Sunday 24 September 2017

Operation Stonebreak



Sorry , it sounds less clunky in Dutch ,"Operation Steenbreek "... or maybe it doesn't , but anyway , whatever you call it ,  it's in full flood .

It's a nationwide scheme to make towns and cities in Holland greener . Leeuwarden did a survey and discovered that up to 77% of the gardens in some neighbourhoods were totally covered in stone slabs , with a resulting decline in wildlife . Hedgehogs , bees and butterflies are becoming scarcer ...

So this weekend , all you have to do is dig up one of the flag stones in your yard and take it along to these young people and they'll swap it for a fruit bush  .

All of which sounds admirable ...  but I live in a flat  .  Neighbour and I pondered how to hack a chunk off our respective balconies and totter down the road with them but couldn't quite see ourselves managing it .

It'd probably be simpler to buy a couple of bushes at the local nursery ... I wonder if we asked at the town hall , they'd even give us a grant ? Two Euros fifty each ?

4 comments:

molly said...


They have a program in Ireland called "Tidy Towns" that has been great for encouraging people to take pride in their gardens. It's been going on for decades and has made a huge difference. Plant some flowers in pots on your balcony instead of chopping it up for a fruit bush!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

It's discrimination, pure and simple, against non-stone-slab-owners.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Mollie _ I do have flower pots ... tomatoes and lavender ... and Neighbour had very pink petunias . We just feel left out of the party !
Debra _ Exactly .

Liz Hinds said...

What a wonderful idea but, yes, there should be a potted option for apartment-dwellers too.