The beginning of the garden

We know that the first garden at Palsgaard was called "Keglehaven". It was a small oval facility at the foot of the hill, where the family on the estate played skittles. In the 1840s, Niels Juel Reedtz began to lay out the landscape garden as we know it today.

Reedtz drained the damp area, and with the help of art gardener Hansen, he made a plan for the garden. The vision was to abolish the boundaries between garden and landscape, so that hills, fields, forest and water became background motifs for the garden's many rare trees and plants.

Great English ideas

At the end of the 1800s, Baron Jarlsberg brought the English garden architect Henry Ernest Milner to Palsgaard. Together, they shaped the garden as a grand whole with several avenues and a picturesque expression. 

The boundary to fields and forest around the garden was once again toned down. Large groups of trees were planted in the fields, and new paths and avenues connected the garden, fields, forest, and water. 

A popular garden

The Schou family continued to develop the garden in the 1900s. The family's garden architect, I. P. Andersen, was inspired by "The Arts and Crafts movement" from England.

The English movement was known for a romantic and popular style. The ideal was rural idyll, smaller spaces and intimacy in the garden, and at the same time the garden should be enjoyable for everyone.