Gift with sloping trees | eDruva

In Cēsis, at the corner of Uzvaras boulevard and Dzintara street, a square has been reborn, named “Cēsis attracts!”. The arrangement of the square is a gift to the city from the company “Draugiem Group”.

The company’s spokesperson Jānis Palkavnieks says that the start of the cooperation can be traced back several years ago, when “Draugiem Group” had the idea to create a marketing campaign that it is cool to live in Cēsis: “We soon realized that no campaign can give what a real job in the city – installing a drinking water taps, clean up a place, historic houses. Let’s not talk that Cēsis is cool, that the city is attractive, but let real jobs talk about it.”

The idea to clean up one square in the city was implemented together with the long-term partner company “Labie koki”. The most unusual thing about this square is that the seven trees in it – six lindens and one red oak – are planted obliquely towards the environmental object in the center – the letter C.

The owner of “Labie koki” Edgars Neilands reveals that the special planting is like an emotional story from the company’s team: “When we received an offer from “Draugiem Group” to draw a concept of a square that would fascinate us, it would have some kind of special magnet, I thought, what does Cēsis associate with me . With the fact that my brother moved to this city, the people of the team are also moving, working on this side. So something here attracts. As if there are many reasons: the old town, history, cultural history, beautiful nature. And then the idea arose that Cēsis is a magnet that attracts everything, pleasant people, including nature and trees. An artist also lives in me, I have long wanted to connect knowledge about trees with sculpture, with the creation of environmental objects. What could be nicer than creating an environmental object from trees that keep growing. This reinforces the idea that Cēsis attracts.”

E.Neyland also emphasizes that there are no trees growing like this in the public sector, at least he has never seen them.

“This is a bit of a provocation,” says Neiland. “Everybody knows that trees have to grow straight, that’s one of the things that everybody knows how it should be. Now in Cēsis there is a place where everyone can ask themselves whether everything is so simple.”

When asked if it does not harm the trees, he says: “I want to reassure people, the trees are not harmed in any way. Often, when planting trees, people do not pay attention to half of what they need, and some of the trees die in the coming year. However, people are satisfied because they have done everything correctly, they have planted straight, so they are friends of nature. In our square, the trees are provided with everything they need, but they are planted at an angle, and someone will probably say that it is not right.”

This is the first attempt in the public sector, but the company has been experimenting with sloping trees for several years. Speaking about the future development of trees, E. Neilands invites residents of Cesis and city guests to observe what will happen to the trees as the years pass: “This is an environmental object that will change dynamically. Many people tell me that the trees will straighten, and in my research, the trees do straighten, but it is important at what angle they are planted. This is the edge where maybe a branch will take over the dominant, tip functions, so it will be interesting to see how things develop.”

The renovated square also has a bicycle parking space, benches, and a water tap. “Draugiem Group” has paid all the expenses for the improvement of the square, but in the future this place must be taken care of by the municipality.

The company is increasingly actively participating in the development of the city. It has already been written about the plans for the development of the area around Rožu Square, where the restoration of the Konrāda House and two other buildings is planned. This week, representatives of “Draugiem Group” and the architect of Konrādas Houses, Pēteris Bajars, met with interested parties to discuss the project again. J. Palkavnieks called on the citizens of Cēsis to get involved in the Council of Konrāda Houses to help understand what is needed in this place.

“Building and renovating houses is one thing, what will happen in them, what could be done there is much more important,” said J. Palkavnieks. “Konrāda House will have a place for events, together with the residents we want to understand how the house can serve as a meeting place for young people, seniors, people of any generation, any like-minded people.”

When “Druvas” asked if other cities are not jealous that “Draugiem Group” pays so much attention to Cesis, J. Palkavnieks said: “Maybe, but “Draugiem Group” owes Cesis, because this is where “Draugiem.lv” was born. Three friends – Agris Tamanis, Lauris Liberts and Mārtiņš Pikšens – met on the streets of the city, who agreed on the creation of a portal, and the entire “Draugiem Group” has grown from it. It contains Latvia’s first unicorn or startup “Printful”, whose market value has reached a billion US dollars. And we once concluded that about 40 percent of “Draugiem Group” employees are in some way connected to this city. Therefore, we believe that we are indebted to Cēsis for the people who were trained here.”