Great European Gardens
Gunnebo House and Gardens will reconstruct the formal garden according to
the original drawings and
establish a new Kitchen garden, all organic.
Photo: Staffan Johansson (Gunnebo-Castle)
THE
GARDENS
of
GOTHENBURG
Experience the Very Best of Scandinavian
Garden Design
Start making plans today to visit what
promises to be the great horticultural
experience of 2008! From June 28 to
September 28 2008 four key sites in the city
of Gothenburg in West Sweden will play host to
thousands of garden lovers from Scandinavia
and abroad. Four stunning but highly
diverse parks will each play a part in the
Gardens of Gothenburg Exhibition.
Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Gunnebo House and
Gardens, Liseberg Park and the
Garden Society of Gothenburg
(Trädgårdsföreningen) each will offer a
totally different experience for visitors and
there will be something of interest for
amateur gardeners, horticultural academics and
even those with a mere window box to tend to.
The new entrance area to Göteborg Botanical Garden will include a new
composition
of annuals. This is also the place for the Linneaus jubilee
garden. Foto: Eva S Andersson
Horticultural
purists will make a dash for the city’s
famous Botanical Garden – a
place of beauty and learning with more than
20,000 different species of plants. During
the exhibition visitors will be greeted by a
piazza full of greenery set in stone borders
by Ulf Nordfjell. Also his Chelsea Flower
Show Gold Medal winning Tribute to Linnaeus
Garden has found its resting place here. The
exhibition will showcase lots of new
perennials including a special focus on
Dahlias both wild and cultivated. Annuals
will take pride of place in a flowering
setting in the newly designed main entrance
area. All will bid a colourful welcome to
visitors who come to the lectures, admire
the award winning rockery or just to gaze at
the wonder of the special carnivorous plant
exhibition.
Botanical Garden
Gunnebo
House and Gardens (pictured above)
invite you to view an eighteenth century
park in a modern light. The House and
grounds, all carefully restored are
resplendent in a state as close to the
architect’s original blueprints as possible,
and is considered one of the foremost
neo-classical country estates in Northern
Europe. The house boasts three styles of
gardens, kitchen garden, formal garden and
landscaped parkland. The formal garden will
feature decorative elements which are true
to the Gustavian period. Temporary light
installations and concerts will add a
contemporary touch.
Three kitchen
gardens will be created at Gunnebo answering
the ‘brief’ to create a kitchen garden of
the future. American Topher Delaney, Swede
Monika Gora and Brit John Tizzard have each
come up with different concepts.
Topher favours
the kitchen garden as a labyrinth, Monika’s
is a novel mobile kitchen garden and John’s
goes back to the roots of an authentic
kitchen garden, providing as much food as
possible for the family. The restaurant and
coffee house at Gunnebo House relies on home
grown organic produce from the kitchen
garden for all of the food served.
Gunnebo House and Gardens
Tage Andersens pavillion will take pride of place in the new park area at
Liseberg Park.
Photo: Eva S Andersson
Previous
visitors to Gothenburg will no doubt
associate Liseberg Park
with fun fair rides and Christmas markets
but Gardens of Gothenburg 2008 will present
this iconic city park in a new light, with a
greater emphasis on the beauty of the
natural landscape. Along with the already
popular Promenade Park, Gardens of
Gothenburg will unveil 20,000 square metres
of previously undeveloped park land, a
collaboration of Swedish and English
landscape architects. This area will be
transformed into an exciting area of natural
beauty giving room for the visitor’s own
imagination and interpretations. Artists
will be invited to take part in creative
workshops to complement the planting and
landscape, some of which will become
permanent. The White Falls, Shadow Walk and
Deep Woods will all be resplendent with
colourful blooms, a delight for mind, body
and soul – a new oasis in Scandinavia’s
favourite park.
Liseberg Park
The Rose garden
at the Garden Society of Gothenburg (Trädgårdsföreningen)
is developed and a new rose garden added. Exhibition architect is Ulf Nordfjell. Photo: Eva S
Andersson
Ulf Nordfjell is
the exhibition architect for the gardens at
the Garden Society of Gothenburg
(Trädgårdsföreningen), where there is a
truly international presence with designers
from Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and
Germany all putting their individual stamp
on gardens and woodlands.
The Garden
Society has been an ornamental garden since
1842. For 2008, preservation, reconstruction
and renewal is in focus. During the
exhibition the aim is to offer visitors a
journey through time in a park currently
being restored to its former glory but with
some contemporary additions such as a modern
rose park designed by Ulf and consisting of
old fashioned roses in meadows of perennials
and grasses.
Stroll through
newly planted rose gardens by luminaries
such as Piet Oudolf, and marvel at the
themed and woodland gardens. Patterned
flower beds will be recreated and new ones
reflecting modern trends will be planted by
the very best designers in Sweden.
