Over the last few years, I've tried to make it a green space: I've planted lots of flowers out there. When I wake early in the morning - say 5 a.m. - I often go up and down two flights of stairs with a bucket and watering can (5 litres of water in each) and water the thirsty plants.
What I cannot understand is why people throw litter onto them. Loads of cigarette butts, bottles, wrappers - they all land in between the flowers and grass.
And don't get me started with dog pooh. I sometimes look out of the window and I often see dog owners letting their dogs trample over the flowers and do their business there. If the dog poohed on the pavement, they would pick it up. But poohing on flowers - no problem. Let it stay there.
As I mentioned before, there are shrubs in the street and twice a year - in May and October - the town gardening department comes by with strimmers and trims everything. The first man who came by in mid-May recognised the flowers I had planted and let them stand and just cut the grass around them. The second man who came a week or two later didn't and so every flower was cut right down to the ground.
For weeks now, the ground in front of the tree looks as though it's been subjected to napalm or Agent Orange. Talk about a 'scorched earth' policy.
And the weird thing is...no dog pooh. None. Not even litter!
I don't get it. Flowers and greenery - let the dogs pooh on them. Cover it with litter with gay abandon. Bare, arid earth - no pooh and no litter.
Nevertheless, I can't stand the sight of bare earth, so early on Sunday morning I did a bit of 'guerrilla gardening' (or undercover gardening) and planted some flowers out in the street again: five kalanchoe from a local flower shop and two flowers from my balcony that keep self-seeding. After today's temperatures of over 30 C, I'll have to get up super early tomorrow to water them again.
I wonder how much dog pooh and litter I'll find.
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