Back to nature
Concrete areas and insect deaths: The area around Munich is increasingly characterized by large construction projects – there is little space for flowering meadows. Some farmers want to counteract this and issue flower sponsorships for areas where flowers and wild herbs are left to nature. In this way, they can “offer insects and wild bees a long-term home,” says farmer Anna Strohmaier. Your farm is one of several farms near Munich that offer flower sponsorships. In addition to Anna Strohmeier in Brunnthal, this also includes the Koböck family in Unterbrunn, Franz Soller near Ismaning, Franz Grenzebach in Münsing and the Holzner family in Neufahrn near Freising.
Strohmeier, who runs her farm in the fourth generation, wants to do something against the extinction of species with the “losgeblume” campaign and show that conventional cultivation and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive. With paid three-year flower sponsorships, she can afford to relieve areas of cultivation and plant flower meadows. “We are witnessing the greatest extinction of species since the dinosaurs disappeared. We must stop this development,” she writes on her website. She explains that half of all wild bees are threatened or already extinct. These should find a home on their meadows so that the pollination of fruit and vegetables can be guaranteed.
The Koböck family also offers flowering sponsorships for flower fields and wild herb areas on their farm in Unterbrunn near Gauting. If you sponsor 100 square meters of flowering area, you not only become a “gold sponsor” there, but also get a glass of honey from bee colonies living in the field as a small thank you. The sponsorship costs the flower godparents about one to two euros per square meter – areas from 25 square meters upwards are allocated.
There is life beyond crops.
(Photo: A. Geigenberger)
The “own” piece of meadow can be visited at any time. Why did you decide to give five hectares of land back to nature at once? They want to show “what biodiversity means and how much work is behind it,” says Roland Koböck. In order to do everything right, the Bund Naturschutz in Bayern is there to advise you. A wide row spacing is deliberately left: Skylark and partridge should be able to breed between the stalks. Wild animals such as deer also feel at home in the fields.
If you have the opportunity, you can also create “dirty corners” for insects in your own garden. Mow the lawn less often or leave supposed weeds standing can help. Herbs such as thyme, oregano or rosemary are on the menu of wild bees. You can start sowing these herbs now. Now is the right time to really get started with gardening, even with vegetable beds.
Flower sponsorships:
Anna Strohmeier, Munich Street 18, Brunnthal, phone: 0178/4146097, www.losgeblueht.de
Koböck family, Mitterwies 1, Unterbrunn, telephone: 0172/9078723, www.bluehpatenschaft-muenchen.de
Franz Soller, Hauptstrasse 11, Ismaning, phone: 0171/8557240, [email protected]
Franz Grenzebach, Weipertshausen 26, Münsing, phone: 0176/75073303, www.bluehpatenschaft-starnberger-see.de
The Holzner family, Münchner Straße 27c, Neufahrn near Freising, telephone: 0170/4082769, www.meinebienenwiese.com
Gardening on the windowsill
If you want to harvest crunchy peppers, delicious tomatoes or broccoli in summer, you can start sowing now. Heat-loving plants such as the small cocktail tomatoes can be grown on the windowsill above the heater from mid-March. The main thing is that the seed is initially warm and sunny. A room temperature of about 22 to 25 degrees is required for germination. As soon as the seedlings then peak out of the potting soil, a place with 18 to 20 degrees is sufficient, depending on the seed.
You can grow your own tomatoes on the windowsill.
(Photo: Rüdiger Wölk/imago images)
Tomatoes like it quite warm, radishes and cucumbers can also handle lower temperatures. Unusual types of vegetables such as artichokes, aubergines, fennel, kohlrabi, beetroot or lettuce can also be easily grown on the windowsill. If the ground frost is over in mid-May, they can go outside. More robust types of vegetables such as parsnips, garden lettuce, spinach, red cabbage or carrots can even be sown directly into the bed or raised bed in March or April.
Prepare flowers, berries and fruit
Fans of flowering ornamental gardens and pots can also start planting flowers now. Annual plants such as garden foxtail or gypsophila, begonias, snapdragons, thrifts, bell vines, hard-working lizards or marigolds can easily be preferred on the windowsill, just like vegetables. Other types of flowers such as marigolds or cornflowers, sweet peas and poppies can also be sown directly into the bed before Easter. And it’s still not too late to plant tulips outdoors. Now is also the right time to plant blackberry bushes, raspberries and currants outside. Fruit trees such as apricots, apples or pears can now also be planted in the ground.
Plant the balcony
With balcony plants, nature comes into the middle of the city.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
In spring there is already a lot to do for balcony gardeners. If you want to add a splash of color to your terrace or balcony before summer, you can now plant bright spring flowers in the pots. Varieties that flower profusely early in the year include honeysuckle, daffodils, rose primula and pansies. Once the flowers have faded, geraniums or petunias can follow in the pots. What is also pending in March and April is the sowing and pre-cultivation of dahlias, gladioli, magic bells or nasturtiums, which then provide strong colors and colorful flowers in gardens and on balconies from May. Potted plants that have overwintered indoors can now slowly be reaccustomed to their old place. On frost-free days they are allowed to go outside in a shady, wind-protected place during the day – and then gradually back into the sunlight.
Roses and hydrangeas do good
Roses should be cut back vigorously in April at the latest.
(Photo: Rüdiger Rebmann /Imago Images)
In order for roses to bloom profusely in summer, they need a strong pruning plus fertilization by April at the latest. Rose branches that have diseased, brown spots and are already tearing open in some cases must be consistently cut back into the healthy wood. Dried rose petals must be removed from the bed to prevent fungal diseases from spreading. Most hydrangeas also need care now, depending on the variety. Bloated flowers should always be removed. Sturdy variants like the peasant hydrangea like a vigorous pruning so that they can produce lush flowers. More delicate varieties such as the Annabelle should be pruned more carefully. If you then add organic fertilizer to the soil between March and May, you will be rewarded with flowers in summer.