Garten von Marihn / Horst Forytta
European Garden Award 2012
The “Garten von Marihn”, dating back to an English landscape park from 1830, was almost created by new from 2007 onward by its owners, first of all Horst Forytta and his family.
With the redesign much emphasis was placed on a revival of the old structures and cycles of former agricultural use as a Gutshof (a big farm estate). A key component is the Northern Garden, structured by hedges and fruit trees, with raised beds of vegetables and edible plants. It has a David Austin Rose Gardens with nearly 9,000 English Roses in its centre. There are more than 20 garden rooms in total.
Geese, ducks and chickens are rediscovered as “working subjects” in the gardens. Woody areas and areas dominated by water open the garden to the surrounding landscape. The organically grown garden produce is for sale and is used within the own restaurant.
The garden also hosts training courses of the Garden Academy Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. There is cooperation with Slow Food and with “Natur im Garten”, the label for sustainable Gardening. This year the garden was one of the first winners of the Green Flag Award in Germany.
It´s not only the garden itself that is an outstanding work of restoration and development. Horst Forytta also was one the initiators of the Gardenroute in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and of the Foundation Mecklenburger Parklandschaft. He was board member of the former Gartennetz Deutschland.