Historisk skötsel i Karlslunds trädgårdar

Abstract

This study investigates how the gardens of Karlslund, a mansion located two kilometres west of Örebro, were managed by the gardener, his pupils and collegues in the 19th and early 20th century, by examining garden tools listed in 69 years of inventories, spanning från 1827 to 1929. The contents of the inventories are compared to descriptions of the tools and advice on how they are to be used in old garden handbooks as well as modern research on historical garden management. Historical garden management is seen as an intagible cultural heritage, and acknowleges that there exists an interdependency between the methods of heritage gardening and the heritage garden itself. The study covers a number of tools and connects them to gardening methods in the kitchen garden, pruning, cultivation in hotbeds, pathways, lawn management and potted plants. Most of the tools require manual skill and many seem to have been used over many decades and some at least a century. Garden management constituate a multitude of stories, stories that give value to heritage gardens. With its immense documentation preserved in the city archives, Karlslund offers a unique opportunity to invite visitors to share these stories.