Garden Society
Chelsea Flower
Show gold medal winners Julie Toll and
Philip Nixon have designed a woodland
garden and more modern, conceptual garden
respectively. Julie is working in
association with Dutch designer Jacqueline
van der Kloet. James and Helen Dooley are
Swedish residents who have previously
designed gardens for Paul Smith and
Petersham Nurseries and for Gardens of
Gothenburg they have come up with a modern
vegetable garden in cooperation with Gardens
Illustrated magazine. The garden will
revisit the classic English Kitchen garden
and give it an up to date spin.
Swedish
landscape architect offices 02Landskap (Göteborg)
and Sydväst (Malmö) are doing contemporary
Swedish gardens.
Gothenburg
Botanical Garden
Garden spaces
that combine knowledge and diversity
Gothenburg
Botanical Garden is one of the foremost of
its type in Europe. It covers 40 hectares
and boasts around 20,000 plants from all
over the world, but is made up of a
series of enchanting garden spaces, each of
which offers individual beauty and drama.
Examples include
the internationally renowned Rock Garden,
the Japanese Glade with its unique
collection of plants gathered from the wild
in East Asia, the atmospheric Rhododendron
Valley with its plethora of species, the
Bulb Garden with one of the world’s biggest
collections of bulbs and tubers from the
Mediterranean and temperate steppe climates,
and the Kitchen Garden, crammed with plants
that have been used for centuries for food,
medicine and magic.
The greenhouses
are housing among other things Sweden’s
largest collection of tropical orchids, a
globally unique calcareous tufa section with
plants that erupt straight from the rock,
and the rare Easter Island tree (Sophora
toromiro), which is extinct in the wild but
has been saved for posterity by Gothenburg
Botanical Garden.
Over a period of
several years the garden has purposely been
renovated. Last year, the entrance was given
a facelift, and now presents an open piazza
with stone slabs surrounding large circular
borders that overflow with bulbs or annuals
depending on the season. Next to the new
entrance, created by Ulf Nordfjell, is also
the contemporary garden “A Tribute to
Linnaeus”, which won a gold medal at the
Chelsea Flower Show 2007.
This year the
entrance area has the added attraction of a
large flower meadow (with 60,000 flowering
bulbs) and new perennial borders where
visitors can see entirely new breeds.
Perennials are also one of the recurring
themes of the garden during the summer
exhibition, during which demonstrations,
workshops and seminars will explore the
practice and aesthetics of breeding
perennials. Special attention will be
given this year to dahlias. Around 70
different cultivars will be on show along
with many wild species – Mexican beauties
that are rarely seen growing in Europe.
Another theme is
annual boarders. Over the past 10 years or
more “annual boarders à la Botanical
Gardens” has become a popular event on the
Swedish horticultural calendar. Each year
visitors are greeted with new compositions
that explode with colour, with names such as
“Witches’ Fever”, “My Africa” “Purple Haze”
or “King’s Coat”. The theme for this year
will be a very special floral event!
Once again this year there will be
demonstrations and workshops during the
Gardens of Gothenburg exhibition.
Events that
focus on the more theoretical aspects will
include a series of lectures on plant
expeditions. Over the years the garden has
sent plant hunters to just about every part
of the world. There will be a number
of special displays too. In the greenhouse
you can see “Gluttonous Beauties” – a
display of insectivorous plants more
popularly known as meat eaters. Out in the
park we have “The Little Garden”, which
demonstrates how to garden organically.
Gothenburg Botanical Garden also has an art
gallery where painter Ilva Wallström and
photographer Eva S. Andersson have set up an
exhibition called “In the Garden” consisting
of paintings and photos from Ilva’s own
garden.
Last year we
celebrated the 300th anniversary of the
birth of Carl von Linné. That gave us a
taste for more, so this year we are
following it up with “Linnaeus 300 plus”
with walking lectures on Carl von Linné as a
person, and about plants with links to him
and his students. A number of shows
will also be held each day during the
exhibition. These can be given in English if
requested. Anything less would be
inconceivable in a place where knowledge and
beauty are so intimately linked.
Gunnebo House and
Gardens
Where the 18th century meets the present
Gunnebo House and Gardens is one of the most
beautiful 18th century estates in Sweden. The house was built as a summer
residence for the wealthy merchant John Hall and was completed in 1796.
The entire estate of Gunnebo was designed by Carl Wilhelm Carlberg, town
architect of Gothenburg, from the house and its furniture and interior
decorations, to the gardens and surrounding buildings.
The estate has been preserved and maintained
over the centuries and more recently restored to its former splendour with
the aid of Carlberg’s original architectural drawings.
