Germans and Gardens
One thing I have always admired about Germans is how they tend to their gardens. It matters very little just how big the space is or what you're growing. People go through great lengths to ensure that the space given to them looks like the Second Coming of the Garden of Eden.
Being that Germany is a relatively small country with 85 million people, there isn't that much garden space to go around, which goes double when you are in the cities. I ought to know. If you look at the classifieds online for Frankfurt, there are hundreds of requests for garden spaces, private or public. The demand is always there.
Then, of course, there are the Vereine, or registered clubs that lease plots, also known as Shrebergarten, usually in spaces of 300, 400 or 500 square meters, depending on the place and the club. The big clubs have more than a hundred of these plots, 100 plots are a middle sized club. In Frankfurt, there must be about a dozen of these clubs. In the U.S., this is almost hard to imagine, being that people prefer their houses with plenty of yard space without the need to leave them. But the gardener clubs also keep the city honest and prevent them from building projects that would not be in their best interests, whether from an aesthetic or a practical perspective. There are not many strip malls in Germany that I am aware of.
Often, a traveler will ride a train through a city and spot these garden plots, whether he may know it or not. It may be a small plot, plus a bungalow on the property, very charming indeed. Now you know what these plots are for. Contrary to popular belief, these aren't the tiniest houses ever made, but only part of the garden and a place to rest, especially during the hot summer days. And those can be as hot as they are long. Yard work can be exhausting during summer.
Next comes the layout of the gardens. This has become an art, depending on the person leasing the plot. Will (s)he be going for something nice, like the ivy covered arch at the entrance, or will the focus be on growing something useful? Either way, I have rarely seen a German garden in disarray. Some gardens are designed with even the tiniest detail in mind, as to where the gnomes should be standing. Some have five foot high mini green houses, others have flags fluttering in the wind, and all of them have a shack for tools...and barbecue equipment. No stone is left unturned, sometimes in a literal sense.
In Frankfurt, there are seasons for growing certain items. For example, we have picked the last of our cucumbers and green beans in our plot. Now we are picking raspberries, the blackberries are ripening as well, and the apples come at the very end, September or October, or when it is time to close shop for autumn and winter.
Then there are people who will forego growing crops and restrict themselves to growing flowers. When this is done right, you may be looking at a mini Versailles. Some of them can be over the top, for certain, but every plot is painstakingly maintained.
Public gardens in Germany are eye candy that can be hard to ignore. It's tax euros at work, when it comes down to it. It also adds to the quality of life and is a message to the city's visitors. It's typically European too. A public or private garden will always be in shape, it says so much about the person(s) maintaining them. Even (or especially) in Germany.
Being that Germany is a relatively small country with 85 million people, there isn't that much garden space to go around, which goes double when you are in the cities. I ought to know. If you look at the classifieds online for Frankfurt, there are hundreds of requests for garden spaces, private or public. The demand is always there.
Then, of course, there are the Vereine, or registered clubs that lease plots, also known as Shrebergarten, usually in spaces of 300, 400 or 500 square meters, depending on the place and the club. The big clubs have more than a hundred of these plots, 100 plots are a middle sized club. In Frankfurt, there must be about a dozen of these clubs. In the U.S., this is almost hard to imagine, being that people prefer their houses with plenty of yard space without the need to leave them. But the gardener clubs also keep the city honest and prevent them from building projects that would not be in their best interests, whether from an aesthetic or a practical perspective. There are not many strip malls in Germany that I am aware of.
Often, a traveler will ride a train through a city and spot these garden plots, whether he may know it or not. It may be a small plot, plus a bungalow on the property, very charming indeed. Now you know what these plots are for. Contrary to popular belief, these aren't the tiniest houses ever made, but only part of the garden and a place to rest, especially during the hot summer days. And those can be as hot as they are long. Yard work can be exhausting during summer.
Next comes the layout of the gardens. This has become an art, depending on the person leasing the plot. Will (s)he be going for something nice, like the ivy covered arch at the entrance, or will the focus be on growing something useful? Either way, I have rarely seen a German garden in disarray. Some gardens are designed with even the tiniest detail in mind, as to where the gnomes should be standing. Some have five foot high mini green houses, others have flags fluttering in the wind, and all of them have a shack for tools...and barbecue equipment. No stone is left unturned, sometimes in a literal sense.
In Frankfurt, there are seasons for growing certain items. For example, we have picked the last of our cucumbers and green beans in our plot. Now we are picking raspberries, the blackberries are ripening as well, and the apples come at the very end, September or October, or when it is time to close shop for autumn and winter.
Then there are people who will forego growing crops and restrict themselves to growing flowers. When this is done right, you may be looking at a mini Versailles. Some of them can be over the top, for certain, but every plot is painstakingly maintained.
Public gardens in Germany are eye candy that can be hard to ignore. It's tax euros at work, when it comes down to it. It also adds to the quality of life and is a message to the city's visitors. It's typically European too. A public or private garden will always be in shape, it says so much about the person(s) maintaining them. Even (or especially) in Germany.
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