Monday, November 17, 2008

The Austrian Garden

By fluke the Austrian garden comes early in this blog of European Union gardens not so much because it begins with"A" but because my daughter and her husband have bought a house and farm buildings high in the mountains of the South Tyrol, close to the borders of Italy and Slovenia in a tiny hamlet called Masternitzen close to Pisweg which is near Gurk which is not far from Klagenfurt and after the EuroFootball 2008 a lot of people know where that is!

Their place is at 1000 meters, set on a pine clad mountain side, the meadows stretching away with milking cows dotted around the countryside and lots of very very very green grass.......

While there are ski lifts close by, snow has been conspicuously absent for the last couple of seasons.... So the weather is an uncertain factor in planning the garden. A wander around the land close to the house and despite the fact it is the middle of November I spot hearts ease (), clover, and something like edelweiss. Two rose bushes are still managing to push out blooms. The trees close to the house are all slightly overgrown fruit trees. Very old species – mmm could be interesting....

But the piece de resisitance I think turns out to be what appears on the face of it to be a garden of rubber tyres. Despite my daughter's incredulity I heap praises on on this. Why? Because tyres are ecologically sound garden tools, for mini gardens, potato farms and stabilisers. A little of pushing the weeds around and it is obvious it is full of alpine plants.

It just shows the wisdom in waiting a full year before doing anything irrevocable to a garden you have inherited... one has to forgive the gnome; the tiny but world famous town of Gurk renowned for its cathedral or dom also has a Gnome Park.

On our walk we discover a very substantial manure pile dating from when the barn had milking cows. The fate of this huge fascinating museum of old farming is yet to be decided but it has twelve milking bays amongst its wonderful attractions.

They have decided consequently the vegetable patch will be fairly close to this source of goodness but one of their first tasks will be to create a fence around this chosen area to discourage the garden pests. In my case in Spain this tends to be rabbits but in Masternitzen

the pests come a bit bigger....









this little cowlet has a definite personality and attitude – a bit like Amelie's* gnome – it pops up all over the place and likes having its photo taken.

Sarah and Jens have discovered tree nurseries. This is where you can select your tree while they are still in the earth by type, price, inspection etc and then it is dug up carefully, rootball well protected. Along with this comes free necessary advice for amateurs except they weren't told about staking.

They have bought a number of fruit trees this way to which is attached a funny story -

The nursery owner was insistent they could get at least six in the their pretty small hire car. After a lot of trying out various options the solution selected was to rest the trees on the passenger seat requiring Sarah to lie out flat on the floor of the car with the trees. Unfortunately on the drive back up the mountain they encountered someone with a problem. Having slowed the car, this person glanced down into the car to see Sarah waving back through a mini forest of trees. A new version on the theme of the Green Man....

Staking – to stake or not

Recently it was demonstrated the wisdom of this as the new trees had been blown into an abnormal angle. The new trees are now staked.

Ask.com has a little video about this for information but also there was a little bit on the Gardeners World blog actually referring to a school of thought says that non staking allows young trees to flex in the wind. I think the writer has it about right by going on to say a minimalist stake is about right especially where exposed to the elements.


This is what my friend Gwyn taught us to do i.e. leaving about 12-18 inches above ground. This way the rootball gets a chance to stabilise. Our trees are rock solid one year on, despite their facing difficult winter winds.



More anon about the development of the garden in Austria.

*Reference to that great french film ”Amelie” who pinched her father's gnome and sent it off on a tour of the world. Recently copycatted in UK by someone.

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Another noticeable characteristic driving through the valley toward Klagenfurt were the number of garden centres and plant nurseries, one in particular was one of the best I have been in for many a year. (This area of Spain is only just coming in to the world of garden centres as well). There was a fabulous european mediterranean display of plants and trees with a strong italian influence in terms of statuary and marble trees and plants. Not surprising really given the proximity. Some exploration of the internet I came across a recent remark by an Austrian garden designer Petra Gmainer that the culture of gardening is only just happening in Austria rather interesting.

This year there has been a substantial garden show in Lower Austria. at Tulln near the Danube and south of Vienna, situated on 120 acres of natural parkland - the first lower Austrian Garden Show which ran from April to October this year. Have a look at this for more information about trade shows and exhibition gardens. http://www.diegartentulln.at

There were two internationational gardens of note – the English Garden and the Portuguese Garden . Excellent examples to encourage an interest in the the Garden. Also a big interest in the ecology of gardening an area close to my own heart.

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Austria has of course a long tradition of stunning formal gardens usually connected to palaces and stately homes. For instance near Vienna there is the Schoennbrunn Park (500 acres of parkland behind the palace) filled with statues, fountains and a famous Gloriette. Vienna also has the Stadtpark, a wonderful place to stroll and inevitably take coffee and kuecken.

There are many other beautiful areas – the custom of the wanderweg being a favoured way to experience nature but I think with many other sociological changes taking place in Europe the role of the garden and the gardener is under change. This will bring me back to my own backyard in the mountains behind the costas.




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