This spring, Graepel GmbH & Co. KG in Löningen created a flowering area on its company premises together with the flowering strip management of the Hasetal Special-Purpose Association. With this project, the manufacturer of metal components and supplier to the commercial vehicle and agricultural machinery sectors continues to pursue its sustainability goals.
“Fast, smooth, and uncomplicated”—this is how Jan-Dirk Albers of Graepel Löningen GmbH & Co. KG describes the collaboration with the flowering strip management of the Hasetal Special-Purpose Association regarding the implementation of the company’s first flowering area. Albers works in strategic purchasing, and in his free time he is active in the local hunting association, through which he had already gained positive experience with the flowering strip management. When a flyer from the Hasetal association landed on his desk at the beginning of the year, things moved quickly: “It said that not only municipalities and private individuals can have a flowering area created, but also companies that have unused areas available on their premises. That immediately caught my attention, because here at Graepel Löningen we also have unused areas on our grounds where nothing but lawn grows all year round. Our management was enthusiastic about the idea right away and asked us in the purchasing department to get the project started.”
A flowering area with little effort
After Albers established contact with flowering strip manager Karin Grever, she visited the Löningen company shortly thereafter in spring to get an impression of the available areas on site. With her trained eye, Grever quickly made a decision: “We chose a sunny area of around 1,600 square meters. The site conditions there are ideal for sowing our ‘Hasetal Mix,’ which consists of a colorful combination of native wildflowers and grasses.”
At the end of May, a contracting company first milled and prepared the area—one week later the sowing took place. “Apart from providing the land, all work steps were coordinated for us by the flowering strip management. The professional guidance and implementation went smoothly and without complications in our view—we can only recommend the service, especially because it does not incur any costs for the company,” adds Jan-Dirk Albers.
Buzzing with life
At Graepel Löningen, the new flowering area is seen not only as a visual enhancement but also as an important contribution to biodiversity in the Hasetal region. “When we look at the area today, we can already observe many insects and other species gradually settling on our flowering area—there’s a lot happening. And it’s not just nature that’s happy; we also receive consistently positive feedback from our colleagues,” Albers says with delight. Because the “Hasetal Mix” contains perennial plants and grasses, the company plans to set up a small seating area next year where employees can spend their lunch breaks in the future.
