Landesgartenschau 2018
An Experimental Garden to Join In
How can life in cities be healthier, greener, and more diverse? How can we harmonize sustainability and urban living?
The joint project by Stadtgärtner Würzburg e.V., the CampusGarten at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, and the Volkshochschule Würzburg aims to address these questions in a very practical way.
An area of roughly 2000 m2 located in the center of the State Garden Show serves as a testing ground.
“Experimental Garden with a Process Character”...
...is the working title, and the name says it all. People from a wide variety of backgrounds, with and without refugee experience, are invited to join visitors in bringing their ideas for urban greenery, urban gardening, and urban wilderness to life on-site and during the State Garden Show. The outcome is open. It’s a garden in the making—with no development plan, no schedule, and no set targets.
Many Ideas Implemented
What resources does a vertical garden need? How can I reduce my water consumption in the garden? How do I successfully make use of companion planting? What does the perfect herb spiral look like? What effects do sun traps and crater beds have? How can I increase biodiversity in the city and attract beneficial insects by creating homemade biotopes? What simple methods are there to improve soil? What are biochar, terra preta, and bokashi? These and other questions were ones we wanted to answer together. We demonstrated how all of us, using simple means—by repurposing and temporarily using urban wasteland, and by upcycling and recycling everyday items—can create small paradises in the midst of the city. Valuable refuges for people, animals, and plants—away from stress, hustle, perfectionism, and the obsession with growth.
We did so every day on site, together with visitors, as well as in exciting workshops and lectures on different topics changing bi-weekly.
