Broom and sinister. This verse is encountered dozens of times if you enter the plant name into the search function of poetry collections. Despite all the difficulty of making a suitable rhyme with "broom", the picture could not be atmospherically misleading, just as hardly any lyrical wreaths were woven into the Genista germanica, which is widespread in large parts of Europe. Only one person hits it – it blooms "gold" in Hermann Löns' spring lodge "All birches green in moor and heath". No wonder. In northern Germany, the broom is called "Brambusch".
Certainly, the poet had the broom in the Lüneburg Heath in mind, as the undemanding plant loves dry-sandy and, above all, sunny areas. Naturally, in the middle latitudes with their forests and fields, the possibilities are limited. But they do exist, facilitated in recent times by windbreaks and large-scale felling after the dry summers, but even more so thanks to the rethinking of forestry. Now what used to be taken out of the forests as unwanted undergrowth is allowed to remain. Even waste wood is no longer removed from the forests.
Ideally, natural succession comes into play in a 500-metre-long strip on the slope above the Köppern or Erlenbach valleys. Where a storm knocked down spruces and the rest and other trees were felled, pioneer plants spread unhindered: thorny shrubs, elderberry, mountain ash, birch and, you guessed it, extensive broom. The scenery seems almost unreal, as if the golden-yellow tufts were worked rosette-like into the green carpet of the first vegetation messengers. A delightful sight, made to brighten darkened souls.
When the riot of colour dissipates in two to three weeks, it continues just beyond the hill with the flowering of marsh irises in the most beautiful shades of yellow. However, humans have helped a little more here. Where 30 years ago the trickled trickle of the Bizzenbach near Wehrheim separated extensive grassy areas, it has now been broken up in favour of meanders and flood zones and planted with typical floodplain representatives, for example ash trees or pollarded willows.
But that was just the beginning. Meanwhile, there are reed-framed biotopes from which cheerful frog croaking can be heard, dense hedges, 15 different tree species and some piles of stones and wood for amphibians and countless microorganisms. Behind the three-hectare protected area, divided into two "meadows", stands the Wehrheim local group of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union of Germany (NABU). For 50 years, she has been looking after more than 30 plots of land with great dedication. For this purpose, areas are purchased and renatured with money from the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Association, not to mention guided tours, events and advisory services organized by the volunteer conservationists.
Directions
Conveniently, the Taunusbahn takes you to the beautiful mixed forests above the Köpperner or Erlenbachtal, station Lochmühle/Saalburgsiedlung; there is also plenty of parking space all around. You change the track side and left towards your own homes, in front of it right and left through Limesstraße to the other side of the development.