Russian Pea Shrub

The hedge marking the south side of the courtyard is planted with Russian pea shrub Caragana frutex, as it was in the time of Linnaeus. The shrubs now growing are descendants of the ones Linnaeus raised from seed in the 1760s. Behind the east wing is a relative of the Russian pea shrub, the Siberian pea tree Caragana arborescens. It, too, can be traced back to Linnaeus’ plantings at Hammarby.

Linnaeus was concerned about the large numbers of young spruce trees being cut down in Sweden to build fences, and about the cost involved. He was therefore keen to find plants that could be used for hedges – ‘living fences’. These two Caragana-species are among the ones he recommended as hedging plants.

Back to map

The Siberian Garden