We invite urban community gardens, garden projects or similar garden initiatives to take part in this project and research alongside us. The goal of this project is to scientifically assess the potential risk of heavy metal contamination in crop plants in Vienna’s city gardens.

Background

Urban gardening has become increasingly popular over the last two decades. However, gardeners are often concerned about their crops being contaminated by heavy metals.

Plant access to heavy metals is strongly influenced by the soil properties and the plants being cultivated. Through targeted soil management, it is possible to reduce the likelihood of heavy metals transferring to plants.

We want to learn whether the heavy metal content in plants grown in one variant (e.g. a mix with compost) differs from that of plants grown in a control variant (untreated urban soil).

How do we want to test this?

We need you for this! Become a citizen scientist and conduct a “pan test” in your urban garden with spinach and/or radishes. Plant and soil samples will be collected from these tests and an analysis for heavy metals will then be carried out in our laboratory.

The entire gardening community will benefit from involvement in this project. Together, we can collect the following information about the location of the garden:

• Whether and to what extent your garden is polluted by heavy metals.
• If there is contamination, whether the transfer of these heavy metals to plants can be reduced by selected soil treatments.
• In addition, we will also work with you on site to determine soil and plant parameters, such as pH values, soil microbial activity and plant vitality. Through this, you can also receive more information about the condition of the soil on site and your soil treatment.

More information on the Heavy Metal City-Zen project can be found on the website.

Who can take part in the Heavy Metal City-Zen project?

• People who are involved in a community garden, garden project or similiar garden initiative.
• These gardens are in Vienna or an urban area surrounding Vienna.

What do I need to do to take part in the project?

Just send us an e-mail stating that you are interested in participating to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Project results

The results from the project are presented in the corresponding blog post (in German).

Project management: Andrea Watzinger –  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Scientific project management: Rebecca Hood-Nowotny –  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Institute of Soil Research
Department of Forest and Soil Sciences
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Konrad-Lorenz-Strasse 24 | 3430 Tulln

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The project was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).