The Landscapes of South Tyrol area of the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle is set up along a man-made waterway: a mountain stream lined by green alder follows an alluvial forest with alders and willows then merges into lakeside vegetation with reeds and cattails.
A very good example of South Tyrol’s traditional cultivated landscapes is the meadow orchard, with forgotten apple and pear varieties: it is evocative of the rustic orchards of long ago.
In addition to Gewürztraminer, Schiava and Lagrein, the vineyard features original South Tyrolean varieties that are rarely grown today.
Another element of the local cultural landscape is the braided Speltenzaun: this type of fence protects the typical South Tyrolean farmer's garden where vegetables, herbs and ornamental plants are grown.
In the South Tyrolean vineyards, you’ll find the Tabernaculum, which illustrates South Tyrol’s 3,000-year-old wine heritage. On display: a gold replica of a 7,000-year-old grape seed – a gift from the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi – and 2,400-year-old grape seeds from South Tyrol.
South Tyrol has a tradition of fruit cultivation that dates all the way back to the Middle Ages. Old local apple and pear varieties that have largely disappeared today grow in the orchards of the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle.
A farmer from nearby Val d’Ultimo (Ultental) braided the traditional South Tyrolean Speltenzaun fence by hand. Narrow pathways separate the beds of the garden where lettuces, carrots, leeks, onions and cabbages are grown. Herbs and medicinal plants are peppered throughout.
Vast alluvial forests once covered the marshy plains of South Tyrol’s main valleys; only fragments of this natural landscape remains today. The alluvial forest at the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle, which visitors can explore along the Adventure Bridge, evokes this lost landscape.
