Is it not very green? That's right

Photo by Mário Rui André/Lisbon for People

Summer is here, it's warmer and there's less rain. If you pass by Parque da Bela Vista, you'll notice that it's now more yellow, drier, and less green. Lack of care? No, it's just like that: yellow in summer, green in autumn and winter, various colors in spring. The idea is to save water, not for the sake of it. forretice but by climate change.

When we think of a garden or a park, we think of green, of nature. But the truth is that in many urban parks Nature has been "tamed" to better suit our tastes and needs. What we create are not truly natural spaces, where nature can be itself, but ordered areas, where the natural cycles of vegetation and water are altered so that, for example, a lawn is green all year round and always ready for our picnic.

In spring, that grass where it feels so good to be should be full of flowers so that bees and other polarizers don't "run out of work". Without flowers, the survival of these essential insects in the ecosystem can be jeopardized. be threatened. That's why, during this season of the year, we already see many areas of cities without human intervention, where vegetation grows as it pleases and pollinators appear and disappear, carrying out their work. These areas are blooming and developing at the mercy of Nature's rules, not ours. They look like neglected areas to us, aka bush - but they are called meadows.

Parque da Bela Vista is one of the urban parks where we can find a huge dryland meadow, but there are more scattered around the city, either in other urban parks, traffic circles or small flowerbeds. When it is green, has sheep grazing. When it has flowers (i.e. in spring), it serves to safeguard the work of the polarizers. And when it is summer, it turns yellow; the environment is more arid - it will be so until the first rains.

Photo by Mário Rui André/Lisbon for People

Why is it not watered? It would be too costly, not only in terms of financial resources but also water resources. Lawns are easier to maintain in countries where it rains regularly throughout the year. In our Mediterranean climate, with a dry and hot season, water, a precious commodity, is required. and which, with climate change and predicted less rainy winters, could become a scarce commodity.

Optimization of aquatic resources is therefore crucial. A green space is not exactly the same as a garden. And lawns that are mowed, watered and green all year round can continue to exist but where it makes sense to use them for walking, sitting, playing, etc, as is the case with the new urban park in the city. Plaza de España. In Bela Vista, there is also an area of lawn but, given the size of this park, it would not make sense to put it in its entire length. The option of dryland meadow, without irrigation, is a much more natural solution that changes with the seasons. In the dry season, it is yellowish, perhaps sadder. But the meadows are neither dirty nor abandonedThese allow the biological system to function, the natural seed cycle to develop, require less water and attract necessary pollinators and predators of tree pests.

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