A garden for the whole family
The garden of Magdalena Holzer, née Neuner – outdoor living space for a whole family, maintained by us for years.
| Location | Wallgau |
| Size | 1,500 m² |
| Design | Design: Jan Vandebotermet · Site management: Jonas Endlich · Maintenance: Elisabeth Simon · Fuchs baut Gärten GmbH |
| Implementation | Fuchs baut Gärten GmbH – Gärtner von Eden |
| Photography | Benjamin Klopp / frames for good |
| Award | Longlist “Gärten des Jahres” 2025 (Callwey) |
“I always feel like I can breathe again there.”
When the house was finished, there was still no plan for the garden. Magdalena’s husband built it himself – and afterwards the family was left facing an empty plot. Today Magdalena Holzer, née Neuner, says the garden is almost more important to her than the house.
What it has become is best described as outdoor living space: plenty of places to linger, a fire bowl with a view of the mountains, a play area for the children, paths made of natural stone. The family has breakfast outside, dinner outside, and in good weather the children are in the garden anyway. It was only when Magdalena talked about it with her parents that she realised just how much the family actually lives in the garden.
What she is proudest of is not a piece of furniture or a plant, but something invisible: the level planning. The plot slopes away, and the modelling of the ground sets the garden into the landscape so that it doesn’t end where the fence stands – the meadows and the Karwendel beyond visually belong to it. Decisions like this are made early, during design, and can’t be corrected later.
We designed, built and have looked after this garden ever since. The maintenance was overseen for years by Elisabeth Simon, master landscape gardener – then head of our garden maintenance team, now part of the management. She was the link between the family and the maintenance team and made sure the garden grew along with their needs; the department is now led by Valentin Huber-Saffer. Over the years, a friendly relationship has developed. This is exactly how we see garden maintenance: not as an appointment, but as ongoing support. Jonas Endlich was the site manager.
It all began with this hand drawing. How a sketch like this becomes a garden is explained on the page Consultation and design.
Magdalena and Elisabeth in conversation
In this video, Magdalena Holzer and our master gardener Elisabeth Simon talk about the garden – about the time before the design, about living outdoors, and about what has developed over the years.
What Magdalena Holzer says about the garden herself
Word for word, from our conversation with her in the garden in Wallgau – unabridged except for the passages marked [...].
On the decision
“For my husband, the house was actually more important, and he wanted to put the garden project off for the time being. Thank goodness I managed to get my way.”
On the cost
“Of course it’s an investment. But you invest in the house. And why shouldn’t I invest in the garden? That’s where a lot of people start to save: I’ve got no money left for the garden. Thank goodness we didn’t do that.”
On the terrain
“We had a bit of a height problem, because it slopes away so steeply in front. How can you handle that in terms of levels so that you have a bit of flat space around the house? That has worked out perfectly now.”
On life in the garden
“Last week I was talking to my parents about the garden. I said we’re always sitting outside, for meals, for example. Then my mum said: we don’t go out into the garden that often. Only then did I realise how we really live in the garden.”
On tidiness
“I’m not someone who plucks out every weed. I think weeds have a right to grow, too. [...] The hedge doesn’t always have to stand at a 90-degree angle either. It’s nice when things are allowed to be a little bit natural.”
On arriving
“Very often I lie in my hammock and look at the blue sky. For me that’s a childhood memory. [...] My heart smiles.”
What the garden is built from
The plot lies on a slope, and that was the first task: levelling the terrain. Today it is held by a large limestone wall in front of the house – the defining structure of the whole garden. Alongside it are granite setts, granite slabs and gravel areas, a natural stone fountain and a picket fence as a boundary. In the evening, lighting by in-lite takes over.
The planting follows a colour scheme of white, pink and purple – lots of perennials and grasses, with pines and boulders in between that tie the garden to the mountain backdrop. The plants come from the tree nursery Lorenz von Ehren.
The garden was designed for everyone at the same time: family areas for eating together, retreats for the parents and play areas for the children, including a playhouse. The fire pit with a view of the mountains is the piece we are proudest of.
A detail you can’t tell from looking at the garden: the owner built the house beside it himself. Someone who starts out like that also has opinions about the garden – and that made the design better, not more difficult.
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