Tag Archives: Green space maintenance

PHOTO OF THE DAY: "Care" of a fruit tree strip by the company Rigips

By | October 1th 2026
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This is not a suitable mowing method. Credits: pugnalom

COMMENTARY The photo shows a strip of fruit trees between Osterode am Harz and Förste, planted as a so-called compensatory measure by the company Rigips, a subsidiary of the French corporation Saint Gobain, for the expanded open-cast mine in the biodiversity hotspot gypsum karst landscape. It documents not environmentally friendly maintenance, but rather widespread destruction: Under the fruit trees, the entire green area was mowed so deeply with rotary mowers that not only… Read more »

Where maintenance costs breeding: Monotonous gardens contribute significantly to species loss + TIPS

By | April 18, 2026
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Credits: Radovan Zierik, pexels

The majority of gardens in towns and the countryside are species-poor and over-maintained: Monotonous lawns with minimal planting or even gravel offer our native songbirds neither enough habitat nor enough food. This becomes particularly evident in spring when robins and other birds are trying to raise their young. Even searching for a suitable nesting site consumes a lot of energy for the birds, and only… Read more »

Not mowing is not a solution either: Pugnalom tips for a more species-rich lawn

By | May 27
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Credits: JÉSHOOTS, pexels

Transforming a barren lawn into a biodiverse meadow requires more than simply refraining from mowing. Those who have fertilized for years, eradicated every weed, or blown the grass clippings across the area shouldn't be surprised that, despite foregoing mowing, nothing but grass grows and hardly any other plants establish themselves. According to a study by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)... Read more »

World Bee Day, May 20: Nothing comes from nothing – a Pugnalom COMMENT

By | May 20
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Credits: Pugnalom

For most people, this day is just like any other. And for wild bees, it means: NOTHING. They are dying silently. And they are dying out. It can't be that bad, many of us think. After all, the shelves in supermarkets and discount stores are full, the fruit and vegetables are piled high in appetizing mounds, and… Read more »

PUGNALOM interview: “Species that would be well-adapted to future climates are increasingly being banned.”

By | April 14, 2025
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Dominic Wachs on a test area_ Credits: Kevin Fuchs

The "Charter for Berlin's Urban Green Spaces" establishes a commitment by the State of Berlin to contribute to the quality and attractiveness of the city as a place to live, work, enjoy leisure and business, and as a tourist destination. However, corresponding measures have fallen victim to budget cuts in the past, so that many of Berlin's public parks, sports fields, and playgrounds are now in need of fundamental repair and modernization… Read more »

Urban Gardening: Working together for greener cities – Benefits

By | March 12, 2025
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Credits: BLGL

For more than 20 years, there has been a growing public interest in greening urban spaces in Germany. Many city dwellers are discovering this new lifestyle and want to grow their own fruit and vegetables or enhance their surroundings with plants. Horticulture expert Dr. Lutz Popp from the Bavarian State Association for Horticulture and Landscape Management (BLGL) provides information on… Read more »

Tree stunts in town and country are becoming the norm

By | March 11, 2025
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Ballenstedt, Saxony-Anhalt

These days, you encounter them practically everywhere: the stunted trees. Whatever the reason for the mutilation – whether lack of expertise, dendrophobia, boredom, or a lucrative commission – the consequences for the living tree and its inhabitants are catastrophic. A tree consists of a finely tuned system between roots, trunk, and crown. By topping… Read more »

Osterode: Private individuals also continue to destroy woody structures

By | March 11, 2025
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Radical removal of all woody plants

Scene of the crime: Klingenhagener Weg, Kohlstruck riding stables. Photo 1: The pile of twigs, thinner branches, and trunks of smaller diameters alone makes up a volume of approximately 90 cubic meters. For comparison: A medium-sized pool has about 30 cubic meters – so this amount is equivalent to the contents of three such pools. Photo 2: Here you can see that everything on the area… Read more »

Osterode: Large-scale clearing of trees and shrubs again

By | March 11, 2025
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Trees and bushes razed to the ground

Location: Area between the Imperial Palace, Seesener Straße, and Dörgestraße, near the Schachtrupp villa. Area: approx. 5.100 sq m. The facts: Regeneration to its original ecological status takes decades – until then, the habitat for the established species is lost: Depending on the site conditions, the grass and herbaceous layer can recover within three to six years, provided the seed banks in the soil… Read more »

Comment: In many places, green spaces are the stepchildren of the administration

By | February 24, 2025
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Credits: pugnalom

A walk through towns and villages reveals the problem: even freely growing shrubs are cut into box shapes far too frequently, trees are stripped of their crowns, and barren lawns are constantly maintained at golf course length. The obvious maxim: the main thing is that citizens recognize that something has been done. Such "maintenance" is in blatant contradiction to ecological principles and the needs of flora and fauna… Read more »