Life, with the garden
Location: Kristianstad, Sweden • • • Visit: April 2019
Next to the (mostly) calm waters of Helge å river, a stone’s throw from Kristianstad railway station, lies Hälsoträdgården, or, the Health Garden. Small, and not a botanic garden per se, but systematic and well-kept. Organized, a little, like I can imagine a monastery kitchen garden could have been, with flower beds and herbs and a flock of hens prancing around, hives for honey bees, and benches in tranquil nooks between shrubs and trees, perfect for moments of contemplation and philosophizing. They even had pretty little hand-made Easter decorations in the trees, such cute little details swaying in the icy April breeze.
I visited at Easter time, 2019, when I was doing follow-up interviews after the series of workshops that made up the core of my PhD thesis. Interviewing is interesting and inspiring, but also intense and I often felt drained of energy after. Strolling through the Health Garden in the end of the day, to gather my thoughts and get some fresh air and evening sun soothed my frazzled brain.
Hälsoträdgården (the Health Garden) lies right next to the Helge å river. Across the river, beyond the slowly flowing water and reeds and wetland willows, lies naturum Vattenriket, the visitor’s center in the Kristianstad Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve. A long wooden bridge, with one base at the corner of the Health Garden, connects the city-side bank of the river with the riparian shrubs, groves and fields on the other side. The impressive, reed-like wooden structure of the visitors’ center stands on poles in the middle of the wetland, perfectly blending in with its surroundings. Especially in autumn and spring, when the landscape is rich in nuances of brown, gray and light green. Inside, there are exhibits and a knowledgeable staff, who arrange activities in the visitor’s center and the biosphere reserve, year-round, for kids and adults alike.
It is a beautiful place. Naturum is where we ran our series of workshops for the project I’m doing my PhD in. From its windows or terrace, I have seen otters, storks and cranes, and many other birds. And from the visitors’ center starts several beautiful hiking trails through the mixed, cultural landscape of eastern Skåne.
So if you tire of the calm orderliness of the herb beds and rose bushes in the Health Garden, just cross the bridge for a more untamed experience, hiking through wetland meadows, deciduous groves and by grazing cows, too. I can recommend it.
Katja Malmborg 