IGS 2013 Hamburg - The New Zealand Garden World of Continents: In the Land of the Kiwis New Zealand/Tasmania - Of Driftwood and Tree Ferns

New Zealand is famous for its magnificent coastal landscapes. Shaped by the sea, countless driftwood logs are washed up on the beaches there every year. The driftwood logs form the bone structure of the beach: Covered by sand, they represent the first bulwark in the endless struggle between land and hungry sea.

Symbolic driftwood surrounds this garden. Though long dead itself, the wood provides habitat for many small creatures. Well protected, a green profusion of ferns and tree ferns unfolds inland, proliferating in every niche and valley of the land. Tree ferns colonized the earth millions of years ago and are still used by New Zealanders to build fences or make vases and jugs. As if from another time, these living botanical "fossils" remind us of the almost infinite time horizon and the fragile but enduring nature of the plant world.