The second chapter
Welcome to the outskirts of Näs and the garden chapter of great emotions. Here, you can wander through the meadows to the Leaf Hall, stop in the Forest Grove or the Moss Garden and then continue on to the pastures. Between the garden rooms, wild flowers grow, the stream meanders and groups of trees and rocks form small biotopes with teeming diversity.
The Meadow
You are welcomed into this part of the gardens by the Meadow, which spread out on both sides of the path. The Meadow creates a sense of light and freedom, as only meadows can. Along the edge of the meadow runs a stone fence. An inalienable part of the Småland landscape.
The Leaf Hall
In the centre of the open grassland just east of Astrid Lindgren’s childhood home, a group of birch trees create a space filled with tender flowers and grass. Laughter, pleasure, smiles, love, mischief, a fluttering of the heart – all these happy things form the basis of this garden room.
The Forest Grove
Here you can take a deep breath. In the spring, the windflowers form a carpet under the tree canopies and the ground is filled with lush foliage. The Forest Grove is a sheltered and warm spot in the garden. It is a perfect place to sit down for a moment and just be. Visionary horticulturalist Hannu Sarenström selected the plants and composed the contents of the forest grove.
The Moss Garden
The Moss Garden is the most mysterious space in the gardens. Here you can most closely experience the atmosphere of the Småland forest. A garden of conifers and moss, ferns and old stumps is enclosed within an imposing spruce trellis. Here, garden designer Peter Korn has realised his interpretation of a Swedish forest and melancholy.
Sculpture of despair
The sculpture of burnt oaks surrounding a large erratic boulder of Småland granite is the work of artist Karl Chilcott. He was commissioned to depict one of our most difficult garden themes – despair. The Sculpture of despair is a beautiful, dark thorn in the otherwise green and soft garden. It depicts despair just as Astrid Lindgren does in her stories, embedded in hope, courage and joy.
The meadows / The pastures and meadows / The meadows and pastures
Look past the pastures and meadows and say hello to the sheep. In the landscape where Astrid Lindgren grew up, there were plenty of pastures and grazing animals, including at Näs. So these sheep really belong here, on the edge of the gardens. Together, pastures and meadows provide some of our most species-rich landscapes. Today, they are increasingly rare. However, here at Näs we have created a new space for these cultural lands. A new place for nature’s diversity.
