday our main focus is trimming the beautiful red dogwood in the Story Garden.

🐞 We'll continue weaving into the willow arbour to reinforce its structure, and mulch the base.

🌱 For those who enjoy the meditative benefits of weeding - there is plenty to be done!

Meet us at Riverside Community Orchard on:

🍄 Last Saturday of the month (31st January)
From 9.30am - 12noon 🐝

Dress for the weather, it's likely to be cold - wear sturdy footwear, and gloves if you have them 🍂

28/11/2025

New signs for the tree trail!

We've been busy painting tree signs, and today rolled out the first stage of their installation. We prepared old slates from local roofs and hand-painted the signs to help passers-by notice and identify different species. Paul began this project during the lockdown in 2020, and his signs showcased the wonderful variety of trees in the neighbourhood. Over the years, weather wore away at the signs so this year we decided to refresh and replace them, gathering the slates back in to clean, sand, and prime them - using a bold blue exterior paint, supplied for free by the Stirling Reuse Hub, who stock a variety of unused paint, available at low cost (or free for charities such as ourselves). Then we redrew and painted the lettering, adding in a drawing of the leaves to highlight important features for identification.

Still a few more signs to do, but many are up already - look out for them on your walks around Riverside.

25/11/2025

Elsewhere in Stirlingshire, beavers have been busy with their engineering projects. A case study in how their efforts can mitigate downstream flooding risks.

23/11/2025

Or regular volunteering session is next weekend, as usual the last Saturday of the month. Come and join us!

Saturday 29th November
Meet at the orchard Bee Bed 9.30am
Continuing until noon, we'll be down in the woodland gardens

Range of options from strength intensive to gentle adjustments:

- Fixing up the willow arbour
- Weeding woodland paths
- Wheelbarrowing
- Barking up the paths
- Cutting back dogwood
- Creative habitat construction for our animal neighbours

All welcome - no experience needed, bring gloves if you have them and dress up warm for the weather, potential to be a bit muddy.

Coffee break at 10.30, bring a flask and meet us for a chat :)

It's the last one scheduled for this year, as we don't do the last Saturday in December. We might be able to squeeze one or two extra sessions in through December if there is interest, as there are lots of good wee jobs to sort out while in the winter months. Either way we'll finish 2025 strong and full of ideas, ready for the new year ahead!

04/11/2025

Sometimes upside down is the right way up. A bullfinch making good use of the rowan berries in Riverside, photographed by Pat Morrissey.

Bullfinches depend on trees for their food, and require woodland to nest in, or hedgerows growing high enough to be safe from predators.

28/10/2025

Let sleeping deadwood lie 🪵

🪾When trees and branches fall, or need to be cut down, the best place for them to lay to rest is in the wood where they lived, because deadwood provides the foundation for life in our woodland habitats 🪵🌱🪲🐞🌳🌲

26/10/2025

We had a such a lovely morning yesterday, removing more rough grass and thinning out plants at the Story Garden. After strategic weeding we laid down cardboard and donated wood chippings to deter grass from taking over again, and replenish the bark on the path ☀️🪾🍁

There was also a little experimental weaving of dogwood into the arbour, some impromptu yoga & handstand practice & the beginnings of a new song…

We sat in the arbour for tea & chat and once we’d solved the problems of the world we did some more work 😉

22/10/2025

What are you doing this Saturday morning? Come and give us a hand in the orchard and woodland gardens, we've got plenty of fun jobs to do around the Bee Bed and the Story Garden, and the forecast is looking bright! Autumn colours, fresh air, hands-on tasks and great company - it's a perfect way to spend time in these wonderfully wild garden spaces. Join us to see how the berries and nuts are doing, and notice what the local wildlife is up to.

Meet at the orchard at 9.30am, this Saturday 25th October 2025, or find bring your own coffee and find us at the coffee break (10.30, probably down at the arbour in the Story Garden this time)

Riverside Community Orchard, Riverside Drive, Stirling, United Kingdom, FK8 1XU

Address

Riverside Drive
Stirling
FK81XU

Website

http://www.riversidenaturally.org/

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