Gråsten Palace Gardens is an English-inspired Romantic landscape garden, which boasts a luxurious flora in the summer. It is full of impressive rose beds with all different types of roses and large herbaceous borders with a mass of flowers in all sorts of colours.
Unlike most other royal gardens, which are still cultivated according as the were in the past, Gråsten is a living example of modern royal horticulture. Her Majesty Queen Ingrid, who was highly interested in gardening and loved flowers and plants, created the gardens as we know them today.
Until her death in November 2000, H. M. Queen Ingrid held her annual holiday at Gråsten Slot. Most of the year, when the royal family are not using the palace, a large section of the gardens are open to the public.
History
The current Gråsten Palace Gardens contrasts conspicuously with the trim, French, baroque garden arranged by Chancellor Ahlefeldt in the 17th century. Straight paths, rectangular flower beds, sculptures and fountains once surrounded a monumental baroque palace.
Most of that palace burnt down in 1757 while it belonged to Duke Frederik Christian I. The duke rebuilt the palace in a more modest style and began to transform Gråsten Palace Gardens into a British-inspired landscape garden with winding paths, bushes and small arbours.
Layout and Vegetation
Nowadays, the gardens are entered from the Palace Yard through a pair of monumental beech portals planted in 1884. The landscape garden exudes a beauty which is both orderly and unceremonious. Sweeping paths and lawns connect well-defined beds and garden sections in an interplay which merges into the adjoining natural scenery. From the gardens, the small lakes, winding streams and pastures with grazing cows of the surrounding scenery look as if they, too, are an integral part of the gardens.
From May to October, the rich flora stimulate all five senses. The huge perennial beds with their begonias, white marguerites, yellow milfoil, larkspurs in all shades of blue, globe thistles, phlox, goldenrods, sage, etc., etc., are particularly impressive. Many of the species were brought back by Queen Ingrid from her travels abroad. Her horticultural insight, creativity and courage to experiment led her to seek out new plants and work with new, untried combinations.
There are roses all over the garden. A huge variety of types, colours and sizes. Roses as fences, beds of roses, roses which climb up walls and tree trunks. A large rose bed has also been laid to the west of the palace featuring all the different colours: white, yellow, bronze and red.
Gråsten Apples
Another botanical attraction has been the historic and original Gråsten apple trees, source of the modern Gråsten apples. Unfortunately, a hurricane put an end to the trees on December 3rd 1999.
The path from the palace to the garden at The Little House skirts Billeddammen, a lake positioned to catch the reflection of the palace. The lake is full of different colours of waterlilies, while rhododendrons, laburnums, hawthorns and a dash of scented lily of the valley huddle around its banks.
Although the garden at The Little House is closed to the public, it is possible to look in from the outside. Beside The Little House with thatched roof are the herbs and in front of the house is a large bed of tall red roses and lavenders. A large bed of perennials has been planted at the far end of the small garden.
Horticulture
The gardener's workshop is also off bounds to the public. It produces thousands of flowers which appear in the gardens the following spring and summer. It supplies the royal family with fruit and vegetables, both Danish and of more exotic extraction. A crab pond at the back supplies the palace with fresh crabs.
Last updated:: Monday, March 16, 2009
