Flowering meadows and flowering areas are winterised
The near-natural "flowering meadows" created in the city area in connection with the bid to become European Capital of Culture 2025 and the colourful "flowering areas" created in the city centre are now being made ready for winter. The flowering strips also require maintenance in order to survive.
The areas not only beautify the cityscape, they also serve as food for insects. Although the areas were still beautiful to look at in October, this naturally comes to an end with the first frost. For this reason, the flower strips are now mowed to prepare them for reseeding or reseeding the following year.
Mowing is important for the flower meadows. When the daisies are in bloom, it is time to start mowing. Even if it looks bare when flowers are mown, this ensures new flowers in the next growth or in the new year, which would otherwise not occur or only in reduced numbers. Attractiveness and biodiversity are maintained by mowing, but also by manually removing unwanted weeds.
It may also be necessary to work the soil in order to suppress undesirable, often more competitive weeds and root weeds as far as possible before sowing the seed. When sowing, a regional seed mixture should be used, which naturally contains attractive "splashes of colour".
After sowing, the seeds need moisture for at least five weeks, i.e. if there is no rain, the areas must be watered regularly.
The flower strips are maintained by trainees from the Parks Department.
Anyone who would like to help the trainee gardeners prepare the seedbeds is welcome to join them in the spring to remove unwanted weeds.
Note: The near-natural meadows in the Stadtpark and Küchwaldpark, which have been developed over decades by the gardeners of the Parks Department, are less conspicuous but just as ecologically valuable.