LATVIA – This spring, the number of visitors to the National Botanical Garden in Salaspils is breaking all records. Especially high attendance is observed during the events, and on these holidays, on May 13, the second plant fair “World Plant Day” will be held, where all interested parties are welcome. The beautification and maintenance works of the botanical garden are also actively underway to make it more and more diverse.
The plant fair “World Plant Day” will be held on May 13 from 08:00 to 14:00. Such and similar plant fairs, which bring together gardening professionals and enthusiasts from all over Latvia, have been taking place for many years and have become a tradition of the National Botanical Garden. Around 80 traders usually gather at the market, and a stand of the National Botanical Garden is also set up with seedlings grown there. The head of the National Botanical Garden, Artis Vītiņš, invites all those interested to visit, both for events and everyday, noting that the botanical garden is the place where there will be something to see every time you visit, adding that in worse weather, the orangery, where the variety of plants reigns throughout the year and various art exhibitions are also organized regularly.
The National Botanical Garden consists of 9 departments – “Orangery”, “Rock garden”, “Rosary”, “Arboretum”, “Changing expositions”, “Old park”, “Urdzinas farm”, “Food, aromatic and medicinal plants”, ” “Open-air exposition of rocks and minerals” – and it is a total area of 126 hectares, where around 100 employees work.
A. Vītiņš emphasizes that it is very important that everything is tidy, that the botanical garden continues to develop and that people always enjoy visiting: “It is important that a person gets satisfaction from visiting the garden. We are so big that we cannot always be perfect. There are places where physically and financially we cannot arrange everything, however, we try very hard to make sure that all the more than one hundred thousand visitors a year are happy.”
As A. Vītiņš says, there are periods when all working hands are needed, and, for example, right now, when active potting is taking place, he also goes to the greenhouse to help so that the plants do not die. In order to keep this entire area beautiful and the employees could focus on other, more complex work, the National Botanical Garden has also started using smart technological solutions. The botanical garden has a very modern irrigation system, while part of the lawn area is entrusted to robotic lawn mowers. This year, two new Husqvarna Automower® 550 EPOS wireless robots have joined the four-robot team, with plans to increase this number to ten in the coming years to leave the 8-hectare lawn entirely to robotic lawnmowers.
“The appearance of the lawn gives great importance to the overall view, so we pay more attention to it. And, especially if there are any events, weddings, fairs, then a well-kept lawn in the central part is important. With the installation of the modern irrigation system, of course, the grass started to grow much faster, so to keep the overall look good all the time, very regular mowing is necessary. This was one of the reasons why we decided in favor of robots. Also, grass is much healthier if it is mowed regularly rather than letting it grow for 2 weeks and then mowing two thirds of it. Initially, some 5-6 years ago, we installed 1 Husqvarna demo robot, and seeing the positive effect of such a mowing solution on the quality of the lawn in real life, we decided to increase the number of robots,” says A. Vītiņš, laughing that the robot is the best worker – he doesn’t talk back , works both day and night.
“We will transfer the central part to modern technologies, while in the rest of the botanical garden we have to think carefully about maintenance solutions, because the status of the botanical garden requires that people here have the opportunity to see not only a tidy park-type environment, but also nature as it is. People usually like to see things cleaned up, however, with intensive care, it can sometimes go so far that even insects and many species and varieties disappear,” continues A. Vītiņš.
For this reason, another project important for biological diversity has been started, which is introduced by A. Vītiņš: “Until now, we mowed and left the cut grass, but by doing this, the grass remains homogeneous, many natural species disappear. That is why negotiations with the Latvian Nature Foundation on the development of natural meadows have been started at the moment. This is very important to promote breed diversity. To be different, more colorful, more nature-friendly.”
Another new project of the National Botanical Garden is the Environmental Information and Education Center “Botania” of national importance, which will open its doors at the end of this year. It is planned that an interactive exposition will be placed on two floors and there you will be able to see versatile information about plant life. Anyone interested will be able to spend time learning in the new center, including pupils, students and families with children. Also, the improvement works of the nearby “Vecā park” are actively underway, where a beautiful Magnolia garden with 10-15 magnolia bushes and colorful flower beds is being improved. An oak tree with the shape of purple leaves also grows there, which is the only one of its kind in Latvia.
Artis Vītiņš says that in the future it is planned to actively care for the preservation of natural biological diversity, as well as to develop the infrastructure of the botanical garden in order to make it more and more comfortable, interesting and educational for visitors. “We are very pleased to see that more and more often people choose to spend their holidays closer to nature and get to know the immeasurable diversity of the flora. Various events and concerts are held, and the National Botanical Garden is becoming an increasingly popular place to relax,” adds A. Vītiņš, inviting people to visit.
The working hours and planned events of the National Botanical Garden can be found on the website: www.nbd.gov.lv.
