Restoration of a Rudolfine Mannerist historical castle garden

Abstract

This paper discusses plant assortments in historical Mannerist gardens and their use during the restoration of such a historical garden. Mannerist gardens were founded in the territory of Bohemia at the time of Emperor Rudolf II. The model garden for the purposes of this paper is the castle garden in Brandýs nad Labem. There are no reliable historical resources which could specify the plant assortment cultivated in this garden at the time of its creation. However, the period of Rudolfine Mannerism is defined by known determinative elements of garden architecture as well as certain cultivated plant species. For this reason, it was possible to compile a list of elements which must conform to the individual forms of greenery (solitary, hedges, alleys, climbers, containers) and their spatial arrangement (point, line, shape) typical for Renaissance and Mannerist composition. The list was created with respect for the current cultural and climatic conditions by evaluating the current utilisation of the garden.

Keywords

• garden architecture
• plant assortment
• authenticity
• emperor rudolf ii.
• brandýs nad labem