Important Freshwater Areas Important Freshwater Landscapes

GroWet

Habitat Project Species Project

Saving rare and endangered wetland plants

Local people are helping us to save historic wetland and freshwater habitats by growing rare wetland plants at home, at school and in community centres.

GroWet Team

Working together to conserve historic wetlands and freshwater wildlife

Research shows that in the lowlands, wetland plant diversity is declining at approximately 1% every year. These declines are even more severe for endangered and uncommon species.

GroWet gives these plants a helping hand, enabling them to reach good sites, increasing their abundance and distribution, and most importantly reducing their risk of extinction.

GroWet is running in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and in the Irfon catchment in mid-Wales.

Two women wearing white teeshirts, standing outside. One handing a plant in a pot to the other.

We're working with local horticulturalists and other project partners to:

1 Propagate some of the UK's most endangered wetland plants

including species like Common Cotton-grass, Ragged-robin and Greater Water-parsnip, which were once plentiful but are now in rapid decline.

2 Engage with people

including people living in urban areas with little access to nature, to grow endangered wetland plants at home.

3 Introduce the propagated plants to high quality freshwater and wetland habitats

where they would once have been plentiful and where we believe they can thrive again.

GroWet Oxfordshire

There are two ways you can sign up for GroWet Oxfordshire 2024:

1. GroWet plant pick-ups 

Attend a plant distribution events at Cutteslowe from Monday 24th June until Friday 28th June (4-7pm). Please book your place here.

2. Seed collection 

Join the GroWet journey from start to finish, collecting seeds from one of our wetland sites to take home, grow on, and eventually plant back out into the wild. Book your place on our Events page.

GroWet volunteers

GroWet Oxfordshire is being run through our Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire Freshwater Network project. This is part of the Nature Returns programme, led by Natural England in close partnership with the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and RBG Kew, Wakehurst.  This Shared Outcomes Funded Programme is sponsored by Defra and DESNZ. GroWet is also supported by the ODS Group and Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum.

GroWet for Buckinghamshire schools and community groups

Schools and community groups in Buckinghamshire can now help to stop the ongoing decline of Buckinghamshire’s rare wetland plants by growing on seeds and seedlings into mature plants ready to go back into the wild. This offers a hands-on approach to learning about plant life, ecology and freshwater environments, while taking part in active conservation work.

We are now inviting schools to register their interest. Activities are suitable for ages five upwards, and can be tailored depending number of students, year group and available timescales.

The Rothschild Foundation has funded GroWet in Buckinghamshire. We are working closely with Waddesdon Estate who have kindly lent us space in their greenhouse to grow and propagate our GroWet plants.

Register your interest
Two boys wearing white school shirts, standing in a garden holding potted plants.

GroWet Buckinghamshire schools' pack

Learn the many ways that your school can get involved in GroWet and help to stop the decline of rare and endangered wetland plants!

Read first

Download our Buckinghamshire schools' pack

GroWet Greenhouse Volunteering

We are looking for people to come and help at our GroWet greenhouses in Cutteslowe, Oxford, and Waddesdon Estate, Buckinghamshire.

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about rare and endangered wetland plants and freshwater ecology while getting hands-on experience in greenhouse activities and plant conservation.

Whether you’re an experienced gardener or just keen to get involved, your help will make a difference to freshwater wildlife. Meet like-minded individuals, gain valuable skills and enjoy the satisfaction of having a positive impact on your local habitats.

We are currently taking applications for Cutteslowe greenhouse volunteers and will be taking applications for Waddesdon soon.

Sign up to be part of our GroWet Cutteslowe volunteer team
silly greenhouse pic

GroWet in the Irfon catchment

GroWet is expanding into the River Irfon catchment in mid-Wales. This will be running as part of our River Irfon Catchment Project, which is funded by the Nature Networks Programme and delivered by the Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh Government.

More information coming soon.

Photo of the River Irfon catchment in mid-Wales. Water is surrounded by grassy hills and trees.

GroWet was originally created in 2022 as part of our project Building Oxfordshire’s Freshwater Network. Find out more in this article from CJS.

About the GroWet plants

Here are the wetland plants we’re working on during the project. Follow the links to learn about each species’ ecology and propagation.

Common Cotton Grass

Common Cotton-grass
Eriophorum angustifolium

Find out more
Creeping Marshwort

Creeping Marshwort
Helosciadium repens

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Fen violet

Fen Violet
Viola stagnina

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flea sedge

Flea-sedge
Carex pulicaris

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Frog bit

Frogbit
Hydrocharis morsus-ranae

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water-parsnip

Greater Water-parsnip
Sium latifolium

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Meadow thistle

Meadow Thistle
Cirsium dissectum

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Parsley water dropwort

Parsley Water-dropwort
Oenanthe lachenalii

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Ragged Robin

Ragged-robin
Silene flos-cuculi

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round fruited rush

Round-fruited Rush
Juncus compressus

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Tubular water dropwort

Tubular Water-dropwort
Oenanthe fistulosa

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water germander

Water Germander
Teucrium scordium

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Water-violet

Water-violet
Hottonia palustris

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Close up of plant with small white flowers growing up a long stem. Other plants in the background.

Marsh Arrowgrass
Triglochin palustris

Find out more