As the cost of holidaying in faraway destinations falls, we run the risk of losing sight of the treasures on our own doorstep. When was the last time you watched colourful butterflies flutter over a sweet-scented meadow, squelched across a moor in wellies, or had the chance to ask an expert for advice while foraging for mushrooms?
Get your backpack on and find your way to the well-known and the forgotten corners of Saxony. Take advantage of the many events on offer in this year’s calendar and discover the wonderful nature and culture of the Erzgebirge/Vogtland Nature Park with your family or like-minded people.
The calendar has included a section devoted to mining landscapes since 2017. Expert guides invite you to explore and learn about the natural diversity of the nature park’s mining region.
We hope you enjoy the activities led by the conservationists in the Erzgebirge/Vogtland Nature Park. We would be delighted to welcome you to any of our events!
You can find more information on the following website and on our partners’ websites:
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee added the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region to the World Herit-age List on 6 July 2019. Mining decisively shaped not only the architecture, culture, economy and society of the Erzgebirge, but also the landscape itself. Extraordinary habitats for plants and animals developed on mining spoil heaps, in sinkholes and quarries, reservoirs and artificial ditches. These habitats would never have existed without the influence of mining.
The transition period from winter to spring is the ideal time to prune apple and pear trees. Doing so encourages the trees to grow and produce large fruits. “Fruit trees need regular formative pruning in the first few years after planting,” says Sonja Degenkolb, who works at the nursery Baumschule Dittersdorf. “Competing branches should be removed, and long shoots should be shortened. This allows the trees to develop a strong scaffold from which new fruiting branches will sprout,” adds the experienced specialist.
Pipfruit trees, such as apple and pear trees, benefit from being trimmed in late winter. At this point, se-vere frosts are unlikely, the trees are not yet in leaf, and the wounds from pruning heal quickly this close to growing season. Stone fruit trees, including cherries, peaches and apricots, are best pruned during har-vest time. Although sweet cherry trees need little intervention, sour cherries and peaches require vigorous annual pruning as flowers and fruit only form on that year’s new shoots for these trees. You could say that there is no harvest without pruning.
Once you are familiar with the principles of tree growth, pruning your trees correctly should no longer be a struggle. This book provides detailed instructions for growing healthy, flourishing and productive fruit trees:
Riess, H. W. (2013) Obstbaumschnitt in Bildern, Obst- und Gartenbauverlag des Bayerischen Landesverbandes für Gartenbau und Landschaftspflege e.V.
© Naturpark Erzgebirge Vogtland 2024