Living Soil in Public Administration

Since 2022, Ieva Millers has been the group leader for Outdoor Environments, a new workgroup that manages the outdoor spaces at the municipality’s schools, preschools, elderly homes, day facilities, and some sports halls. Ieva has also booked a scythe course with Slåttergubben.

Ieva has been familiar with scything and traditional methods since childhood and has advocated for more environmentally friendly methods and fewer machines throughout her career, often without support. But in Värmdö Municipality, the stars have aligned.

“In Värmdö Municipality, we have excellent cooperation between the operations departments, ecologists, and landscape architects. We all care about a better, more natural environment, which of course should also be functional and beautiful for the citizens. And I actually have the best boss in the world,” says Ieva.

Thanks to several colleagues who are all working toward the same goal, Ieva can realize ideas on how management can work in harmony with nature, instead of constantly fighting against it.

“We are working a lot on reintroducing biota to the soil, meaning making the soil alive again. A very large part of biodiversity consists of the micro-life in the soil. If it is alive, of course. A living soil with microorganisms has so many benefits that I can’t even begin to enumerate them all.”

Dead soil, on the other hand, is like a powder without nutrients or oxygen. This can happen when all organic material, like autumn leaves and grass, is removed, or if heavy machines are used on it, making it too compact.

“Machines are great,” says Ieva, “and we couldn’t carry out public management without them because we must take care of our bodies too. But sometimes hand tools without motors can be more pleasant both for the performer and for someone, for example, sitting in a classroom needing to concentrate, or someone sleeping on the other side of the wall. We must care about silence too. Moreover, the result is better, especially if you are cutting in uneven terrain. A trimmer isn’t as nimble then. It often damages the soil if you try to angle it around a stone or a hollow, for example. Since the scythe is so nimble, quiet, and easy to carry, it’s easier to reach places without disturbing others or leaving destruction behind.”
 

Great Interest in Scythe Course

This is part of the reason why Ieva has booked a scythe course with Slåttergubben for 10 of the employees, all of whom are beginners. Several colleagues from other departments are also interested and are on the waiting list to get a spot in the course.

– My goal is for everyone working in my group who wants to, to be able to mow the meadow areas we have, says Ieva. We manage the outdoor environments primarily at schools, preschools, and elderly care homes, and we are in dialogue with them about letting some of the grassy areas that were previously mown become tall-grown grass that can flower, or meadowland.

But Ieva does not believe in strict mandates or bans. Machines will still be used in the management, and a few summer flowers from Holland will be planted.

– We have full respect if, for one reason or another, someone wants the areas mown. But there are very many who show great interest in the transformation to meadowland or at least tall-grown grass. At schools and preschools, it can also be incorporated into the education in a pedagogical way. There might be children who have never seen a scythe before. Some adults too, for that matter, says Ieva.

After industrialization, which is a relatively short period in the history of the Earth and humanity, it seems that as a society we have forgotten or lost knowledge of traditional methods that work in harmony with nature. Ieva hopes to revive that knowledge again. She believes there is no need for a complete reversal to live entirely without modern innovations, but by demonstrating alternative methods, we can raise awareness that they exist and thereby give people the opportunity to choose.

Increased awareness also applies to the methods often used in public administration out of mere habit, which Ieva finds difficult to accept. 

– If you cannot explain why you are pruning a tree or bush in a specific way, then you should refrain from doing it, says Ieva. If we have the right plant in the right place, we do not need to prune unnecessarily. Sometimes it must be done, but never routinely. It usually weakens the plant and becomes very costly.

Economy Means Managing Resources

Ieva does not want to waste taxpayers' money. Instead, she wants to work with nature and make use of resources in all their forms. 

– We shred the autumn leaves on the lawns and let them stay so that the earthworms can pull them down into the soil. We leave leaves under bushes and trees. The leaves that fall on hard surfaces, we place in a leaf compost, which we then use when planting a new flower bed, or if there is a place lacking soil. We chip almost everything we prune or fell. The chips are placed on newly planted beds and on areas with bare soil. We also use the chips for pathways. In this way, we save water, reduce weeding, and achieve nicer, stronger, and healthier plants, says Ieva.

– We should have as many free-growing trees, bushes, and grasslands as possible. If you prune, you should know what you're doing and do it consciously and with a plan. We should work with soil biology, meaning bacteria and mycorrhiza*, instead of NPK* and chemicals.

Since Ieva is interested in how to cultivate the land in a friendlier, smarter, and better way, with nature instead of against it, she keeps an eye out for people doing this and learns from them. 

– I think it is important to continue educating oneself and to have an open mind to other ways of doing things. I have followed Slåttergubben for several years. It's a reputable company with a good reputation, known to be among the best in Sweden at scything, if not the best.

* NPK is an abbreviation for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The term is often used in the context of fertilizers, as these substances are important for plant growth.

* Mycorrhiza is the complex between a fungus's hyphae/mycelium and a plant's roots when they live in symbiosis with each other. Through fine underground fungal threads that penetrate the roots, the fungus helps the plant to absorb water and nutrients, while it receives organic compounds from the plant.