Spring is in full swing here in the Northern Hemisphere and gardens are on the minds of many. Personally, I can't quite imagine springtime without a garden. I have had gardens wherever I have lived—from the squash, beans, peas, corn and carrots that my parents planted in the shade of their alders, maples, and Douglas firs to my own plantings squeezed in wherever there was space. This has been potted tomatoes on our cement patio in California and snow peas and zinnias in the ground when we've had more yard space. As a grad student in Oregon, I discovered the upside of community gardens, which allowed me to have a garden even while living in an apartment without so much as a deck.
What are called community gardens in the United States have different names elsewhere, along with differences in exactly how they work. In the United Kingdom they are called allotment gardens, in France, jardins familiaux or jardins ouvriers (family or workers’ gardens), in Germany, Kleingarten (small gardens), in The Netherlands, Volkstuin (people’s gardens), and in Denmark, kolonihaver (colony gardens). Denmark is also where, by most accounts, the idea of these gardens first developed.
The first of Denmark's kolonihavers started in 1655 at the walled city fortress of Frederica where tiny gardens were set aside for households which didn't own land of their own. Each of these households was given a garden allotment outside the walls in which they could grow food for their household.
Those particular gardens fell into disrepair, but in 1884, the idea had a restart. Jørgen Berthelsen, a member of the Aalborg City Council, after years of trying to get the council to support the establishment of small gardens outside of the city for workers, gave up on the council and created them on his own. He rented 14-15 acres of land, divided the land into 85 plots, and sublet them for about a week's wage to small farmers. The idea was so successful that it grew first in Aalborg, then spread to other cities in Denmark and beyond to Sweden, Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Denmark's colony or allotment gardens are very intentional in their purposes and how they work. To own an allotment garden, people must be residents of the nearby municipality and they cannot be used year-round. They have small permanent structures which are owned by the resident, while the land itself is not owned, but merely leased. These lease arrangements are often non short-term arrangements, however, as they may even pass down from generation to generation. Some gardens permit overnight stays, and some do not. Each has its own set of regulations and arrangements, which are determined by the garden's association, some of which are quite large entities. These associations also advocate for the gardens; many of the gardens were permanently set aside by the government as permanent allotment garden space in 2001.
There are over 60,000 allotment gardens in Denmark. Denmark, with a population density of 366 people per square mile, is by far the most densely populated of the Nordic countries, and the gardens are in high demand. A waiting list for allotment gardens is common. One allotment garden website I looked at had 71 gardens, with a total of 242 people on the waiting list; their website said that they had between three and five gardens for sale each year.
There are two allotment gardens that have particularly appealing and creative designs. The first, the Nærum gardens, were created in 1948 by Søren Carl Theodor Marius Sørensen, considered by some the most talented landscape architect who has ever lived. The Nærum gardens are one of his most well-known projects.
The 40 oval allotment gardens are 80 × 50 ft and are laid out on a rolling lawn. Hedges surround each allotment, a characteristic Sørenson included because he felt that hedges were the thing neighbors argued most about. Sørensen prepared four proposals for how the gardens should be laid out, but owners are left to design their plot as they wish. There is no road access to each plot, which is intended to encourage people to walk more, get fresh air, and meet their neighbors on the common shared space of the lawns between the gardens. The houses are quite small, most around 237 square feet. There is a public bathroom.
Another fascinating allotment garden space is the Brøndby Haveby, which was designed by Erik Mygind in 1964.
It is composed of a series of circles laid out across a grassy lawn. Each circle is divided into 16 segments, with each segment being a single allotment. The allotments angle toward a small concrete circle, where people can park their cars and enter their segment through a gate or other opening in the hedges. Mygind modeled the gardens after traditional Danish villages where people would gather in the center for community gatherings. The grassy area outside and between the circles is shared community space and also hosts the shared community buildings.
The great thing about all of these gardens is the way they give access to gardening to people who might otherwise have no access to a garden, due to finances or the housing density of where they live. It also gathers people into a common space, forming them into a community. By setting aside these spaces for gardening, cities enable people to grow their own food and flowers, breathe fresh air, and relax (and work) in a green and beautiful space, together with their neighbors.
It is apparent from the high demand for these gardens (this is true where I live as well), that people value and seek after the opportunity to connect with the land around them by cultivating land with their own two hands. In addition to the creation of food and beauty, a garden serves as a continual reminder of the amazing (and miraculous) that is part of every seed that sprouts into a new plant.
Feel free to leave a comment below (you can sign in through your email) or contact me directly at louise.conner@circlewood.online.
Louise