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"Unusual seeds & practical tools"
Background & history
The basic idea behind Trädgårdsdags is to bring us closer to the natural that does us good. We work towards this by offering an exciting range of useful plants that can awaken the passion for growing in most people and thereby arouse an interest and an increased understanding of the cultivation of what we consume. The range is carefully selected and has always been based on the usefulness of the plant - that is, what value the plant has for us humans, precisely to promote the connection between the plant kingdom and humans. A relationship that used to be very clear but which now suffers from a certain lack of knowledge thanks to a development where much focus has been placed on other things.
The focus of the business has always been on offering a variety of rarer plants: either forgotten local plants or foreign plants with good hardiness in our climate. This is in order to enable diversity in cultivation for those who want to start growing more of what they consume. Health is good from a varied diet, for a varied diet a good variety of cultivated plants is needed.
In addition to this, we have always strived to offer tools and accessories that make growing easier, more fun and more successful.
The business began in 2020 by selling seeds & tools under the slogan "Unusual seeds & practical tools" - and then expanded to include the departments that exist today: plants, shoes, teas, etc.
Trädgårdsdags first slogan
The business was started in 2020 and the company was registered in 2021. The slogan was "Unusual seeds & practical tools". At the end of 2022, the assortment consisted of about 50 seed varieties and only 2 types of seedlings: Asimina and Pecan trees.
Grundare:
Johannes Billsten
Studerat Trädgårdsingenjör på
Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet
Jag har alltid varit fascinerad av växtlighet och hälsa. Samt en traditionell livsstil nära naturen, uråldriga kulturer och allt mer österländsk filosofi. Sammanlagt har jag spenderat 5 år nere i Asien där jag både bott, pluggat och rest runt i länder som Burma, Laos & Thailand. Det var längtan till naturen, framförallt inspirerad av den tropiska livskraften, som fick mig att börja plugga på SLU. Väl inne i SLU sökte jag till flertalet utbytesterminer för att skaffa mig en mer global profil av odlingskunskaper. Jag läste en termin Tropical Agriculture i Bangkok och skulle sedan till Uganda för en andra termin inom bl a food forests och soil science. Administrativa rörigheter i en pandemis efterskalv fick mig att satsa allt på mitt nya företag som hade börjat visa god tillväxt.
På mina vistelser nere i Asien växte mitt intresse för odling bara större, särskilt i ett klimat där man odla året runt. Det blev mycket provodling av olika sorter och användning av naturliga resurser i omgivningen för att bygga upp den miljö man ville skapa. Närheten till inspirerande växter, en mer självförsörjande livsstil och en glimt av växtrikets oändliga mångfald gav oundvikligen liv till ett nytt brinnande intresse: att hitta nya växter som går att odla för användbara syften: ätbara, medicinska eller hushållande.
Men det stannade inte där, i sökandet efter dessa växter kom jag över fler och fler växter som hade en god härdighet trots att de kom från, för oss, exotiska kulturer. Gemensamt för dessa växter är ofta att de härstammar från bergsmiljöer där klimatet gör växterna härdiga för en miljö mer lik de förutsättningar vi har här i Europa. Det kunde också handla om växter som härstammar från länder som vi helt enkelt ser som ”exotiska” men som faktiskt har miljöförutsättningar mer lika våra än vi tror, exempel på sådana regioner är t ex de nordliga delarna av Kina och Japan. I Nordamerika finns det också en hel del härdiga nyheter att ta del av. Poängen med att hämta inspiration om arter från olika länder är att bygga upp en mångfald av användbara växter i vår odling, för att skapa så stora förutsättningar för en självförsörjande odling som bara möjligt.
Sökandet blev därför mer specificerat till: härdiga exotiska användbara växter. Alla dessa växter jag tar in planteras på en yta mark intill Kävlingeån, Lunds kommun, där målet är att bygga upp en användbar parkliknande trädgård.
Ämnen av intresse är bl a: reforestation, food forests, erosionskontroll, träd och fleråriga odlingskulturer.
A unique assortment of exotic hardy plants
What we contribute
Our greatest pride is perhaps our unique range of seeds & plants - we have quite a few that we are the only ones with on the Swedish market, such as Black Goji, hardy Tea Bushes and a number of different seed varieties. These varieties are growable in Sweden, but have often not received enough attention in our homes & gardens.
Many of the plants in the range are old cultivated plants, which humans have cultivated and used for their beneficial properties for thousands of years. There may be some forgotten knowledge in the usefulness of the plants that grow around us - culinary, as well as medicinal and purely practical uses. That knowledge is something that Trädgårdsdags wants to help shed light on again.
The business grew thanks to its unique range
We quickly gained a foothold in the market: largely thanks to the unique range and focus on usability. We were probably the first to offer Asimina plants on the Swedish internet and as far as we know, we are still the only ones selling Asimina seeds.
It was a positive surprise to see that the interest in slightly more unusual plants was as great externally in some quarters as it was within the company itself. This was first evident in the Swedish market, and eventually also in other Scandinavian countries. The result was a strong growth of the business.
