Gardening Group

The Gardening Group visits some amazing gardens here in Switzerland, but none more so than the private garden owned by ZIWA member Alice Funk and her husband. We soon discovered that when the SBB wanted to extend the line from Zug to Cham, they bought a small piece of the family's estate, in return for which they helped to pay for the design and creation of a rose garden. The train track was just the other side of a wall, and as we walked along to the house from Cham station, little did we know what wonderful secret garden lay behind it.


Twenty three people turned up at various points on the train journey from Zürich: some joining at Thalwil and others meeting up in Zug, while one or two members came by car. We were welcomed by our hostess Alice, and enjoyed a cooling drink on the terrace of her splendid family home. Alice told us something of the history of the house and the impressive estate. Her husband's family is the fourth generation to own this beautiful lakeside spot: the building was begun at the end of the 1800s by her husband's great great uncle, a former cavalryman. He also built the house, which was later extended by her husband's grandmother. He bought the unpromising swampland in order to swim in the Zugersee; at first there was just a narrow strip of land bearing only fruit trees. The grandfather was responsible for building an island adjacent to what now comprises 40,000 square metres of land. In the park, a small house was the first construction which was used as a bath house, and is still standing near to the later addition of a boathouse. The grandmother was responsible for building the main house, which was later extended.


In 1999, Alice's mother-in-law bequeathed the house to her son and daughter-in-law who moved to Cham from Zollikon. They have since developed the estate grounds and formed the rose garden. When the SBB wanted to extend their track, they needed a five metre strip of land one hundred metres in length, which the couple agreed to. It turned out to be a wise decision, as the train company agreed to pay for the garden work, which includes a labyrinth. The roses for the rose garden all came from one garden centre but have different countries of origin, and the plants were all neatly labelled. Alice admitted she was not a born gardener but now spends several hours a day maintaining it, with the help of some robotic lawn mowers to cover the extensive lawns.

After exploring the roses and the whole estate, pausing a while under the shady trees bordering the lake, the ladies convened to the terrace where a splendid afternoon tea awaited us. Tiny sandwiches, freshly made scones with jam and cream, tea and two kinds of cake were all provided, courtesy of Alice, Gill and our two talented chairladies, Heidi and Helga. There are two more garden events coming up in July which I have already signed up for: a wonderful opportunity to enjoy beauty in very pleasant company.


Chairladies Heidi and Helga are stepping down at the end of this year's gardening season. Thanks very much to them for many wonderful garden visits over the years. If you would like to take over as chairlady of this very popular group, please contact Julia Newton, Director of Interest Groups at this link (IGDirector.ziwa@gmail.com).