Västeråkern, örtbacke

Västeråkern is one of around 20 herb hills in Gävle municipality. These are dry grasslands affected by lime that have been managed with haymaking or grazing for a very long time.

The herb hills at Västeråkern are part of an old-fashioned agricultural landscape with stone walls, small fields, cairns and unplowed grazed margins. It is in these that the species-rich herbaceous flora is found. In addition to several of the plants on the sign, large bluebell, sedge and St. John's wort also grow here.

The flowering of the herbaceous slopes starts early in the year. For some plants, often as early as April. Few Swedish habitats are as species-rich as herbaceous slopes. You can often find 30-40 different plants in one square meter. So if you want to surround yourself with a lot of life, you should sit down for a while in a real herb hill - here for example.