With a third of its surface area dedicated to green spaces, the capital of Angers has held the title of "greenest city in France" since 2014, awarded by the Observatoire des villes vertes. Its landscaped heritage, maintained by more than 200 gardeners, is divided between parks, gardens and semi-natural environments.
On this Wednesday afternoon, as children and teenagers enjoy the first fine days of spring on the banks of Lac de Maine, Sébastien and his gardening colleagues have their work cut out for them. With the heavy rainfall over the last few days, the vegetation has grown a lot," explains Sébastien, who has been working for the city of Angers for 20 years. Spring is an intense period because we have a lot of mowing, weeding and pruning to do. In winter, we're particularly busy trimming hedges, which is forbidden in spring and summer so as not to disturb nesting birds.
Eight teams of gardeners share the 1,548 hectares of green spaces in the capital of Angers. These include green lungs such as Lac de Maine, Etang Saint-Nicolas and Parc Balzac, which tend to be located on the outskirts of the city, as well as gardens in the city centre, such as Esplanade Jean-Turc and the unmissable Jardin du Mail. Each Angevin citizen benefits from 100 m2 of natural space, twice the national average.
There are currently 110,000 trees belonging to over 200 different species. To maintain such a vast landscape, the gardeners have a range of equipment at their disposal, including lawnmowers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws and electric pruning shears. The latter are particularly popular, as "they take the strain off our arm muscles" and reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. We have to work harder because the movements are repetitive," explains Sébastien. We can also attach the pruning shears to a pole for safe access to high branches.
With a master plan for Angers' landscapes and a Nature in the City plan, Angers now maintains 100% of its public spaces without the use of phytosanitary products. It applies two types of alternative methods: preventive and curative. Preventive methods involve occupying the ground to prevent weeds from developing. Higher planting densities, mulching the soil and planting vegetation in open spaces help to limit maintenance costs.
As far as curative methods are concerned, gardeners regularly use manual weeding and mechanical sweeping. This concerns areas that have not yet been adapted to the use of a tractor equipped with blades, or that cannot be. In addition to using alternative techniques, the town has classified its green spaces into three levels of tolerance to weeds, and is trying to raise residents' awareness of the need to accept spontaneous flora.
"We pay close attention to the climate and choose the tree species we plant according to their local character and water requirements," adds Sébastien. Thanks to its municipal horticultural centre, Angers self-produces a large proportion of the plants planted in its green spaces. The nursery produces 10,000 shrubs and 5,000 chrysanthemums each year. It also grows 1,000 trees, in containers or in the ground. The greenhouses produce 300,000 flowering plants.
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