A roundabout on the edge of Glasgow is to be transformed into a wildflower garden.

Drumry Roundabout on Great Western Road will be in bloom by Spring next year.

Sponsors Enterprise Rent-A-Car is paying for the £15,000 project which a partnership between the council, the University of Sheffield Landscape Department and private firm Pictorial Meadows.

Planting is scheduled to start in the autumn, with the main display of flowers from March to October 2016.

All the plants and shrubs have been selected to encourage the proliferation of a number of rare species of insects and birds.

The meadow is expected to flower seasonally for at least 10 years, with the added benefit for the council that keeping the meadow healthy and attractive will require minimal effort and cost.

The Glasgow project forms part of a nationwide programme that will see nine urban areas around the country brought to life with sustainable meadow plantings.

Enterprise launched this programme in September 2014. The company, along with its philanthropic arm The Enterprise Holdings Foundation, will donate a total of £130,000 to fund the projects.

Diane Mulholland, general manager of Enterprise in Scotland, said: “It is a great pleasure for Enterprise to help create these wildflower meadows as part of our 20th birthday celebration in the UK.

“As a very regional business with branches within five miles of more than three quarters of the country’s population, we strongly believe we can play an important role in giving back to the communities where we operate. It’s our way of saying ‘thank you’ for supporting us. Glasgow has really got behind our initiative and we are very grateful to its partnership in helping us to deliver it.”

Councillor Alistair Watson, Executive Member for Sustainability and Transport at Glasgow City Council, said: “We are always looking for innovative new ways to bring colour and landscape into the city. This is an ideal opportunity to transform one of the city’s busiest intersections while we support a new technology that is proving very beneficial to other cities.

“We are extremely grateful to Enterprise for approaching us with this project and look forward to seeing Drumry roundabout in bloom in 2016.”

The University of Sheffield’s Department of Landscape is one the world’s leading centres for developing sustainable and beautiful urban landscapes.

Nigel Dunnett of the University of Sheffield, one of the main designers for the London Olympic Park and a recognised world expert on the establishment of wildflower meadows, said: “Our research into wildflower meadows has spanned over a decade and is still ongoing. Many of the blends and techniques that we use are now being adopted by other countries.

“It’s hugely important to see support from businesses for these wildflower initiatives, as they help to drive vital improvements in urban areas where public funding continues to be tight. We are very much looking forward to seeing outstanding results in Glasgow.”