Peter Korn
I have always been fascinated by the way plants have adapted to specific habitats. Since I first started growing plants, this fascination has made me strive to truly understand which environmental factors that made the plant acquire a specific survival mechanism, thus unlocking the secret to what it truly needs in cultivation to thrive. Through my many travels to regions with a climate that can be likened to that of Sweden, my understanding of plant origins has also increased greatly. Combined with my long experience of growing wild species, I now use this knowledge in my own plantings and in my work in public and private places. Nature is an ever-present source of inspiration in my design and in the way I shape a landscape before planting.
I started off as an amateur “plant nerd”, creating the 2-hectare botanical garden Peter Korns Trädgård in Eskilsby east of Gothenburg. My driving force in Eskilsby was to successfully grow the most challenging of plants for a southern Swedish climate; ranging from high alpines to desert plants to near-tropicals. I succeeded in doing this by recreating the conditions of the plants’ original growing sites. The garden has now been sold, but remains accessible to public viewing by the new owners.
These days I have shifted my focus from challenging species to challenging locations: I like working with sites where I need to find plant material that comes from similar, or worse, growing conditions in the wild. This is needed when planting roof gardens, rain gardens, green walls (check out my collaboration with the company Butong!), as well as many other urban and coastal environments.
Most of my plantings are made in pure sand to create low-maintenance spaces that promote both plant and insect ecology. None of the plantings that I do, apart from the green walls, ever need watering after being established, and the great number of species that I know and use are always adapted to the intended growing site.
In my book Peter Korn’s Garden – Giving Plants What They Want I describe my growing methods in detail for others to learn from.
At the university in Alnarp I teach students of landscape architecture and garden design the importance of knowing a plant’s habitat preference as well as landscaping “Peter Korn style” and how to create nature-inspired plantings.
My former garden in Eskilsby
My own Instagram account: peterkornatklinta.