“Handkerchief Habitat”
Small gardens and small actions play a vital role to boost the well-being of all creatures great and small, including us.
Amidst Amsterdam’s urban jungle the Secret Garden is a handerchief habitat.
Both stem from humble beginnings. Once swampland, Amsterdam is now a UNESCO “masterpiece of hydraulic engineering” and the ‘Venice of the North’. Its status and swampy terrain were transformed by digging canals during the C17th Dutch Golden Age.
Dutch engineers subjected nature to a scientific discipline, however In the C21st Secret Garden Age we’re using it to create an ecologically healthy garden. Bloemgracht’s newest amphibious inhabitants were spawned by our top Secret Garden scientist during a recent summer thunderstorm.
A frog chorus is breathing new life into the Secret Garden and enlivening the local children’s curiosity. As a way to reduce greenhouse gases, these garden frogs’ are 3D-printed creations made from Polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic substitute of fermented corn starch.
Flora and fauna are the true restaurants and cafes of Amsterdam. Composed of renewable, carbon-absorbing plants, our ‘hide-and-seek’ frog chorus attracts insects that benefit soil health. With juicy nectar-filled blooms and a rustic birdhouse our Secret Gardeners want to entice butterflies and birds.
It’s a feast of flowers and 3D frogs enabling species to move through the urban landscape, and keeps the Secret Garden’s red light district abuzz. Altogether improving air quality, capturing the sun’s power and nourishing the soil, serving it up for pollinators, invertebrates and the community to enjoy.
