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WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

In 2016, the Gothenburg Botanical Garden will highlight the more unknown parts of the garden. New signs and improved paths will lead to areas that were previously difficult to find or overgrown. New benches have been installed for picnics or resting, and new plants line the paths.

Most of the effort has been dedicated to Smith’s Hollow. Following a comprehensive approach, one of the backwaters of the garden has now been transformed into a huge woodland. Visitors can explore new paths and stone steps bordered by various species of mosses, ferns and unusual shade-loving species. Stately rhododendrons become imperial pieces under a pillared hall of oaks, and 1,000 fragrant royal lilies bloom at the height of summer.

Smithska dalen

Join us on a moss hike in Smith’s Hollow (Smithska dalen).

A viewing platform stands on a protruding rock in the valley that will provide a natural place from which to enjoy the greenery and admire the flowering Rhododendron Valley in the spring.

Smithsak_trappa

Paths above Smith’s Hollow have been cleared following decades of being overgrown. Now there is finally direct access to the fantastic views of Gothenburg from Håberget, which on a clear day stretch all the way to the sea. The paths to Håberget lead to the border where the garden transitions into the wild, through the botanically fascinating oak woodland and up to the smooth rocks typical of the west coast of Bohuslän.

Håberget

Download the “Botaniska” app to get various suggestions for how to walk on the wild side through the garden and discover both old and new features along the way. The Botanical Garden store also has a map with suggestions for walks.

wild art

In cooperation with the “Arte Sella” sculpture park in Italy, the Gothenburg Botanical Garden is displaying works within Land Art, an art form that explores the encounter between the artist and nature The art project is part of the Gothenburg Green World collaboration and links the Gothenburg Botanical Garden and Gunnebo House and Gardens, where more works of art can be found.At the Gothenburg Botanical Garden we call it Wild Art.

Origin of species

The “Origin of Species” by Will Beckers, a Dutch artist who now lives in Belgium, is a work of art on display at the Mirror Pond. His installation is made from hinged trunks of elm and is almost insect-like in appearance. Because it is placed right at the water’s edge it appears to hover, and Beckers plays with the idea: What would trees have looked like if evolution had taken another path in the development of species? Perhaps they would have been mobile?

”Origin of species”, Will Beckers

0121-1110=116045

In the Pinetum, the conifer collection at Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Jaehyo Lee from Korea will create an installation assembled from pieces of chestnut wood, polished and shaped into a round, warm circular shape – almost three metres high. The polished surface contrasts with the coarse intersections of knots and bark.

The installation is made up of hundreds of parts that were assembled in Korea and then shipped to Gothenburg and the Botanical Garden’s separate exhibitions in Korea, Japan, the UK and the US. For the last five years he has used stainless steel nails to assemble his works.

0121-1110=116045 by Jaehyo Lee

Haven – a safe place

In the Rock Garden, Stuart Ian Frost worked with an old dead oak by polishing the surface and burning in patterns. The oak is already dead and can be left in place as long as it poses no danger. Thanks to Frost it has been given new life and it is hoped that his work of art will become a haven for bees and other insects.

Haven

Alcon Blue

In Smith’s Hollow, ceramic blue wings are suspended high in an oak tree. The Norwegian artist group F36 wants to remind the viewer of the delicate interplay between man and nature. The artist group also has an exhibition in the Botanical Garden’s Floras Rike gallery. The exhibition, entitled Noli me Tangere, displays ceramics and drawings on the theme of seeds.

Alkonblåvinge