Danish Garden Tour: An Organic Home Garden Runs Riot
Enter a garden designed for every season, where slugs are picked off by hand and every bloom is bouquet-ready
Maja Egelund’s organic garden near Aarhus, Denmark, is chock-full of her favourite flowers and vegetables. The homeowner and her daughter, Karla, welcome all the natural beauty they can into their organic garden and carefully cultivate its year-round charm, without betraying its wild soul.
Maja’s garden plan. Row by row, from top left: greenhouse, yard, house; tree, house, terrace, grapes; screen flowers, raised beds; scallions, summer flowers, perennials, tree; fruit bushes, vegetable zone, flowers, raised beds
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Design Workshop: How to Work Out Your Garden Layout
The garden features a beautiful medley of flowers, berries, fruits and vegetables. Maja has grouped the many perennials by colour and height. “I’m inspired by the English cottage garden style, which has a wild kind of beauty,” she says.
She is in the garden every single day planning the next steps, and it is constantly evolving. It has gradually been divided into different zones, making it easier to plan and review the results.
In the photo, Japanese thimbleweed (Anemone hupehensis) is interspersed with meadow rue (Thalictrum rochebruneanum). There is also a bed of sage (Salvia), geraniums, common box (Buxus sempervirens) and many others. The geraniums, catnips (Nepeta cataria), masterwort (Astrantia), peonies, coneflowers (Rudbeckia), common lady’s mantles and plantain lilies (Hosta) bloom the longest.
“If there are gaps between the perennials, I fill them with annual summer flowers,” says Maja.
She is in the garden every single day planning the next steps, and it is constantly evolving. It has gradually been divided into different zones, making it easier to plan and review the results.
In the photo, Japanese thimbleweed (Anemone hupehensis) is interspersed with meadow rue (Thalictrum rochebruneanum). There is also a bed of sage (Salvia), geraniums, common box (Buxus sempervirens) and many others. The geraniums, catnips (Nepeta cataria), masterwort (Astrantia), peonies, coneflowers (Rudbeckia), common lady’s mantles and plantain lilies (Hosta) bloom the longest.
“If there are gaps between the perennials, I fill them with annual summer flowers,” says Maja.
Yellow carrot flowers grow towards the end of the summer. Wild carrot does not grow large roots, but it does produce lots of flowers. They bud prolifically, which means that they can be picked over and over again.
Brass buttons (Leptinella) fill the gaps in the walkway. “They make beautiful green patterns, and thanks to them I don’t have to pull out the weeds that would have grown there otherwise,” says Maja.
Maja got some of her plants from a neighbour. “We have a nice neighbourhood. Neighbours of all ages visit each other and share their experiences. None of us are qualified experts – we are just trying things out,” she says.
Maja says it is important to remember that nothing is right or wrong when it comes to gardens: “Being inspired by others is a pleasure, but it should not be a fight. Grow what you want at your own pace,” she says.
Maja got some of her plants from a neighbour. “We have a nice neighbourhood. Neighbours of all ages visit each other and share their experiences. None of us are qualified experts – we are just trying things out,” she says.
Maja says it is important to remember that nothing is right or wrong when it comes to gardens: “Being inspired by others is a pleasure, but it should not be a fight. Grow what you want at your own pace,” she says.
Maja grows tomatoes, flowers and her favourite herbs – coriander, Thai basil and dill – in a small greenhouse. “I buy seeds for lots of plants and grow them in the garden and the greenhouse. As a rule, I include some of the old Danish plants [like the dill mentioned above], which are extraordinary,” she says.
Everything that Maja grows is organic. “There is no need to contaminate the soil with all sorts of poisons and pesticides,” she says. “When there are Spanish slugs or weeds, I have two choices: remove them or accept them. I remove the slugs by hand, and just allow some of the bishop’s goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) to stay. It is about finding a level of gardening that you enjoy. Having a garden should not be stressful.”
Everything that Maja grows is organic. “There is no need to contaminate the soil with all sorts of poisons and pesticides,” she says. “When there are Spanish slugs or weeds, I have two choices: remove them or accept them. I remove the slugs by hand, and just allow some of the bishop’s goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) to stay. It is about finding a level of gardening that you enjoy. Having a garden should not be stressful.”
“I always grow too much, so I share [vegetables from the greenhouse] with my neighbours and acquaintances,” says Maja. She bought the tomato seeds, an old Danish variety, from Camilla Plum’s online store in Denmark.
Large pots on the patio house seasonal varieties: dahlias, sage and grasses. Maja makes a lot of bouquets with the flowers and leaves from these plants.
“The big umbels from the crown dill are a hit in bouquets,” she says.
