Early spring in the garden

Looking for signs of spring

Gardening tips for the early spring

Signs of spring in the garden

Gardening tips for the spring

The delights of early summer

Gardening tips for the early summer

Floral summer splendour
Summer – a time when it is a blessing to be alive. A time when many people spend more time together, enjoying each other’s company. Visit Norrviken together and experience our beautiful park when summer is at its fairest. In early summer all the new sprouts and leaves are leaving their juvenile colours behind for their seasonal colours. Now they are exhibiting their rich variation regarding texture, size and shape. The early summer flowers add extra floral beauty while those flourishing later are developing. The flowerbeds close, become dense and delightful. In July and August perennials set the tone, for instance daylily, hosta, nepeta, astilbe, veronica, lavender, sage, iris in one well-tuned orchestra. A fragrant cloud is found over the eastern part of the Renaissance Garden where the fabulous regal lilies (Lilium regale)grow among the buxus balls.

A wonderful time when you do not have to think about what has to be done. Get outside and enjoy what the garden and nature can offer. Everything is served.

Rhododendron, hydrangea and cornus
If the flowering divas of early summer consisted of magnolias, cherry trees and azaleas, the beginning of this period is definitely overtaken by rhododendrons. Rhododendrons are a very important feature of the entire scenery in the Water Garden, the Romanic Garden and the Ravine leading down to the Japanese Gardens, both as a floral element and as an evergreen structure.

Our Water Garden is a thing of beauty for a very long time. When the rhododendron season is almost over the hydrangeas burst into blossom. First in rather discreet lime shades, then in more intense shades of pink and blue. A wonderful appearance that just improves towards late summer.

All the dogwoods, Cornus, at Norrviken are flourishing now with big, pure, white flowers in the White Garden, the Water Garden and next to Erikshus. The flowerbeds surrounding Erikshus are at their peak at this time, when slender and light impressions from perennials are mixed with the sumptuous, heavy-headed peonies.

Summer highlights

Gardening tips for the summer

Late summer elegance
In the Water Garden the hydrangeas still make a grand show. Their clear pink and blue shades have now faded, giving a more subdued impression. There are few plants with such a long, decorative period as the hydrangea. Besides being a shrub in the garden it is used as cut flowers and decorations.

The late summer flowers play their hand more discreetly than the annuals of the summer, but with great elegance. The flowerbeds in the upper part of the Cross Avenue are filled with fluffy and whirling clouds of flowers combined with stable spires. At the top of the path previously named the Abelin Walk after the founder of Norrviken, you will find his bust placed on the slope of the ridge, overlooking beautiful flowers as well as the bay called Laholmsbukten.

Dahlias
You might talk about summer flower plantations every day, but some plants are actually in peak flower at the end of summer. Few plants can match the willingness and beauty of summer flowers. Their self-evident queen is the dahlia, displaying all sorts of colours and shapes. Dahlias are getting more and more beautiful throughout the season and only the first frost nights in October can put a stop to their splendour. A most definite change for the plants and the work of the gardener.

End of summer
The fading light of the evening sun makes the colours increasingly deep and in the Japanese Garden the first autumn colours can be noticed. Perennials such as Kirengeshoma, white wood aster (Eurybia divaricate), Actaea and Japanese anemone are not prepared yet to finish the floral beauty of summer and enter autumn.

The highlights of late summer

Gardening tips for the late summer

Brilliantly coloured Norrviken
Focus on the main structure of the garden, that is to say its trees and shrubs. Several of the plants in the park are now changing into beautiful autumn colours, such as maples, katsuras, azaleas, the ginkgo and the tulip tree. The Japanese garden and the Cherry Garden are a blaze of colours with their red and orange shades. Walk along the Apple Orchard, rest for a while and admire the impressive view of the ridge. Norrviken is beautifully located at the northern foot of the ridge named Hallandsåsen, sheltered from southern and western winds.

At the end of October the leaves have begun to fall and the brightly coloured, decorative leaves are going to remain on the ground for a while. The brilliant yellow leaves from the tulip tree and the ginkgo are among the last ones to get the autumn feeling.

Autumn flowers
The dahlias of the summer keep on blossoming as if they did not know that autumn existed. You can still find several perennials that are decorative elements in the park e.g. Japanese anemone, white wood aster, nepeta, Actaea,Kirengeshoma and toad lily (Tricyrtis), Some perennials left untouched will develop seedheads lending beauty to the bare winter period. Many ornamental grasses function as a golden backdrop till late winter. So just leave the pruning shears in their holster.

Time to plant spring flowers
Now in the autumn it is time to make room for spring. Planting in the autumn has many advantages: the soil is moist, the air is warm and the ground is still full of life. The plants establish themselves better and the gardener does not have to spend so much energy on them as when planting in the spring. Traditionally one day in the autumn all the staff at Norrviken get together happily, equipped with a garden trowel each, since the spring bulbs have to be planted. It is usually a special day with a lot of laughter and team spirit. And naturally, a dream or two about the sprouting miracles of spring.

Extremes – autumn mix of high and low
Walking through Norrviken along the Apple Orchard you simply have to admire the impressive view of the ridge. The whole park is beautifully located at the northern foot of the ridge named Hallandsåsen, sheltered from southern and western winds.  

Around this time, after the impressive beeches have started shedding their brown leaves, the charming part of autumn with all its autumn colours, sunny and crisp days comes to an end. Now it changes and the charm of autumn is overpowered by decay. This is the time for clearing away everything soft and mushy.

Autumnal Beauty

Gardening tips for the Autumn

Winter-flowering plants
When the frost has taken a grip and the park is shrouded in white you may meet some of our brave winter-flowering plants on your walk. Mild winters they can start blossoming relatively early. Two plants of that category are the witch hazel with its sun-yellow, spidery petals and fragrant viburnum with pink, gloriously scented flowers.

Evergreens
Winter is often a tranquil time in the park. Most plants are now in their winter resting period after reclaiming as much power and energy as possible before the leaves have decayed. Now they are biding their time, waiting for more favourable conditions. But not all trees and shrubs shed their cloak of leaves. At this time of year the evergreen plants become more prominent, reminding you of their importance when it comes to giving structure and shape all year round.

Parts of Norrviken such as the Baroque Garden, the Water Garden and the Romantic Garden are defined by evergreen plants. Huge specimen of e.g. pine, spruce, hemlock, cypress, yew and thuja are mixed with rhododendron and common laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) on the ground. In the Japanese Garden and Tor’s Park you will find other evergreens such as mahonia, bamboo, hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata), monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria Araucana), and Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica). Last but not least all our pruned box hedges are important elements of the park too.

Winter Garden
The park is closed, but you can still hear lots of twittering and chirping sounds. The non-migratory birds, in fluffy costumes, are hopping around eagerly after the gardener who is stirring the soil. They hope something exciting will appear from under the frozen layer. The squirrels keep bouncing back and forth between their secret winter stashes, filled with nuts and seeds.

The winter may be seen as the most relaxed time for the gardener, but the winter is actually very busy. Now everything has to be done, everything that could not be done in the other seasons. A lot of work has to be planned and prepared. All projects have to be accomplished, allowing summer work to mainly consist of maintenance. Maybe it is our most important task, to maintain and care for our marvellous park so that its rich heritage will give pleasure to and enrich our future Norrviken visitors.

Brave winter-flower plants