Rolling up our sleeves for a group of international students at the cemetery in Borger. The students provided the new urn garden with colorful flowers and plants. The planting is the final phase of the construction of the urn garden, which is unique in the Northern Netherlands.
“Our old urn graves needed to be replaced. It was then decided to create a garden,” says Marcel Jonkman, Green Coordinator of the municipality of Borger-Odoorn. “Part of the design was this colorful planting.”
The urn garden offers a unique way of commemorating relatives. There are urn niches in colorful hills where urns can be placed. In addition, a large number of urn graves have been constructed in the cemetery.
The visit of the international students to the Netherlands is part of Biodiversity Week and an initiative of DC Terra from Meppel. The group of students consists of fifteen students from different European countries. They are all studying for the profession of gardener and during this practical week they learn about making cemeteries sustainable and biodiverse.
“I chose this profession when I was eight years old, because I really love flowers and plants,” says Anna Kovács from Hungary. “It is very rewarding to make this cemetery more beautiful for the locals here,” adds Leticija Levina from Latvia.