Garden cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), coneflowers, common yarrows (Achillea millefolium), peonies, masterwort (Astrantia), and limelight hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’) grow in a round flower bed in the middle of the lawn. All of these have been in the soil since last year. They bloom in spring along with other bulbous plants. “I love flowers. I’m so fond of looking at them, both in the garden and anywhere else,” says Maja.
Browse more gardens from around the world for inspiration
Browse more gardens from around the world for inspiration
The lime-coloured pincushion flower is one of Maja’s favourites. It is spreading well in the garden and also works well in bouquets.
“Many of the flowers in the garden blossom spontaneously,” says Maja. “I can usually distinguish between weeds and flowers, so thankfully I don’t accidentally pull the flowers out.” The soil in the garden is clayey and very nutritious, so Maja usually has good luck with new plants.
“Many of the flowers in the garden blossom spontaneously,” says Maja. “I can usually distinguish between weeds and flowers, so thankfully I don’t accidentally pull the flowers out.” The soil in the garden is clayey and very nutritious, so Maja usually has good luck with new plants.
Maja’s daughter, Karla, has her own flower bed, in which she’s planted lots of cosmos and daisies.
Cosmos are easy to cultivate and come in a variety of colours.
Cosmos are easy to cultivate and come in a variety of colours.
Carrots grown in a pair of raised beds feed the family for a couple of weeks. Flowers, vegetables, rhubarb and other plants grow well in seven raised beds fed with garden soil and compost. Once she’s harvested the carrots, Maja sows red clover, which returns nutrients to the soil.
This garden was once part of an apple orchard belonging to the nearby Marselisborg Palace, and the apple tree here dates back to that time. It does not produce much fruit anymore, but it is a beautiful feature.
This grapevine (Vitis) is a sturdy variety that can survive out in the open. “The grapes taste good, and our dog and the blackbirds around here will vouch for that. It’s alright – we’re happy to share with them,” says Maja.
She prunes some of the grape leaves so that the fruit can get more sunshine and ripen well. The vine climbs up a drainage pipe and continues towards the garage. It grows wilfully, but it is easy to tame again when it spreads too much.
She prunes some of the grape leaves so that the fruit can get more sunshine and ripen well. The vine climbs up a drainage pipe and continues towards the garage. It grows wilfully, but it is easy to tame again when it spreads too much.
Maja dries flowers from the garden and uses them for decoration and bouquets. A single branch in a tall vase works wonders at times of year when there is nothing to pick in the garden.
Here, wild carrots (top left), marigolds (Calendula; top right) pincushion flowers (bottom right), and poppies lie on an old French dish found at a market. Maja says drying flowers is simple: just hang the flowers upside-down in the shade in a covered area.
Here, wild carrots (top left), marigolds (Calendula; top right) pincushion flowers (bottom right), and poppies lie on an old French dish found at a market. Maja says drying flowers is simple: just hang the flowers upside-down in the shade in a covered area.
Maja is also interested in garden decor. She believes that a garden is a wonderful place to create ambience with plants and secondhand items.
Here we see a bouquet of cosmos, pincushion flowers and crown dill from the garden. The vase and wicker furniture were found at secondhand markets. “I’m always looking, both for plants outdoors and items at markets,” says Maja.
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On the north-facing wall hang a pair of old fruit boxes and a drying box whose contents change from time to time. Maja usually fills them with garlic in winter, and something a little more colourful in summer.
Maja also dries many of the seeds from the garden and saves them for the next season. In the round box lie fava beans (Vicia faba) waiting to be put into the ground, and in the small pods on the dish are kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) seeds. There is a species of Allium (garlic) in the bottle.
Maja is the mastermind behind the garden, but her husband mows the lawn and will have a bigger role to play when Maja’s next garden project – a spacious garden tool shed with a living roof – gets underway.
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Maja is the mastermind behind the garden, but her husband mows the lawn and will have a bigger role to play when Maja’s next garden project – a spacious garden tool shed with a living roof – gets underway.
Tell us
Let us know if you enjoyed this story, and don’t forget to like it, save it, save the photos and share your thoughts below. Join the conversation.
More
Find a gardener or landscaper in your area to help create your green oasis
Who gardens here: Maja Egelund, 40, her husband, their daughter, Karla, 11, and the family dog, Teddy
Location: Højbjerg, near Aarhus, in central Denmark
Size: 600 square metres
“We’ve had the garden for six years,” says Maja. “We completely changed it when we took over the place because we had to move the driveway. In the beginning, I had no idea what happens in a garden, but I’ve gradually started to understand seasons, so the flower beds don’t suddenly go empty when the weather changes.”
The garden is Maja’s hobby and oasis. “I grew up in the country and I have always known that I wanted a garden,” she says. “I am fond of wilderness and outdoor life, and this is reflected in our yard. It follows the seasons and looks natural. No cement-lined flower beds for me!”