User Guide

Would you like to create a “Pocket Garden” in your neighborhood? Here are the steps to follow:

1. Identify a space managed by the City that you would like to cultivate

How can you tell if the space you’re interested in is maintained by the City? Visit map.lausanne.ch: the space is managed by the City of Lausanne if the owner is listed as “Commune de Lausanne” or “Domaine public communal.”

2. Read the rules

The rules of the game outline the elements to consider when designing your Pocket Garden.

3. Form a group (if desired) and present your project

Submit an individual or group request?

• If the space is small, submit an individual request

• If the space is larger and can accommodate several people from the neighborhood, submit a group request

4. The City is evaluating the feasibility of your project

Professionals from the Parks and Public Lands Department will meet with you on-site and then review your request with the other relevant departments, based on the following criteria:

• Compliance with standards regarding safety, visibility, and fire department access

• Other uses identified for this space (events, games, etc.)

• Work scheduled for the near future

• Access to water

• Need for a soil analysis

• etc.

5. If necessary, provide details about your project

You may need to refine your project following the feasibility study.

If it is a community pocket garden, open it up to the rest of the neighborhood by organizing an information session. The Parks and Public Lands Department can advise you on how to organize it.

6. The City approves your project and offers you a permit to plant vegetation

Has your project been approved? You will be offered a planting permit.

7. Sign the permit to plant vegetation

Return the signed landscaping permit to the Parks and Public Lands Department.

8. Receive—if you wish—the starter kit

Kit 1 (for everyone)

• An ecological gardening class, potting soil, and seeds for native wildflowers

• Signs to place in your garden

Kit 2 (for Pocket Gardens in Containers)

• A planting container

• Potting soil to fill your planter, delivered near your garden, along with seeds for native wildflowers

9. Grow Your Own Pocket Garden

For a renewable one-year period, tend to your Pocket Garden.