The city says the Eco-Wasteland battle

There was nothing but Grass, the trapped in the past on a is located between the Dufour and the Bellerive street in Zurich's Seefeld in front of Scion. Now employees of Green city of Zurich (GSZ) are working to make the center of the open area is a Paradise for insects.

On the former lawn – due to proximity to a Garage quite aptly Porsche lawn are over 40 different species of plants. "We mix this nutrient rich soil native wild perennials with ornamental shrubs, from the garden centers," says HBC spokesman Lukas Handschin.

the First to Experiment with irrigation

Because these perennials are thirsty in the summer faster, moved GSZ in this place, exceptionally, a system of irrigation. The sprinklers are set according to Handschin, if necessary manually, with a timer in operation. "It simplifies the care of the discounts. While the irrigation is running, can be done other gardening Work."

a helper in the earth: A Sprinkler of the new irrigation system (photo: Urs Jaudas/TA)

the wind rose, thyme, Speedwell, Echinacea, Foxglove, bluebells, anemone from spring to autumn to glory in the flowers "the entrance to Seefeld for the human eye-appealing" as it formulated the GSZ-speaker. The groundcover and perennials with a variety of heights are created in groups, a chaussierter walk allows you to traverse the open space, and Green city of Zurich, a block of wood as a bench and boulders in various sizes on the square.

The cost for the redesign of the square, a total of 25'000 Swiss francs. 10'000 Swiss francs are good on the purchase of the plants, the irrigation system will cost 4000 francs, and the remainder is distributed according to Handschin on labor and machine hours, as well as a few cubic meters of gravel. Also, in the future you should need to consider, depending on the site conditions, whether in the case of more frequent extreme weather events, a permanently installed irrigation system make sense, says Handschin.

20'000 square metres of converted

The Porsche's meadow is the only open space on public land that is converted from a pure lawn with Schmuckbeet in an insect-friendly Ecosystem. In the framework of the project "More than Green", which was launched on the basis of a parliamentary Directive from the Zurich municipal Council in 2016, have already been 20'000 square meters of city surface enhanced ecologically – and this is both on public and private land.

the diversity of species in a small area as here in Seefeld to anywhere in the city of new Ecosystems (photo: Urs Jaudas/TA)

The project aims, despite brisk construction activity and compaction the proportion of ecologically valuable land in the settlement area at the current level of around ten percent. The city is looking for the cooperation with the Private: Who adds value to the own reason and soil ecology, receives from the city a one-time contribution of 10 francs per square metre – up to a maximum of 5000 Swiss francs per object. On request, specialists advise that the redevelopment of the open spaces.

retraining for municipal employees

What is based for private land owners, and land owners on a voluntary basis, is on public duty. Also the free areas of urban real estate to be consistently redesigned. In the administrative regulation of the city of Zurich since 1. May 2017, stipulates that municipal employees, the larger Green and open spaces to manage, must complete training on the objectives and measures for the natural care and management of green spaces.

The development biodiverser planting concepts for open space strength is also the subject of the GSZ know-employees, says Handschin. "Care for a discounts with many types of requires a high level of competence. This is a beautiful work for our gardeners." In the coming spring will show up in Seefeld, whether this newly acquired Knowledge bears fruits, respectively flowers.

Created: 04.11.2019, 12:02 PM