Ostrava will be full of colours in the spring

As in the previous year, this autumn has seen extensive planting of bulbs in Ostrava. The bulbs will bloom next spring, bringing a welcome splash of vibrant colour to the district’s public spaces.

In Ostrava’s Poruba district the crocuses, daffodils and tulips were planted by a special tractor-type machine which can sow several kilometres of flowerbeds in just a few days. This year the gardeners’ attention focused on Porubská and Liptaňská Streets, the square at Nálepkovo náměstí, and Poruba’s 8th district (in the north-western part of Poruba). The machine planted 317,000 bulbs covering an area of 2100 square metres, most of them (221,000) in the 8th district. The machine is not only quick; it also plants bulbs in straight lines and with a much higher density than humans could achieve working manually. For example, on the Nálepkova Street where the Avatar mix was planted, there are 220 bulbs per square meter. Bulbs have been planted in Poruba already last year, specifically 320 thousand of them. In the spring, they came into bloom, for example, in Castle Park, on the roundabout of the Main Street, along 17. listopadu Street or at Vítězslav Novák Square.

A special flower seed mat

Grass seed mats are a well-known way of planting grass, but mats including both grass and flower seeds are still relatively rare. Poruba is the first place in the Czech Republic to try out this new technique. The first mat was laid in one of Poruba’s squares (Jilemnické náměstí), and covered an area of 100 square metres. Other mats have been planted in the middle of the roundabout on Poruba’s main avenue, along 17. listopadu Street, and in Vítězslava Nováka square. Renata Hovjacká, who is responsible for managing Poruba’s greenery and parks, gave more details:

The bulbs – crocuses and daffodils – will be the first to bloom when the spring arrives, and then a meadow will begin to grow. It will include 21 plant species, such as plantains and lady’s mantle. Next spring, over 600,000 bulbs will bloom in Poruba.

Ostrava’s central municipal district (Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz) has created a large number of new flowerbeds – particularly perennials and bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocuses). This year the district planted almost 4500 perennials and over 10 000 bulbs in the city centre, on Mlýnská St., Nádražní St. and Smetana Square (Smetanovo náměstí). Special mesh mats with grass and perennials have been laid in the Husův Sad park as part of a pilot project currently being implemented at a number of locations in the Czech Republic. New perennials were also planted this year outside Ostrava’s New City Hall.

Elsewhere in the central district of Ostrava, 272 500 bulbs have been planted using a special machine; the locations of these new flowerbeds (covering a total 2 350 square metres) are Generála Píky St., Varenská St., Šalamouna St., the Milada Horáková Park (Sad Dr. Milady Horákové), Železárenská St. and Svatopluk Čech Square (Náměstí Svatopluka Čecha). In the previous year the district also used the machine to plant more than 180 000 bulbs in Ostrava’s central park (Komenského sady).

The district is also planting annuals at selected locations in the Komenského sady park and at Železárenská St.

Another municipal district – Ostrava-Jih – has likewise invested considerable effort in aesthetic improvements to public spaces; it has been planting flowers at selected sites since 2014. This year, new bulbs covering a total area of 455 square metres have been planted in Výškovice and Zábřeh, and the district also planted beds of perennials for the first time (270 square metres outside the Albert supermarket in Dubina, on Jaromíra Matuška St., and next to the memorial to the builders of socialism in Zábřeh).