Removing excessively rich soil to create lawns of flowers: “The poorer the soil, the more beautiful the flowers” (Bräckel)

“Building a flower lawn has many advantages,” explains Peter Vanderstuyf (Open VLD), a local councilor for the environment. “Because much less maintenance is required, a flower meadow saves money. A flower meadow also promotes biodiversity and is attractive because of the variety of colours.

To build this meadow of flowers, the municipality faced the problem of soil that was too rich in nutrients. You should compost a tight lawn now and then, but if you want to give flowers room, compost is out of the question. The less nutrients in the soil, the more flowers bloom.

This conscious strip of land on the Herreweg used to be the marshalling ground for the Geraardsbergen – Brakel – Oudenaarde tram line and is chock-full of nutrients. As a result, the flowers are always grown by species that do well in nutrient-rich soil, such as nettles and fescue. Since it’s not very attractive, we decided to remove it completely. If we now mow the cuttings regularly, we will poor the soil and in time we will have beautiful flowers. An added value for the beautiful Braquel,” concludes local council member Vanderstuyf.