Jelinek's garden
Vestecká Street is slowly coming to an end in the place where it used to be called and maybe still is called "On the Sign". At its end, it curves in an axis and it seems to me that it wants to avoid a not very attractive corner of our village. That's where Jelinek's garden is. Today I would probably define this place as an area of about 2 hectares, overgrown with impenetrable bushes and a lot of untreated, wild trees.
The site could indeed have been called a garden at one time. It was maintained and cultivated mainly by the hands of Vestec citizens. Thanks to them, roses multiplied and bloomed here, and other types of well-known shrubs and conifers grew here. The ornamental nursery of Mr. Jelínek from Dejvice, who apparently rented this area, thus provided employment opportunities mainly for the citizens of Vestec who lived in the immediate vicinity. I dare to write that the garden is also mentioned by the chronicler, who dates its creation to the beginning of the 1930s, i.e. after the harsh winter of 1929, when a large part of the trees froze and the missing greenery had to be restored. Among other things, he mentions that the bustle of the big city suburbs was reflected in the fact that the horticultural factories bought 10 acres of the field from Mrs Paskova. Apparently for the purpose of gardening. Another person with whom the garden was closely connected was Mr. Oskar Klein. He ran the garden until about 1950. His workplace was a stone's throw away. He lived at the end of the village and his neighbours, Mrs. Marie Skřivanová and Mrs. Emilie Skřivanová, for example, worked there under his direction.
However, the aforementioned year 1950 marked the end of the era of the "Jelinek Garden". The human factor ceased to have a positive effect here and only natural influences shaped it into its present form. However, Oskar Klein did not abandon his gardening activities and in the following years he established an ornamental nursery in Kunratice, where he specialised in growing roses. The extensive rose field, located near Šeberák, still offers its produce today, of course under different management.
Jelinek's garden did not escape dramatic and sad moments either. In 1936, an unfortunate but fatal shot ended the young life of Mr. Fr. Zavrtal. A few years later, at the end of World War II, an Allied plane crashed near the garden. It disturbed the employees from their work and they were among the first to reach the plane.
missing picture
Blanka Pašková, chronicler