On 31 August and 1 September 2022, Fleuroselect welcomed greater than 80 delegates to Munich (Germany) for the annual House Backyard Convention. The 2-day programme proved to be a singular alternative for {industry} consultants to be taught concerning the newest traits in residence gardening.
In shut collaboration with Herbert Wehrle, Vice-Chair of the Fleuroselect House Gardening Enterprise Unit (B.U.), and Ralf Schräder of Graines Voltz, the programme was rigorously compiled to incorporate each plenary periods and firm visits. The primary theme – ‘Small House Gardening’ – was evident in all facets of the programme, permitting for a well-rounded look into this extremely related subject.
After the introduction of the primary theme by Herbert Wehrle, traits and buyer profiles within the German pictorial packet market had been mentioned by Rolf Pohlen from Bruno Nebelung. He defined that after 2020 and 2021 – the place gross sales considerably elevated for pictorial packets as a result of COVID disaster – the market is now declining once more as a result of unstable political and economical local weather. Representing the State Horticultural Faculty and Analysis Institute Heidelberg, Vera Joedecke offered the outcomes of her analysis into biodiversity within the metropolis, focussing on the pollinator friendliness of annuals and perennials in an city context. By performing a sequence of visible pollinator counts on chosen decorative crops, LVG has mapped which selection attracts which pollinators. The distinction between native versus non-native crops as a meals supply for bugs was studied. Florian Demling from the Bavarian State Division for Agriculture knowledgeable us concerning the newest public initiatives to help group gardens and residential gardening in small areas. In seven group gardens all through Bavaria, the city gardener is impressed with new strategies akin to plant towers, cellular and vertical gardening, raised beds, hydroponics, terra-bio-ponic and aquaponics. Lastly, Katrin Kell launched Weihenstephan College and its industry-related actions. The college performs a number one function in educating the native leisure gardener by providing programs, guided excursions and data packages.
Regardless of the rain, delegates skilled an inspiring afternoon at Weihenstephan College. The trial backyard, established in 1947, covers an space of greater than 5 hectares and is used to check bushes and shrubs, herbaceous perennials and new types of roses by way of their sensible use. An necessary facet is planting herbaceous perennials in ecologically harmonious and aesthetically pleasing mixtures in ways in which swimsuit native circumstances. Particularly for this go to, Weihenstephan College grew varied types of Salvia to encourage the delegation to incorporate Fleuroselects ‘2023 12 months of the Salvia‘ initiative of their advertising and marketing plans.
Within the allotment backyard, the main target is on cultivation of greens and herbs being grown in a spread of tried-and-tested and new varieties. Delegates discovered this to be exceptionally attention-grabbing to see, from traditional greens and raised beds to horizontally constructed container methods with a various vary of crops which might even be discovered on small balconies and terraces. Inside the framework of Fleuroselects ‘2022 12 months of the Basil‘ initiative, Weihenstephan College grew greater than 40 Basil varieties for the delegation to admire and style.
The second day of the House Backyard Convention was spent at Pflanzen Kölle in Munich. Over the previous 200+ years, this household enterprise has progressed to a sequence of backyard centres with 13 areas and three owned nurseries throughout Germany. Our delegation was greeted by Common Supervisor Michael Wittmann who gave an summary of Pflanzen Kölle’s historical past and present actions after which Sustainability Supervisor Ulrike Rothhaar defined the Group’s imaginative and prescient in the direction of natural and reduced-pesticide cultivation. Delegates acquired guided excursions by means of the backyard centre the place the in depth pictorial packet assortment drew appreciable consideration. The group was allowed to go to the nursery the place a part of the assortment is produced in-house.
Extremely related lectures on city gardening, excellent crops in smaller areas within the Weihenstephan Gardens and first-hand retail data at Pflanzen Kölle: these had been the nook stones of a successfull House Backyard Convention!