Gunnebo is a site of special historical value
and enjoys the highest degree of cultural protection. In 2002 Gunnebo
received the EU’s Europa Nostra award for preservation of cultural
heritage. In 2003 Gunnebo was designated a cultural reservation.
In the 1950s the well-preserved formal garden
around the house was restored. Since then, further elements of the formal
garden have been restored and the ruined kitchen garden was recreated.
Carlberg also designed a number of surrounding buildings including
servants’ quarters, greenhouses and wings to the main building, which have
also been restored.
Today, the two most important aspects of the
gardens are their history and the focus on organic gardening. The ongoing
history of the gardens provides inspiration and recreation opportunities
to current visitors. The organic focus has natural links with the
gardening skills of the 18th century, and the aim is to demonstrate that
it is possible to create a beautiful garden using organic methods. We want
to inspire our visitors to try gardening organically. All the gardens are
managed organically and are certified organic.
Gardens of Gothenburg 2008 provides
fascinating encounters between history and the modern day by showing off
distinctly contemporary gardens against the contrasting background of this
historical setting.
For the exhibition, Gunnebo’s head gardener
will create a historical kitchen garden that is based on many years of
research into the 18th century Swedish kitchen garden. In stark contrast,
we will also create a futuristic kitchen garden that is freed from the
rigid formality of the estate. This garden will consist of large field
plantations made up solely of edible plants, broken up by sharp graphical
lines in a meeting between natural and artificially abstract shapes.
Trials will be carried out here to develop different planting arrangements
for kitchen gardens and to explore exciting new combinations.
The kitchen garden is not only intended as a
garden space filled with attractive and tasty plants, but also as an arena
where existential questions are initiated and discussed. In the new
kitchen garden we will present three Show Gardens by Topher Delaney, USA;
Monika Gora, Sweden; and John Tizzard, Sweden/England. The three invited
designers will each give their answers to the question: What will
tomorrow’s kitchen garden look like?
Topher Delaney: Labyrinth kitchen garden
Monika Gora: Travelling kitchen garden
John Tizzard: Roots
In the old kitchen garden, tasty historical
vegetables will be grown and later served in Gunnebo Coffee House and
Restaurant. There is also a spice garden and section where flowers are
grown for cutting.
In the formal garden around the house, further
steps are being taken to restore the garden to its original beauty. Over
the course of the year the garden’s finer details and small-scale
decorations will be recreated in the form of urns, fences and decorative
flower beds.
On the site where the magnificent orangerie
once stood, Topher Delaney will create an installation that is inspired by
the site, its history and the direction that Gunnebo is taking today.
To further accentuate the inherent
characteristics of the estate, the entire garden site will be illuminated
at night by lighting designer Torbjörn Eliasson. Artistic elements in the
various green spaces of the estate will further enhance the evocative
appeal.
Go organic – Go to Gunnebo.
Liseberg
Park
New garden to feed the imagination
Liseberg opened in 1923, as part of the World
Expo in Gothenburg and the city’s 300th anniversary. Set in a fertile
valley, the area has been gardened since the 17th century, including a
period of use in growing tobacco. In the early 19th century the land was
bought by a Briton, John Nonnen, a passionate gardener who introduced the
Dahlia to Sweden. From the beginning Liseberg continued the garden ethic
as a green amusement park, with flowers and trees surrounding the
attractions. An example today is the popular family attraction Kållerado,
where a Swedish landscape is created around the streaming waterways. Also,
the colorful summer plantations are characteristic for the park.
Today, Liseberg is one of Europe’s leading
amusement parks offering entertainment, attractions and restaurants. It is
the most visited tourist attraction in Sweden, with more than three
million guests annually.
As part of the Gardens of Gothenburg
exhibition, Liseberg has developed a new area, around 20,000 square metres
of hitherto undeveloped hillside. This has been designed as a counterpoint
to the lively attractions area, a space that visitors can explore at their
leisure. Liseberg’s new garden is a space designed to inspire and feed the
imagination.
The garden is accessed once you’ve entered the
main park entrance. As visitors ascend the slopes they discover historic
buildings nestling among the rocky outcrops. The winding paths take them
through the Dense Wood, across the bridge over a streaming white drift of
plants, with diverse flora to admire along the way. This is a place to
discover mirror ponds, water rills, floral landscape and sculpture.
Liseberg has invited artists to hold creative workshops and contribute to
the landscapes and planting. Their work, both ephemeral and permanent,
will be integrated within the landscape. Descending through the natural
woodland, visitors will discover a pavilion by the Danish artist Tage
Andersen before rejoining the park’s other attractions.
