UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 28
Österlen’s arboretum: Edible landscape, Sweden
The entrance to the arboretum might be a little difficult to find, “hidden in plain
sight”, beyond the entrance of the famous Kivik Esperöd’s Arboretum, established
in 1922.
ÖSTERLEN’S ARBORETUM is located by the
Baltic sea in Kivik, neighbouring the scenic Stenshuvud Nature Reserve. The 4 hectares are owned
by SLU (Swedish University of Agriculture) and
managed and developed by members of the nonprofit Österlens Arboretum Association.
In the lush vegetation, over 1,000 rhododendron
seedlings and seedlings of many other exotic trees
and shrubs have been planted since 2007, to find
out which ones are able to develop in the mild
climate, and eventually, hopefully contributing to
new exciting plant material in southern Sweden. In
springtime, the lower parts of the arboretum are
covered with an endless carpet of ramson. Large
oaks and beeches spread out in the area are testimony that this was once pasture - the neighbouring
Kivik Esperöd arboretum includes a European Oak
(Quercus robur) that is estimated to be 1000 years
old.
An ongoing experiment by one of the caretakers,
Leo Sjöstrand - our guide at the visit, is planting
grafted walnut trees and seeding black walnuts,
after thinning out birches and other vegetation.
The cultivars planted downhill since 2023/24 are
Sid 43-44
Buccaneer, Broadview, Franquette, Lange van
Lod, Maras 12, Solize and 139.
“My idea is to let Juglans nigra fill the niche
previously occupied by ash (Fraxinus excelsior) as
they die from ash blight, by directly sowing large
quantities of black walnut where light gaps appear
in the canopy, when the ash trees fall. In the long
term, this could lead to very interesting hybrids
between Juglans nigra and the grafted varieties of
Juglans regia that we have planted here. Maybe
similar to Dooley’s hybrid which produces nuts
that resemble Persian/English walnuts, but where
the tree has a growth habit, appearance and
hardiness that is similar to the black walnut”, Leo
explains.
Worth a notice, the grafted walnut varieties, some
quite warm-requiring as the French Franquette,
had spent the winter in pots in the arboretum,
well protected by the dense vegetation, and overwintered without any frost damage.
The arboretum has a 40-year lease with SLU,
ensuring continuity.
