Invaders in Glenveath National Park

Covering 160 square kilometres, Glenveagh National Park in the Irish province of Donegal is the second largest national park in Ireland. In the mid-nineteenth century, the area was bought by John George Adair who forced the farmers living in the region to vacate the area. In 1873, Glenveagh Castle, situated on the shores of Lough Veagh, was completed as a hunting lodge. It has a Victorian-style garden attached to it. Although the grounds appear much older, they have modern furnishing elements. A particularly impressive feature is the heated outdoor pool on the lakeshore.

In 1975, the land was sold to the Irish state. As the area was not populated, nothing stood in the way of establishing a national park. In 1981, the gardens and castle were also given to the state - since the mid-1980s, the national park and castle have been open to visitors.

The national park is home to a large number of different habitats - from high mountain vegetation to moors and densely forested valleys, and is now an important nature reserve. It is known for its large herds of red deer and the reintroduction of the golden eagle to Ireland.

 

The castle garden is one of the five most important gardens in Ireland. The castle's only three owners gradually expanded the gardens. Today, the plant collections house many plants from the temperate latitudes of the southern hemisphere but also from Asia. And it is precisely this that is now proving to be a problem, because not all species remained within the garden walls.

 

 

One of the most prominent invasive species in Glenveagh National Park is the rhododendron. This beautiful flowering woody plant originates from Asia. The humid climate and acidic soils are perfect for the plants introduced to the National Park around 1890. Landscape beautification and protection for game was the original aim, but the shrubs are increasingly displacing native species. The plants form dense bushes and obstruct other plants with their shade. They also release inhibitors into the soil that hinder the growth of other plants. Even after the bushes have been removed, it is therefore difficult for other plants to reestablish themselves. Control is mainly mechanical - a difficult task in the sometimes steep terrain. The plants root deeply and quickly sprout again from rootstocks. Birds spread the seeds quickly in the national park. Birds also play a major role in the spread of other neophytes, i.e. alien plant species. Our ranger showed us a small plant from New Zealand that has also proved to be a problematic invader.

The alien from  New Zealand:

 

 

The Wilhelmsbad Park in Hanau

Just outside the Hessian town of Hanau is a former spa park. The park, which today covers about 28 hectares, has its origins in a spring found in the forest by two women in 1709, according to legend, which was said to have a healing effect and was known as the "Gesund- und Heylbrunnen" (well of health and healing).

Under the direction of the architect Franz Ludwig Cancrin, a park was laid out and spa buildings were erected from 1777 to 1781. While the spa building in particular was still built in the Baroque style, the park design already referred to the English landscape gardens. 

 

                                                                            (The artificial ruin)

The commissioner was Count Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1743-1821), who resided in Hanau. The park is named after him today. The spa facilities and park were paid for by leasing soldiers from the county to the English king, an uncle of Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel.

Wilhelmsbad was not successful as a spa - the healing properties of the mineral water were not worth mentioning and, moreover, the spring dried up in 1815. Until 1857, people made do with water imports from Bad Nauheim, then the spa operations were discontinued. When Wilhelm moved to Kassel, Hanau lost its importance as a royal seat. For these reasons, no major changes were made to the complex later on. It has been a listed building since 1974.

The baroque spa buildings have housed a doll and toy museum since 1983 and a small theatre, the Comoedienhaus, since 1781. It is one of the few historic theatres in which baroque stage technology and sets have been preserved.

This English landscape park is characterised above all by its remarkable buildings. The carousel constructed by Cancrin in 1780 is today the oldest surviving fixed carousel. It was saved from decay at the last minute by an association a few years ago and has been in operation now and then since 2016. 

 

( Landscape park with the carousel building in the back)

An artificial castle ruin contains a pleasure palace with private living quarters of Count Wilheim in its tower. Built in 1779, the neo-Gothic castle is one of the oldest artificial ruins in Germany. Several creeks had to be diverted for the neighbouring pond complex. On one of the islands is a four-sided pyramid which contained an urn until it was stolen in the 1980s. The tomb served to commemorate Count Wilhelm's eldest son, who had already died at the age of 12.

 

 

Monastery garden in the monastery of Eberbach

Eberbach Monastery is a former Cistercian monastery in the Rheingau, a wine-growing region on the right bank of the Rhine near Wiesbaden. The monastery was founded in 1136 and the main buildings are built in Romanesque and Gothic style. Although the monastery was dissolved in 1803, the buildings are very well preserved, as the complex was further used as barracks and reformatory, among other things. For some time the premises were also used as a lunatic asylum. Today the monastery houses conference rooms and a famous winery. For the filming of Umberto Eco's medieval monastery thriller "The Name of the Rose" it even served as a film set.

The abbott's private garden:

 

The orangery garden