Plants: City gardeners winterize Salzburg’s “green oases”.
The Salzburg city gardeners prepare parks, green areas and planted roundabouts for the cold season.
SALZBURG. Anyone who thinks that autumn and winter are quiet times for Salzburg’s city gardeners is wrong. Especially at the beginning and during the cold season, there is a lot of work to be done in the garden department in Nonntal, as Wilfried Ristits, who is responsible as head gardener for the district east, explains.
Plants for wintering in Nonntal
“It starts with the shrub pruning, which has to be done throughout the city. Then there’s the cleaning of the playgrounds, for example removing the leaves from the sandboxes and clearing snow from the sidewalks bordering the parks and playgrounds. Of course, we also use this time to to service our tools and machines,” says Ristits.
While plants such as olive trees, palm trees or oleanders have already been brought to the garden office for “overwintering”, the first preparations for planting out in spring are in full swing. “We ordered the plants a month ago. Each head gardener is responsible for selecting the plants and colors for the respective area of responsibility, so everyone can contribute their own ideas and be creative,” says the gardener.
One thing can already be revealed: the large traffic island at the roundabout by the accident hospital (UKH) will be made to bloom next spring by pansies in the colors blue and white. Pansies are also used on the other roundabouts, mixed with Gold Lacquer, Forget-Me-Nots and Bellis. “It’s going to be really colourful,” says Ristits, already looking forward to it.
Pair of crows at the roundabout
Ristits explains that autumn planting at the UKH roundabout has not been done this year for the first time. “Last autumn a pair of crows used to come and constantly tear out the pansies. We put pennants in and hung up wind ribbons, but that didn’t stop them. In the spring there were no problems with the crows, but now we don’t have them in the autumn we are going to plant them there. Instead, the perennials are divided so that they can grow well, and weeds can now also be easily removed,” says the city gardener.
No leaf blowers in use
The garden office does not use leaf blowers. “We take the leaves off the trees by hand,” says Ristits, who also uses a small amount to build piles of leaves with brushwood to give hedgehogs shelter from winter in the parks. “In the Volksgarten Park there were four hedgehogs last year,” he adds.
What should a hobby gardener keep in mind to get his “green home” through the cold season? “Autumn fertilization for perennials, shrubs or the lawn makes sense, it increases winter hardiness. Moisture is very important, i.e. lots of water. Dry frost kills every plant,” says Ristits, who is already looking forward to spring again . “For a gardener, spring is the best time of the year,” he adds.
You can find a report on the Christmas tree for Mirabellplatz here:
Christmas tree in front of Mirabell Palace from Lungau