A combination of ancient knowledge & modern innovation
Vision
It is part of the vision to shorten the path between what we consume and ourselves. As the world's need for food grows, the area available for cultivation also decreases.
This leads to a need for new solutions. Through a combination of ancient knowledge, traditional techniques and modern innovation, we want to drive development in the right direction.
One way of growing that we believe could be a possible solution to this challenge is food forest gardening - read more about what it is and how we use it below.
The newest addition to the business's development: Ågården
By 2024, the business had outgrown its previous home in a smaller house in the countryside. We were looking for a new location and ended up at Ågården - a beautiful farm just on the outskirts of Marieholm, Eslöv municipality.
Here we have a greenhouse with the entire range of plants and a shop in a newly renovated stable.
The natural thing that does us good
Center for cultivation & well-being
With our move to Ågården in 2024, we have completely new opportunities to build on our concept. Since the beginning, the plant range has always been based on the plants' underlying properties, i.e. what they are used for - whether it is edible, medicinal or household value. A clear goal has always been to bring us humans closer to the natural things that do us good. - In a time where we are more often than not engulfed by technology, raised expectations and demands for increased pace from all sides.
The goal is to build a center at Ågården where people can come to relax in nature, find inspiration for both cultivation and a more relaxed - and exciting - lifestyle. This will happen partly through continued intake of various interesting plants, but also intake of the harvested end products from the plants we sell such as teas and various herbs. In addition to this, various events will be held, and activities such as test drives of various garden tractors and archery are something we have set our sights on.
Large spaces in a relaxed environment
There is plenty of space both indoors and outdoors to enjoy peace and quiet.
Tea cultivation can be like when people started growing grapes a few years ago
Tea cultivation in Sweden
We have found an interest and gained a new foothold as pioneers for Swedish cultivation of the world's most drunk beverage: tea. On the one hand, the tea bush has already grown for millennia in seasonally snow-covered climates with sub-zero temperatures - it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of tea cultivation - but the tea bush actually originates from the mountains of East Asia, which in some cases has a climate that is even classified as temperate.
In addition to this fact, there are plant breeders in Europe who are working on developing extra hardy varieties that have very recently become available on the European market. We are the first to bring some of these varieties to Sweden. The tea varieties with extra good hardiness that we now have are 'Tea By Me' from the Netherlands and 'Tearoma®' from Switzerland.
This year's tea bushes have passed the test so far
In the summer of 2024 we bought a lot of 'Tea By Me' and 'Tearoma®'. In November it suddenly went down to -10ºC here. Both passed the test - 'Tearoma®' did the best without a scratch. Things are looking bright for the coming winter.
An efficient and easier-to-maintain cultivation system
Food Forest as a method
As a cultivation method, we have always been interested in food forest gardening. In English: food forest, or referred to by the term agroforestry. It is a system of cultivation where you take inspiration from nature's own efficient systems. Nature's systems have had time to create the perfect balance between vegetation in different layers and different types of microorganisms, insects and animals.
The most distinctive feature of the method is that it uses different layers to get more yield per cultivation area while reducing the need for weeding and pest control. By choosing your own plants, you can, for example:
Choose to let a Minikiwi climb a Ginkgo tree and within the same 1 meter radius let a smaller Goumi bush grow underneath to let Moroccan Mint or any vegetable take over in the herb layer below. If you want to really cover the ground, you can plant, for example, soapwort, or cranberries if it is an acidic soil bed. In this way, you let your own chosen plants take place where you would otherwise have had to clear unwanted weeds. In addition, the diversity of plants creates a favorable climate for different organisms and beneficial animals that keep any pests at bay. With a diversity of different organisms, no pest is allowed to go berserk because most pests also have dedicated predators.
We opened a Forest Garden Shop in the summer of 2024 where we have divided the plants into different layers to make it easier to build a forest garden. You will find it at our new Ågården, a farm on the outskirts of Marieholm.
The Food Forest Shop at Ågården
The plants are divided according to their associated layers: Crown layer, Second layer, Shrub layer, Herb layer, Ground covers and Climbers.
It should be easy to know what you can get from the plant
Plant descriptions & images
All plant descriptions are written by me, Johannes Billsten, based on both my own experiences and careful research. The idea behind the often quite detailed plant descriptions is to give each plant the presentation it deserves, but also to make it easy to know what you can get out of growing each plant.
If you want to use the source in literary works and are wondering about the year of the written text, just get in touch.
Likewise, most of the images on the page are taken by me and belong to Trädgårdsdags, in other cases we have used purchased stock photos or CC images. Both text and images are protected by copyright law - if you want to use images from the website, please contact us and we can surely find a solution.
Company info
Garden Day
Telephone number: +46 722 80 93 12
E-mail: kontakt@tradgardsdags.nu
Company address: Trädgårdsdags, ÅKARP 301, 241 72 Marieholm, Sweden
VAT registration number: SE970204355601
Registration number Swedish Board of Agriculture: SE-M10691
Corporate registration number: 970204-3556
