2023-09-03 21:57:03
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On a cultivated area in the Bad Homburg city forest, forest management assistant Johannes Kreß knocks down ferns that threaten to overgrow the young oak seedlings. hillebrecht © ahi
A quarter of the area bare due to drought / More windfall
BAD HOMBURG – Johannes Kreß hits one of the countless fern plants with a kind of broom handle. On a fenced clear area below the Saalburg, the bracken spreads out just like the blackberry. But what should actually grow here are around 5000 small sessile oaks that were planted last year. So that the mini-trees, which are at most 50 centimeters high, are not overgrown, the fern is clubbed so that it does not sprout again. This gives the oaks a head start in the battle for light and water.
The current situation in the forest has to be described as a struggle for survival, although it seems so calm there. “We have been in the disaster economy for several years and there is no end in sight,” explains forest management assistant Johannes Kreß. The 34-year-old forest engineer has had an eye on the Bad Homburg city forest for three years.
Magnificent spruces once grew on the fenced area on Lindenweg, which leads on to the Hirschgarten. Like thousands of other spruce trees in the Taunus Forest, they have been victims of drought since the end of the 2010s, and then of the bark beetle, against whose massive infestation they were so weak that they could no longer defend themselves. The city forest is 1275 hectares; more than 300 hectares are bare. So a quarter of the whole forest.
A new forest is to grow on these fallow areas in the coming decades. On the one hand through seedlings – in addition to sessile oaks, maple and hornbeam were planted on Lindenweg – on the other hand through natural regeneration. This is a blessing, because even the many donations cannot make up for the loss of the conifers. Here and there small pine trees or stately rowan trunks can be seen in the fallow land. They have seeded themselves – a high-rise pine tree trunk, now dead, stands like a notched mast in the middle of the desert area.
The city forest is close to the hearts of Bad Homburg’s citizens and companies: a good 31,000 forest plants, including Douglas firs and sweet chestnuts, have been planted in various bare spots in recent years thanks to donations. Because it hardly rained in the summers of 2021 and 2022, some of the trees died. “We hope that things will go better this year,” says Kreß. Due to the mixture, in a few years “a forest will appear here that is much more robust and adapted”. The fact that it is raining so much this year is good for the vegetation. However, that does not mean that the forest floor will recover in the long term, because in many places it is only about 30 centimeters thick; below is Taunus quartzite, which cannot store rainwater. Especially on the Taunus crest of Lindenberg or Herzberg, the gaps between the remaining higher spruce and pine trees can already be seen from the motorway.
31,000 young trees donated
For those looking for relaxation, a lot of wetness even means a danger, as Kreß emphasizes: In the soft, thin topsoil, the roots of old, ailing trees have less grip and can fall over. “Therefore, never go into the forest during or after strong winds,” warns Kress.
“We can’t influence the weather,” says the forester. But protect the forest of the future as best as possible. That’s why the fallow land with the seedlings is fenced in so that deer can’t get to it. The young trees are “chocolate” for them, as Kress jokes. In addition, the forest is leased to hunters; they are supposed to kill the deer according to a fixed shooting plan. And also the wild boars, which dig under the site fence in search of grubs – because deer come through the pits to the trees.
According to Kress, there are still donations left for trees. They should be in the ground in the fall. The broken seedlings are then replaced with the plantings.
Not only the drought, but also the late frost in spring affected the small oaks. Nevertheless, brown buds have been sprout since the end of June, which are actually intended for next spring: the St. John’s shoot. Nature has a trick up its sleeve. That gives hope.
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