This meadow, like the traditional ones, is mowed twice a year. This enables the plants to shed their seeds while depriving the aggressively-spreading grasses of enough time to overgrow other less valiant herbs which can be used in folk medicine or in the kitchen – such as thyme, common daisy, St John’s wort, yarrow, great burnet, chicory, or plantain. We leave the cut grass and herbs from the meadow to dry and then add them to the compost, thus returning all the nutrients back to the soil.

Imagine that you are a bumblebee, and you have a proboscis. What do the flowers in the meadow taste like? Where would you fly first – and then where next, and then after that…?

Next to the structures marking the borders of the PLATO gallery, we planted edible climbing liana vines such as actinidia (mini kiwi) and acacia as well as climbing roses. Such structures for climbing plants are called trellises. The Shadow of Bauhaus shaded sitting area, made of recycled outdoor material from PLATO’s previous headquarters, was created in 2024 by Kateřina Vídenová and Adam Wlazel of the mobile architecture studio MAK! Someday soon this structure will also be overgrown with climbing plants that will provide further shade to the sitting area.

Lie down and observe the world. What does a meadow look like when you’re not just looking at it from above?

You will find many medicinal plants here, such as common wormwood, sage, purple coneflower, and Moorish mallow. Every season the flower bed shines with colours and besides looking beautiful, it provides plenty of pollen for pollinators: bees but also to various species of bumblebees, butterflies and moths. Meanwhile, ants and wasps eat the larvae of insects that we humans consider harmful, such as flies and lice.

Look at the flowers and leaves of the plants from a close distance. Do you see any repeating patterns, such as spirals, branches and hexagonal grids?

Insects also use this meadow, while the tall plants provide shelter to hares and other small mammals whose droppings fertilise the soil. In the rubble meadow we can observe how the soil changes and how the roots of herbs grow through it and strengthen it; the compost from our composter provides nutrients, and the variety of species increases. This process reminds us of the need to be patient when we transform urban and polluted areas. After some time, we will see big changes even with minimal interventions.

Whom did you meet at the meadow? What were they doing there?

What is a biotope? It is the environment of all organisms living in one place. Water biotope is one of the places in the garden that react to the dryness of the urban landscape. The pond cools the air in its vicinity and retains rainwater while also providing a home to many different species of insects, such as dytiscus, hydrometra, and dragonflies. Pollinators and mammals come to drink, while snakes come to shed their skin. From spring to autumn, the pond is shining with colours: from the yellow of the yellow flag iris, to the green of bulrush and the pink of fireweed.

Breathe in. How do you feel here? What is the air like by the water?

Wilderness is full of life. It looks different every time you see it, and it will perhaps become overgrown with knotweed or nettles, which will be pollinated by butterflies and eaten by caterpillars. Or perhaps rare species of plants and animals will appear and create a unique community. If we give the wilderness space and attention, it will show us patterns and relationships that we could not have invented on our own.

Sit down for a few minutes and look at the landscape surrounding you. What can you see and hear?

The wetland was created in a place where bedrock caused water to pool naturally. It’s a place where, just like in the adjacent lizard habitat, we can admire the colours of the irises in the spring and summer. Since it was established, the wetland has so far mainly attracted birds and insects. For wood pigeons the water area is a play pool in which they clean their feathers, while also serving as a source of drinking water. It is separated from the road by a small swale and a man-made mound of wood chips, branches, and soil that soaks up rainwater like a sponge and then gradually releases it. Over time we can watch the wetland and its surroundings become overgrown with hygrophilous plants, providing shelter for more animals.

Close your eyes and try to remember what the landscape smells like after it rains. How would you describe that? This smell has a name, too. It is called ‘petrichor’.

Our lizard habitat is also a raised bed for varieties of iris from the Ostrava region provided by Hlučín grower Zdeněk Seidl. We’ve planted the varieties Landek, Bazaly, Ostravak, Chachar, and Heliodor Píka as well as the new variety Galerie Plato, which is included in the international register of irises.

Close your eyes and touch a stone for a moment. Does it radiate heat or is it cool?

We have chosen to plant local varieties of trees and shrubs such as hawthorn, dogwood, silverberry, European bladdernuts, shadbush, chokeberry, summer lilac, currant, guelder-rose, buckthorn and alder buckthorn, forsythia, lilac, elder, mock oranges, honeysuckle, and privet. We plant the trees when they’re small so that they develop a strong root system which helps them survive drought and overheated city conditions. We have to be patient for the first few years before the trees take root and grow. But after that they will stay with us for decades, delighting passers-by with a bountiful harvest. Birds will find shelter in their canopy and bees will feast on their blossoms.

Shift your attention to our human edge, our skin that separatesthe body from its surroundings. What do you feel on different parts of your body? On your face, your hands, your feet…

The vegetable patches in the garden are the ones that need the most care. We use raised beds: cardboard, mulch, soil, and compost are layered in a wooden enclosure to give the plants as much nutrients as possible without artificial fertilisers. Instead of chemical sprays, aromatic herbs such as marigold, calendula or basil help protect the plants from slugs and insects that would otherwise feast on them. And because one of the permaculture principles we follow in caring for the garden is food self-sufficiency and sharing knowledge about how to grow food, PLATO organizes many programmes for children and adults.

Taste what grows on the vegetable patches. Do the vegetables taste different when you close your eyes?

A good compost is not a mere pile of leftovers: it has a composition that influences its strength. The ideal is to alternate layers of fresh green plant parts, which are rich in nitrogen, and dry brown carbon-rich materials such as dried leaves. The compost should be kept moist to keep it alive and should be turned over to oxygenate it. That’s why we have a three-compartment composter: we move the compost from one chamber to the next, and at the end of the process the valuable treasure is ready for use in the garden. Such compost does not stink, as many people mistakenly believe, and gardeners are rightly proud of it.

Lean back against the composter. Can you feel the warmth? Millions of microorganisms decompose organic matter into simpler components, thus releasing heat that can be used – even to heat a house.

A lawn, however, needs intensive care. Unlike a meadow, it is susceptible to drying out on hot summer days and needs to be occasionally watered – even if you choose grass seeds suitable for areas with direct sunlight. Therefore, in the concept of a permaculture garden, a residential lawn is a compromise we have made for you, the visitor. You can borrow a blanket in the gallery and have a picnic on the lawn, read a book (perhaps from our library), or just relax on the grass.

Look at the sky and observe it. Say out loud what you can see.