The Kleingartenverein (KGV) Flora eV has always been sustainable and ecologically oriented – here the free play of nature and insect-friendly wild growth is clearly preferred to geometrically accurate hedges and bushes, chemical clubs and property boundaries drawn with millimeter precision.
But now the association has gone one better with around 320 plots: In its project “Gardens for people, plants and animals”, the members, with the support of the Environment and Consumer Protection Office, thought about how to treat wild bees and bumblebees, frogs, dragonflies, butterflies and can offer rare plants an even better habitat.
Gardens are systemically important
This concept has now convinced the 15-member jury of the Cologne Environmental Protection Prize: It awarded the association the second prize in the annual competition. At a ceremony in the newly opened nature show garden within the facility, Environment Officer Dr. Harald Rau and Konrad Peschen, Head of Environment and Consumer Protection, presented Lotta Domscheit and Caroline Michel from the association’s board of directors with the cash check for 1,500 euros. Rau congratulated them heartily. “There are really great dates to look forward to, and today is one of those,” he praised. “We all notice that we live in a time in which it is recognized that nature is no longer something for weirdos and ideologues, but is downright system-relevant.”
The allotment gardeners from Nippes received the city’s environmental protection award for their show garden on the Flora eV site.
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For example, schools and daycare centers can no longer be imagined without environmental education, in which the association is also involved; Initiatives to grow more food directly in the city are also to be welcomed. He would also be happy if there were more real gardens instead of “stone deserts” in the city area. “We hope that as many people as possible in and around Cologne see the project as a call to make their gardens more natural,” said Domscheit gratefully accepting the award.
City of Cologne promotes colorful balconies
The city wants to take up and disseminate the knowledge of the allotment gardeners in its initiative “Colorful gardens and balconies – so that animals don’t just remain onlookers”. The educational aspect, which the association serves with regular themed and lecture evenings in the clubhouse, is also seen by the Environment Agency employee Betina Küchenhoff as crucial. “We believe that a lot of people seal their gardens mainly because they lack the knowledge. This garden should show how beautiful a natural garden can be. “
The new nature show garden of Flora eV, located directly next to the club house on the main path, had been created by the club members with colleagues from the Veedel since the beginning of the year. It was built on a vacated lot that Flora eV had deliberately not given to a leaseholder in favor of the project.
Vine-covered arcade in the show garden
In the project, the association also wanted those involved to learn how to make a compost heap or pull up a dry stone wall. A raised bed, the particularly insect-friendly dry stone wall, a vine-covered arcade and a small pond are the eye-catchers of the garden. During the corona lockdown, the mooring work continued in small groups. “Our motto was to plant animals, so to speak,” explained Michel. “Namely, to rely on plants and design elements that specifically attract certain species.” One can observe a great deal of interest from the citizens who walk through the complex and turn to the club gardeners with questions. The project is attracting attention not only in Cologne and Nippes, but even in New York: The gardeners’ overall project has also been awarded the United Nations Decade Prize “Biodiversity of Biological Diversity”.
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