Bengt Michael Schalin (7 January 1889 – 9 November 1982) was a well-known garden architect and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

in Finland during the 20th century.

Life

Schalin obtained his secondary school diploma in 1907 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and went on to study

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

in Belgium and Germany, where he obtained a degree in

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

in 1912 from the Köstritz Higher School of Horticulture. He ran his own

garden design Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...

office in Helsinki from 1916 until 1922. From 1922 until 1944, he had his own garden and nursery in

Kyrkslätt Kirkkonummi (; sv, Kyrkslätt, , Sweden ) is a municipality of inhabitants () in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "''Kirkkonummi''" and "''Kyrkslätt''" in English is "church heath". Geography The municipality is located just ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He was employed as the city

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

from 1946 until his retirement in 1957. He was considered one of Finland's leading experts in the field of garden archicture, with a speciality in

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

s and decorative

bushes A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

. He was also a pioneering plant breeder who grew new hybrid lilies, rhododendrons, crab apple trees, roses and viburnums for the gardens in Helsinki. He designed a large number of private and public gardens, including the botanical garden in

Jakobstad Jakobstad (; fi, Pietarsaari) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The ...

and the park at Vanögård (''Finnish: Vanajanlinna'').

References

People from Nykarleby Landscape or garden designers 1889 births 1982 deaths Swedish-speaking Finns {{finland-bio-stub