BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL
A rural garden in northern Germany balances historical features and grand views with intimate enclosed spaces and colourful perennial planting
THE GARDEN IS A REMINDER OF WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED BY STICKING TO THE PLAN
In 2006 Ute and Albrecht Ziburski exchanged urban life for a piece of German countryside. After years of visiting gardens all over Europe, they had a clear idea of what they what wanted. The resulting design is as easily read as a well-written book. While many of us approach our gardens with a whimsical sense of experimentation, Ute and Albrecht have in Garten Moorriem created a reminder of what you can achieve when you stick to the plan.
“We are totally unromantic about this garden,” says Albrecht. Such pragmatism comes from having worked as a university botanist, where he developed an understanding of how plant communities work in the wild. Together, he and Ute started formulating ideas for their dream garden, one that would combine artistic flair with naturalistic plantings. Inspired by private gardens they had seen in Britain, France and the Netherlands, they realised they too could open their garden and make it a commercial success.
Nothing was left to chance when it came to identifying a suitable site. Ute notes how they “became famous with the estate agents in the area”, soil-testing kit and borer in hand. What they discovered in the famous farming area of Moorriem was a beautiful 300-year-old farmhouse with a soil of alluvial loam above layers of peat. It was this rich and moisture-retentive soil that made the cows fat and the farmers of Moorriem rich. The Ziburskis are particularly attached to this history, and were adamant that it should inform the garden.
Traditionally the fertile land in front of the property was reserved for grazing, while behind the house fruit trees – originally grown as status symbols rather than for their crop – created a shaded area for receiving guests and drinking coffee. From this peaceful setting, the eye is drawn down a strong central axis – a feature taken from the small Berlin garden of the German impressionist painter Max Liebermann – which cuts through the staggered hedges of the next two garden areas. The first of these, known as the June Garden, is a traditional garden, filled with what Ute refers to as ‘garden classics’, such as roses and
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delphiniums. The next area, the Summer Garden, comes as something of a shock, with the brash yellow of Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ with the red of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’.
The tension created between the cool tranquillity near the house and the heat of the Summer Garden dissipates as the path winds through a shady transitional zone of ferns, rodgersias and other foliage plants. At the end of the path a small bridge arches under a magnificent oak to the largest room, the Meadow Garden. Here deep beds punctuated with columnar topiaries and brimming with late-season colour sweep around a generous lawn. Bold groups of perennials, such as asters, heleniums, rudbeckias and echinaceas, are key to the borders, while grasses and the wands of sanguisorba, angelica and Digitalis ferruginea soften the scene and provide spikes of vertical interest. Inspired by the creative weeding of Dutch artist-gardener Ton ter Linden, these borders are the considered result of editing many self-sowers. “At first we really struggled with the weeds,” says Ute, although the pair have now developed a system. In early spring, Ute carefully marks groups of self-sowers, such as such as Echinacea purpurea, with small canes at seedling stage so that Albrecht can avoid them when applying a heavy mulch of sterilised compost.
The view to the house from this last section is hidden, so that your gaze is drawn out to the wider landscape, at one point through a cleverly positioned frame in the hedge – as Albrecht explains: “A window makes people look more carefully.” The garden is immaculately maintained and in some gardens the result might be sterile, but the Ziburskis know the importance of, as Albrecht puts it, “allowing a few shabby corners”. USEFUL INFORMATION Address Huntorf 1, 26931 Elsfleth, Germany. Tel +49 4485 462904. Web garten-moorriem.de Open 18 May – 30 September, Friday-Saturday (2-6pm), Sunday (10am-6pm), admission €4.
THE MEADOW GARDEN BORDERS ARE THE CONSIDERED RESULT OF EDITING SELF-SOWERS