March 21, 2024
A friendly troll has taken up residence in Pease Park, and Austin is going troll crazy. Built by Danish recycling artist Thomas Dumbo, who designs and installs whimsical, wooden trolls in locations around the world, Malin is Dumbo’s latest creation.
Commissioned by the Pease Park Conservancy and funded by donors, the 18-foot-tall Malin sits calmly in a clearing along a wooded path, holding a shallow bowl and looking down at her human visitors.
Her bowl is an offering of water to the wild animals, but she may need our help to fill it.
According to KUT.org, Dumbo “first visited Austin in August 2023 — during one of the hottest summers the city has ever experienced…. Dumbo learned that Austinites put out bowls of water to help squirrels and birds. This idea of cooperation between humans and animals was the basis for Malin’s design. ‘We have to remember that we co-exist in our world together with animals,’ he said. ‘People are taking up more and more and more and more space in the world, so basically there’s only room left for animals. So they can only exist if we let them.’”
On a nearby rock is carved a poem about Malina’s fountain (her bowl), seemingly quoting the troll herself:
Sometimes summer times are dry
Sometimes the sky will cry
Sometimes the fountain is full of rain
Sometimes an empty drain
Sometimes they are good for summer birds
Sometimes they are cursed with thirst
So it always matters when
You refill the fountain
Like all Dumbo trolls, most of the wood used to build Malino comes from recycled, repurposed or found materials, according to the Pease Park Conservancy. Her shaggy, gray hair is made of cedar roots!
Malin’s theme of water scarcity and helping wildlife fits the Austin ethos. I hope he lives a long, happy life in Pease Park, hanging out with visitors.
While in the park, we stopped to play in the tree house, a steel ball shaped like a death star with a giant net hanging from the middle.
A steel catwalk leads you inside.
My husband carefully walked around a few of the kids and then posed for a panoramic shot showing the treehouse architecture with rebar walls.
We walk back to our car, past WPA picnic tables and evening primrose pink candy
I read that another troll had come to live near Pease Park, and we set out to hunt him down. Just up the road from the park, a scarier but smaller troll is the creation of Gary Schumann, who tends a small planted area in a busy neighborhood called BEPI Park. According to KUT.org, “BEPI Park in West Austin is a 50-square-foot traffic center at the intersection of Baylor, Enfield and Parkway roads. After the city of Austin installed a median in front of Schumann’s house for pedestrian safety seven years ago, he took over its landscaping — and gave it a bit of a sassy personality.”
Shuman apparently decided that Malin needed a friend and made his own troll out of wine barrels, mop heads and other repurposed items. That’s hilarious.
Keeping Austin Weird — and a Friendly Troll!
By the way, if you missed my photos of Dumbo’s trolls at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, click here for parts 1 and 2.
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Digging Deeper
30-31. March: Come see Austin Cactus & Succulent Society Show in the Zilker Botanical Garden on March 30 and 31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Includes a plant display with specimen cacti and succulents, handmade pottery, a daily silent auction and hourly plant raffle, and expert advice. Admission is included with paid Zilker Garden admission, $5 to $8 for adults, $3 to $4 for children (under 2 free).
April 6: Come out to Austin’s Mayfield Park on 4/6 for Mayfield Park Gardening Symposium & Fundraiser, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. This annual park benefit includes a raffle, plant sale and garden speakers.
May 4th: Explore “splendid backyards, perfect pools and pergolas, and outdoor rooms and gardens” at ATX outdoor trip 4. 5. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Landscape architects, designers and builders will be on hand to answer questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for children 10-17.
May 11: Save the date for Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour on 5/11.
June 1-2: Take a two-day bar and garden tour in and around Austin at the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held on February 1 and 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 to $25.
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I host in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners several times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and request to be added. Season 8 begins in the fall of 2024. Stay tuned for more information!
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