Bee pasture at the town hall - Stadtgrün pays more attention to insect-friendly areas and sustainable planting

It has been a popular photo motif in recent days: the flowering meadow at Radebeul town hall. Poppies and wildflowers shine from afar and greet visitors. The impetus for the creation of the flowering meadow came from a request by the CDU city council faction last spring. At the same time, Radebeul's twin town of St. Ingbert sent a flowery greeting to Radebeul in the form of seed balls.

"The area opposite the "Weinfeld" was ideal for creating a flowering meadow," explains Jan Pötschkte, head of the municipal planning office. "Although we have already made intensive efforts throughout the city to promote the diversity of ecological spaces in the urban greenery, these endeavours are not always immediately obvious to everyone. It therefore made sense to design at least a small area at the town hall site accordingly," Pötschke continues.

The area in question was therefore professionally prepared last autumn and fully planted with seeds from our partner city in the Saarland and a supplementary seed mixture from regional production. Emphasis was placed on a natural and species-rich mixture of wild flowers, herbs and grasses as a habitat for bumblebees, bees and butterflies.

Over the past 25 years, there has already been a significant increase in the area of public green spaces in Radebeul. The total area of green spaces to be maintained by the city has increased tenfold since 1995, currently totalling around 40 hectares. This means that around 1.5 % of Radebeul's area is intensively maintained green spaces (including parks and green areas, roadside greenery, areas for compensatory measures). Residential green spaces are used for short-term daily recreation and for weekend and leisure activities.

The extensive private commitment here in Radebeul should also be emphasised at this point. This not only relates to the often lovingly tended gardens at home. For example, thanks to the private commitment of a local resident, an extensive flowering meadow has been established on an almost 1,800 m² area of municipal land by the Moritz-Garte footbridge.

In addition to the aforementioned green spaces in the city centre, the people of Radebeul also have access to other large and attractive recreational areas in the open countryside. These include the Lößnitzgrund, the Waldpark and the Fiedlergrund. A forest area of 370 ha (approx. 14 % of the area of Radebeul) alternating with almost 1000 ha of agricultural land (40 % of the area of Radebeul, of which almost 88 % is vineyards) offer a quantitatively and qualitatively high potential for recreational areas.

In various peripheral areas, the Urban Greenery Department has already successfully implemented and gained experience in the conscious design of residual areas on many occasions. Examples of this include the meadow on Meißner Str. (next to the LÖMA orchard) as an area for the woodlark, the dry biotope on Waldstraße and the road island on Kötitzer Str. as a wildflower meadow. In the case of the latter in particular, however, it became clear that without appropriate reseeding, the areas cannot be permanently maintained in their current form.

The approaches that have already been continuously realised to date, the ongoing increase in the number of street trees and trees in the green spaces and on the municipal properties, should also be continued. These also contribute to both the urban climate and the food supply for insects such as bees.