Einarsgarður

This guide to Einarsgarður park in Reykjavik centers on Einar Helgason, the gardener who in 1899 was handed four windswept hectares south of the old Þingholt quarter and told to prove that trees could grow in Iceland at all. Trained under the horticulturist Georg Schierbeck, he turned the plot into an experimental nursery, grafting willow cuttings and testing shrubs and vegetables against Reykjavik's wind and short summers, with most attempts failing outright. You'll hear how the station ran for over three decades before closing, and how the city later reopened the grounds as a public park. Look up at the oldest trees shading the paths now, some tracing straight back to Helgason's own cuttings.