Visitors can see the gardens designed by students, in a 500 square metre futuristic trail garden, from 7 May to 24 October.
‘Sensory deception’ is the theme of this year’s seasonal gardens. 22 landscape gardening students from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Arnap (Sweden), the Rapperswil University of Technology (Switzerland) and University of Economics and Environment Nürtingen-Geislingen (Germany) met up on Mainau Island in June 2009.
Working in mixed University groups of two, the students held discussions on the theme ‘sensory deception’ and on the type of gardens they could design for it.

Carina Daubner and Samuel Clauß won over the jury of seven, made up of University professors and Mainau experts, with their design ‘Scale up’. Visitors are invited to wander along a path of over-dimensional planks through a ‘bamboo’ lawn. A huge chair adds to the impression of the garden as seen through the eyes of a little insect.
Johanna Elgström and Irina Golderer turn the world upside down in their garden ‘Picnic-cinip’. Visitors wander over a blue surface representing the sky which peeps through solitary plant clouds. Hanging upside down from above is a nature scene with picnic corner. Mirrors create the impression of a mirage in the desert landscape of the ‘Where is my oasis’ garden. But is there really something in the heart of the garden or is it just sensory deception? The two acquisition gardens ‘Just perfect’ and ‘Mirrored dreams of infinity’ can also be seen in 2010.

Mainau gardeners, the student designers and apprentices from several member companies belonging to the association of garden-landscape- and sports field architecture Baden-Württemberg, regional group Hochrhein-Bodensee (Biesinger, Radolfzell; Blattner, Konstanz; Denzel, Singen; Gnädinger, Radolfzell-Böhringen; Grimm, Hilzingen; Herzog, Rickenbach; Heuel, Gottmadingen; König, Steinen-Weitenau; Ritzmann, Klettgau-Erzingen; Schoch, Radolfzell; Schwehr, Engen; Siegwarth, Singen-Bohlingen, Schellhammer, Mühlhausen-Ehingen; Widenhorn, Sipplingen)  all met up in February 2010 on a two-week workshop to construct the gardens.