The gardens have been created by a team,
headed by David Schofield, Liseberg’s Creative Director, working closely
with Peter Törnberg and the Park’s horticultural department, based on
ideas developed by Catherine Heatherington (Society of Garden Designers)
and O2Landskap (a Swedish landscape architects’ office). The work has been
coordinated by Andrew Fisher Tomlin, former chairman of the Society of
Garden Designers.
Trädgårdsföreningen
The Garden
Society of Gothenburg
An enchanting journey through time and space
The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the
finest gardens in Sweden. Work began on the gardens in 1842 and
reached its peak around the turn of the century. In 1992 the park was
listed as a historic site. With its splendid Palm House the park provides
a much-loved oasis in the heart of the city and is a popular attraction
for tourists.
As part of the exhibition we want to restore
the Garden Society of Gothenburg as a focal point for horticulture and
gardening. This is being done by preserving old areas that are intact and
reconstructing and renovating other parts of the park. By doing so we want
to lay the foundation for a site that will regain its former glory and
atmosphere, but also allow it to develop and reflect contemporary
architecture.
With the aid of excavations, old photos and
drawings, the area around the Palm House and the Director’s House in the
central part of the Garden Society of Gothenburg has been restored to its
original condition when the park was at its most beautiful in around 1900.
Serpentine paths, wooded areas and traditional symmetric flower beds echo
the grand old days of the park.
Multilayered planting methods have been used
to give added variety and depth to the park. The new woodlands have been
designed by some of the most prominent landscape architects and plant
designers in Europe. Our intention with these woodlands is to demonstrate
the possibilities that exist for restoring and improving old parks and
overgrown gardens. The designers of the planting schemes include Piet
Oudolf, Holland; Julie Toll, England; Jacqueline van der Kloet, Holland;
Nicholas Delahooke, England/Sweden; Heiner Luz, Germany; Rune Bengtsson
and Ulf Nordfjell, Sweden. All the woodland areas have different
characters and plant choices that demonstrate diversity and relationships
with the environment.
Symmetrical flower beds were a popular form of
planting in the early 20th century and are experiencing a resurgence in
interest. Traditionally they consist of beds planted in decorative
patterns, often with Mediterranean plants at their centre. Visitors to the
exhibition can see historical reconstructions as well as totally modern
planting arrangements created by Sweden’s leading garden designers.
Since the Rose Garden was created in the
mid-1980s the Garden Society of Gothenburg has increasingly become
associated with roses in all their diversity. Recently, the Rose Garden
has undergone a major overhaul. The modern roses have been gathered in
their own sections and new rose pergolas and themed rose gardens have been
created. These show how roses can be used together with other plants in
different types of garden settings. The rose gardens have
been designed by some of the best-known
architects and landscape architects of our time, including Piet Oudolf and
Jane Schul from Denmark.
In the second half of the Rose Garden the
historic roses are gathered in a unique Rose Park designed by Ulf
Nordfjell. The design reflects contemporary tastes, with roses set against
a backdrop of thousands of perennials and grasses, as well as bushes and
trees. There is a specially built pergola, mirror pond and seating in
granite, steel and wood, framed by deep green hedges of yew. The design is
timeless and the species roses and historic collection of older roses are
displayed in chronological order. With its new approach and content we
believe that the Rose Park will be a great success among eager rose
experts and the garden-loving public, and well worth a visit all year
round.
During the summer exhibition several of the
buildings in the Garden Society of Gothenburg will open temporarily,
including the Water House in the Palm House and the original seed store,
which will become a shop. Various buildings will house three smaller
exhibitions by Swedish designers: "Master Gardeners through the Ages" by
Ia Schildt, "Today’s Garden" by Synnöve Mork and Ulf Nordfjell, and "Green
pleasure under glass" by Hannu Sarenström.
For the duration of the exhibition the large
lawn in front of the Palm House will also provide the setting for a number
of theme gardens created by internationally recognised UK designers such
as Philip Nixon and Helen and James Dooley in collaboration with Gardens
Illustrated magazine. Several Swedish designers will be working with
students from a variety of colleges to create five student gardens. A
Garden Avenue will show off modern Swedish greenhouses for private gardens
and will sell plants, garden products and Swedish art and crafts goods.
The Garden Avenue will provide a meeting place with various themes during
the summer:
• Roses, Romance and Red Berries, 28 June
– 3 August
• Garden Spaces, Rocket and Rose Anemones,
4–31 August
• Rosehips, Neon and Fresh Harvests, 1–14
September
• Enchanting Bulbs and Exotic Tubers,
15–28 September
The exhibition and landscape architect for the
restoration of the Garden Society of Gothenburg is Ulf Nordfjell,
previously also exhibition architect for Gardens of Gorthenburg 2000 and
for "A Tribute to Linnaeus", the gold-medal-winning garden at Chelsea
Flower Show 2007, which has now been recreated at Gothenburg Botanical
Garden.
End