Plant use
The focus of plant use was placed on the flowering perennials, which were always closely related to the peasant garden and were also used, for example, as domestic or sacred ornaments. However, since the synthesis of ornamentation and utility also played a role in the cottage garden, vegetables e.g. the fire bean were also used, especially in the case of climbing plants.
In the selection of perennials, old species and varieties were in the foreground. Their use, in addition to their special importance for biodiversity and genetic resources, is intended to refer to cultural achievement in the form of selection and breeding, since many old breeds have been displaced over the years by new and hybrid breeds. Of Karl Foerster's 370 or so cultivars, for example, only about a third are still on the market today.
Clarifying the origin of the plants was a particular didactic concern of the design. Therefore, each field is planted with a plant selection from a special large region. The tour begins with southern and eastern European plants from the earliest phase of anthropogenic plant propagation and ends with cottage garden plants from North America and Asia.
Despite the thematically motivated distribution of the planting, importance was attached to an attractive distribution (staggering of heights, colour variation and flowering focal points throughout the festival period) on the site and the requirements of the perennials (living areas bed and open spaces as well as competitive behaviour) were taken into account.
Design idea
The area to be redesigned was redesigned only a few years ago. For economic reasons, the basic features (pathways and seating area) were retained. Only the planting and the flanking interactive concept were continued in the sense of the existing educational garden on the theme of farm gardens. However, the design idea aims not to recreate a farm garden, but to implement a contemporary interpretation of the design principles.
The farm garden is strongly characterized by the relationship between man and plant. This is perhaps why the typical peasant garden only exists as a stereotypical idea that is readily coloured in, for example, gardening magazines. However, a basic formal pattern, often characterized by a division into four, seems to be a fundamental design element resulting from aspects of cultivation. The number four symbolizes the inner harmony of nature with the four elements and the four seasons and, on the other hand, the four gospels and the cross. The division of the area into multiples of the quadrangle was superimposed on the existing basic structure. This results in a new formal language, an interference pattern that carries historical principles.
In terms of the grid, it makes reference to the cross bed of the existing design and thus, despite the independent formal language, integrates harmoniously into the garden as a whole, as it takes up and continues distinctive lines.
The individual fields are enclosed with wicker fences of different design and height, resulting in a rather sculptural division of the area overall, which also has its charm in winter. Wicker fences play an important role in farm gardens for enclosure, depending on the availability of the material. This principle was taken up because of the existing pollarded willows accompanying the stream and implemented in a contemporary inspired manner.
Small simple paths with oak bark chippings facilitate the cultivation of the area. One of these paths establishes a relationship, if only a visual one, with the neighbouring farm, referencing the fact that the farm garden has always stood in close proximity to the manor house.
The area is vertically articulated with climbing plant supports in four of the beds. This will be achieved by inserting oak poles from the neighbouring louge hedges vertically into the ground. This establishes, albeit subordinately, a thematic reference to the local significance of the Louhecken economy.
Interaction
In a playful and interactive way, the project adopts man's collecting instinct, which Karl Foerster, for example, also described in the last century, and which has not lost any of its topicality in some circles even today:
"A gardener does not travel without a notebook and a clean handkerchief. The notebook for writing things down, and the handkerchief for dropping gently down on a beautiful plant, of which one takes with a clear conscience either a seed or two, or a small cutting. But one never steals the whole plant. That's indelicate."
This small-scale distribution by visitors to the 2007 Journey of Plants festival became emblematic of the great plant exports of history. Monks had been exchanging seeds, plants and preparations since the early Middle Ages, promoting the spread of certain species. In some cases, plants were deliberately transported to other cultural areas. Prominent examples are useful plants such as the potato or the tomato, which came to Europe in the 16th century with the discovery of America. The botanical collections at the beginning of the last century are an example of the relocation of ornamental plants to other regions. "The globalization of garden plants began at least 500 years ago."
Civic engagement and public involvement
The willow bed borders and the vertical climbing elements were created during a public workshop led by the landscape architects and a local qualification provider for professional integration and social inclusion of people with special needs. During the workshop, people with disabilities were able to participate in the design of the cottage garden together with interested citizens and gain parktical knowledge in dealing with the historical construction method.
- Plant use
- Design idea
- Interaction
- Civic engagement and public involvement
