KARLSTADS STADSTRÄDGÅRD -Historisk dokumentation och bevarandeplan för det ursprungliga trädbeståndet

Abstract

The interest in Karlstad´s city garden, began as a personal connection and a curiosity for its history. The purpose of this thesis is to compile a historical documentation that covers the entire history of Karlstad´s city garden, from its construction in the mid-1800s to today. Today there is no comprehensive writing where it is possible to follow the entire history of the garden. As the garden does not undergo any form of legal protection, a conservation plan needs to be established for the original tree stock to protect them from damage or felling in the event of improper treatment or severe ground changes.

The garden began as an education site for Sweden´s gardeners after the initiative of the Housekeeping society in 1857, who wanted to move an already existing gardeners' school from Grums to Karlstad. The garden began to be built in 1862 in contemporary english victorian style. After the beloved restaurant burned down in 1959, the garden was forgotten and the land began to be planned for housing. Some rental apartments was already built before the municipality realizes the value of a centrally green environment, after pressure from garden enthusiasts who wanted to save the garden. In 1993, the garden began to be refurbished and was restored to the english style it was first established in, and the work was led by dendrologist Anders Blomqvist and garden engineer Alf Hevelius. The work was carried out with the original tree stock as the foundation and it is the garden that still remains today. Its interesting history and original aspects are what makes the garden and its trees worthy of preservation from a cultural-historical perspective.

To compile these two documents, empirical and practical studies was carried out in the form of literature studies, inventory during site visits, cultural historical evaluation and concluded with proposals for measures, legal protection and protection provisions that can be applied to the trees, either in groups or as solitary trees.