Antwerp parks get a refresh every year

Maintenance of natural grass pitches

Residents and tourists who come there to relax, picnic or sunbathe. Fairs, concerts and events organised there: city and municipal parks are intensively used from late spring to early autumn. This is why the city of Antwerp entered into a framework contract with Krinkels. The landscape contractor brings their parks into top condition every year.

Visitors demand and receive quality

Tobias Malfroy, regional manager at Krinkels: “Every year, more and more people find their way to parks, sunbathing meadows and recreational areas. Not surprisingly, because what could be nicer than relaxing in greenery and having a picnic with the family? Or letting your kids romp around on one of the playgrounds and football fields? And people naturally want to do that in the best conditions: on a beautiful, soft and green turf.”

Two maintenance periods per year

“In Antwerp, we therefore give every park a makeover every year. The parks where no events take place, we get ready for the high season in March and April. The parks where events do take place, we maintain in September and October. The lawns are used much less intensively during those two periods. Together with the people from the green service, we then first check each area and map out what work we need to do. Based on our advice and expertise, we then work out a proposal.”

Division into zones

“The damage to a park's grass depends on its use and weather conditions. In this regard, the difference between spot A and spot B can be very big. That's why we divide each site into zones. To give an example: in places where there are stands during events such as the Antwerp 10 Miles, or in the backstage area of a festival such as Jazz Middelheim, you can count the blades of grass after the event, so to speak. There the damage is much greater than in areas in parks and sunbathing lawns where people just lie or sit on the grass.”

Other maintenance by zone

“Each zone therefore gets different maintenance. In a zone where there is little damage, we only need to prick and overseed. Zones where there have been a lot of driving plates, for example, we are going to scarify, lightly level and overseed. And heavily damaged areas we will fully regenerate, because that is the only thing you can do to repair the damage there. For overseeding and reseeding, we always use a mixture of ryegrass and field sedge. 

Ryegrass germinates quickly and is strong. Field legume has strong and long roots and makes the turf strong. That combination makes for a dense and green grass carpet that can withstand treading well.”

Every lawn ready in a few days

“Per day, we combine as many sites as possible. As soon as an area is mowed, aerated or sanded, for example, the machine leaves for another area. To make sure no one enters the grass areas after sowing, we cordon them off with site fences or posts with rope. This way, the work in each park is completed after just a few days and they are given time to fully recover. The end result: beautiful, green parks that people love to come to.”