Garden Gnomes And Abandoned Urban Lots

Garden gnomes and I'm not talking about those little statues are a way of solving the ugly abandoned lot problem.  Abandoned lots are a reality in most urban areas. For those property owners and residents in an area, the abandoned lots can be an eyesore and worse.

Transforming them takes time, effort and cooperation. Sometimes a little gnome can help. I found this idea from the great people at PSFK. They have spotters and reporters all over the world reporting on the newest trends.

Found a really great idea for making unsightly urban areas bloom with new vegetation: flowers and other plants. This isn't one of those garden statues you mount on your lawn or in your garden. These garden gnomes are seed bombs. The bombs are made up of seeds, compost and clay.

The bombs are thrown or dropped onto the abandoned lots. The people at StudioTX, not Texas, but Amsterdam the Netherlands architectural and design firm, came up with the gnomes to transport the seed bombs to their ultimate destination.  The biodegradable bags gently and colorfully float the seed bombs to their ultimate destination on the abandoned lot.

StudioTX designed the gnomes as part of a project called Temporary Garden.  This year StudioTX was one of the participating firms in the Temporare Garten.

For the past 11 years a different abandoned lot in Berlin has been taken over and transformed through volunteer help and donations.

The committee selects a design submitted by landscape architects and urban designers. The garden is then designed, built and installed. Then in July the garden opens with a 4 day celebration of art, music and discussion. People are invited to tour, discuss and view.

The garden is recorded by a photographer for posterity. As a showcase Temporary Garden highlights what can be and can happen in abandoned urban lots. For those of us who garden it offers many possibilities to put new visions and plants in many places long neglected. 

And one new garden tool sure to help on the known and stealth beautification of abandoned lots is going to be garden gnomes.

All in a gardener's day,

Thanks to PFSK and Dan Gould for the photo and to StudioTX for the garden gnomes