At one with the landscape – natural garden in Lenggries

A natural garden in the Isar Valley with views of the Brauneck – a retreat and a party venue in one.

Location	Lenggries
Size	3,000 m² (built in stages 2016–2019)
Design	Fred Fuchs (natural garden specialist)
Implementation	Fuchs baut Gärten GmbH – Gärtner von Eden
Photography	Klas Stöver
Award	“Gärten des Jahres” 2021 (Callwey) – nominated and published in the book · View the project in the competition

“The surrounding wet meadows were incorporated into the design to preserve the impression of a wide, boundless alpine pasture.”

— Fred Fuchs

Sensitively designed outdoors: high fences and opaque hedges were avoided, a dry stream collects rainwater, and around 50,000 geophytes naturalise in the meadow. At its heart is an outdoor kitchen with a grill and fireplace made from a single monolith, crafted with stonemason Georg Hauser.

It was built in stages from 2016 to 2019: first the garden around the house with the embankment-built natural pond and a 44 m² Ipé timber deck, then in 2017 the outdoor kitchen – a natural stone prototype with an open fire, fireplace and suckling pig roasting function – and in winter 2018/19 the green privacy screening, for which seven large spruces were transplanted as standalone specimens. Klas Stöver's photographs show the garden in 2018 – including a party under the sun sails, which is what this garden is made for. More on outdoor kitchens: Garden furnishings.

A day in this garden

In the morning, the garden belongs to the quiet ones. The wildflower meadow straightens up, the water of the natural pond lies still, and the house dachshund does his first round – along the reeds, once across the stepping stones, then back to the warm doorstep, where he keeps watch for the rest of the morning. No fence stands in the way of the view; where the garden ends and the wet meadows begin, you can't say. That is exactly how it was meant to be.

And then there are the other days. In the evening the sun sails stretch over the lawn, and the fire burns in the outdoor kitchen: then the natural stone monolith is no longer a sculpture but a place to cook – there is the scent of wood and grilled food, and if the occasion calls for it, a whole suckling pig turns on the spit. People eat and talk at the long table, the garden lighting lifts the trees and shrubs out of the darkness, and the pond mirrors the lights, until the garden eventually falls quiet again and only the water can be heard.

That is the great trick of this place: it can do calm and celebration without pretending – a sanctuary with a party mood built in. And the dachshund? He likes both.

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Impressions