The Museum Garden
Town Garden from 1920
Take a look around the garden during your visit to Ærø Museum. The backs of Ærøskøbing’s houses conceal some large green spaces. Take a rest when the sun is shining, or pick up a garden plan in the museum shop and go on a discovery tour among more than 100 different plants and trees.
From March to October, the garden is tended by volunteers from the museum’s garden team.
The gardens behind the houses
The Museum Garden is a reconstruction of a town garden from around 1920. In the garden, you can therefore find onion plants, perennials, herbs, bushes and trees that we know grew in Ærøskøbing 100 years ago.
The gardens in Ærøskøbing follow on from each other and are traditionally separated by wooden fencing, walls and wire fences. This provides variety in the garden and allows you to look both in and out.
As well as fruit trees, such as apple, plum, damson and pear, we have genuine chestnuts, mulberry trees and fig trees, all of which thrive in Ærø’s mild climate. We are happy to offer tastings during the season.
The recreational garden
Around 1920, gardens were for both benefit and pleasure. They provided fruit and vegetables for the household, but were also recreational spaces for relaxation and enjoyment.
New plants were bought from one of the town’s market gardens, or exchanged between families and friends.
It was common to add decoration to gardens, such as mouth-blown glass floats and large seashells. The seashells arrived with the ships, which used them as ballast when sailing in hot climes. At home in Ærøskøbing, they gained a new life as an exotic ingredient in the backyard.
Preserving garden culture
The Museum Garden was planted in 2002 and contains around 100 different plants and trees that we know grew in the town at that time. It shows what a garden in Ærøskøbing might have looked like in around 1920.
Some trees, such as the pigeon apple and Victoria plum, are legacies from previous inhabitants, while several of the garden’s onion plants and perennials have been propagated from cuttings taken from private gardens on Ærø.
The garden is planted in accordance with a garden plan, which is being continuously updated. No new species are added, but gradually, as the garden grows, the degrees of light and shade change in the various beds. From time to time, therefore, it is necessary to move plants around.
One corner of the garden is reserved as a kitchen garden, with crops such as onions, potatoes and various types of cabbage.
