The Huntsville Botanical Garden is celebrating a BIG birthday, possibly the biggest ever in size, anyway. The Garden’s Dambo Troll, Mama Zelda, turned one on April 1st!
The Story Behind Mama Zelda
Mama Zelda is part of a worldwide network of Troll sculptures created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. These breathtaking works of art focus on recycling and sustainability, with more than one hundred existing in 17 countries. We’ve visited exhibits in Nashville and Asheville, but Mama Zelda is truly impressive, standing 18-20 feet over her magical maze and Garden Kingdom. Mama Zelda is a true work of art, a guardian of nature, and a creation of whimsy. Her maze invites wonder and play from visitors of all ages, and, like her garden, she will evolve and change over time. Of the 15 trolls we’ve seen, Mama Zelda is our favorite as she really is a magical creature custom and thoughtfully created for the Huntsville Botanical Garden and North Alabama.
Dambo started his career dumpster diving for materials and is now a world-renowned artist who has created both permanent installations and travel exhibits. He’s even had a piece featured at Burning Man.
Bringing Mama Zelda to Life
For the Huntsville Botanical Garden, Dambo worked alongside Garden staff, volunteers, and community members to conceptualize and complete the impressive installation. She is sourced largely from natural materials with sustainability in mind, and her expected lifespan is 10-15 years. The head, hands, and feet were built in Dambo’s Denmark workshop and shipped to Alabama, while the body and maze were constructed on site by Dambo, Garden staff, and community volunteers.
When you are standing in the maze, it really is apparent how much care and work were put into the construction, and it’s a LOT of sticks. How many? Several tractor-trailer loads of sticks make up the structure of the maze. Maze materials, including wood and boulders, were all locally sourced in and around Huntsville. The components were all sustainably collected from sites that were being developed or logged.
Visiting Mama Zelda
Mama Zelda is a 10-minute, paved walk from the Visitor Center. She is located near one of my favorite parts of the Garden: the Fern Glade. The paved path to the Mother Earth Troll Garden is wheelchair, wagon, and stroller accessible-though the mulched paths are not wheelchair friendly, and strollers or wagons are best left outside of the mulched maze paths. There are also some benches throughout her hair maze, should you wish to pause and reflect or just enjoy the scenery.
She looks different in different seasons; we have visited in fall and spring, and rounding the corner and seeing her in her element is always a wow moment.
What’s next after you visit Mama Zelda? Well, for one thing, you’re going to want to visit again and again. You can even bring your pups on Thursdays. We recommend a Garden membership so you can say hi to your giant friend any time you like, and you can also join the worldwide Troll Hunt by checking out the Troll Map.
