Social Implications of Creating a Wildflower Garden

Social Implications of Creating a Wildflower Garden

Abstract:

This paper describes personal experiences with the social implications and conflicts that can occur when creating a wildflower garden.

Keywords:

Wildflower Garden, Social Implications, Neighbors, Conflict

In an ideal world the creation of a natural wildflower garden should be acknowledged as desirable and beneficial – an action that is “good” for mother earth, that is good for plants and animals, for the humans living nearby and thereby it should be welcomed by everyone.

Benefits are obvious:

-     local wildflowers are reproducing and having a place to live,

-     local animal wildlife is having an opportunity to thrive and found nourishment,

-     the soil is mingled with roots and thereby it remains in place (it is not blown by the wind),

-     local wildflowers are keeping the moisture in the earth, and

-     spaces with local wildflowers can take up huge amounts of rainfall and thereby help to prevent flooding events in urban areas.

However since this is not an ideal world and not all citizens are as well educated as some other are or they like to stick to traditional gardening or they like to swim in the mainstream there is a huge danger of being in an outsider position when creating a wild garden.

Wildflower gardeners might be seen as danger to the community, as different, as not orderly, as not belonging in good society, as outsiders who cannot keep a garden orderly, as green weirdoes… Conflicts may arise and most likely will arise…

Be prepared for all sorts of attacks and keep going – in my first year my sunflowers (which were standing next to the footpath/street) were simply broken in half when they began to overhang a little over the footpath…

This year I made sure that they grow next to the house wall – nothing has happened yet.

One or many more neighbors are talking behind our backs... But somehow they seem go grow used to their wild gardening neighbor…

Positive and understanding reactions are scare – but they occur. So we are not the only garden that grows sunflowers any more – one other garden has joined in and is also growing sunflowers as a statement. However a wild garden is much more than planting sunflowers. 

It is about growing wild flowering plants that belong into the flora of the region (see the blog Guerilla Gardening for sustainability?!). But I will write about this issue in another blog...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Dr. Carsten Weerth