We are honored that our design The Patchwork Garden is part of the International Garden Festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire. The design was developed and executed in collaboration with Lau Heemskerk, grower and garden designer. The theme this year is 'resilient garden'. Climate change threatens both nature and humans. The Patchwork Garden is a garden where you can experience the beauty of plants. At the same time, the garden is self-sufficient because all plants have edible parts. The garden offers a place where you can take care of yourself both physically and mentally. Read more: International Garden Festival 2023
The outline of the garden becomes visible.
'Puzzelstuk' is a residential care complex for young adults. The building will open in April, 2023. Around is an enclosed garden for which I made the design. The construction of the garden has started in recent weeks. The trees, shrubs and climbing plants have been planted with many volunteers. Soon the perennials. To be continued!
Together with teacher Mayke de Groot and the pupils of primary school de Brug in Leiden we will replant five plantborders around the school building. It’s a special project for the children. They participate in the whole process: removing the old plants, learn about different kind of soil, compost, insects, sun or shade loving plants. And planting about 800 plants!
This season the pumpkin glasshouse is on show at Hortus Botanicus Leiden. The pumpkin glasshouse is part of the collection of Museum de Lakenhal, Leiden.
Read more: The pumpkin glasshouse, Hortus Botanicus Leiden
The first daffodils: Narcissus 'Peeping Tom'. 
L'histoire perdue is a temporary garden I designed for the Old General Cemetery in Diepenheim. This cemetery, which was closed in 1910, still contains about 60 stone funerary monuments, in an otherwise empty green space. Under the turf lie about 400 graves that have not been cleared, but whose wooden headstones have disappeared over time. The awareness of a forgotten history is shown this summer by marking the old graves with sunflowers: “L'histoire perdue”.
At the beginning of May, the sunflowers were sown, 7 types of Helianthus. They are now growing nicely and if the weather gods continue to cooperate, they will bloom in August. The exhibition can be seen from July 1 to September 1.
Every three months there is a change of images in the park in the Zuidoost district of Amsterdam that I designed. Until January 2016, the work of Yasser Ballemans can be viewed here. See also www.yasserballemans.nl.
The Festival of Light was celebrated at the Rhijnhof Cemetery on Thursday 26 November 2015. This was a special evening for relatives and friends to remember their loved ones. The butterfly project from the ‘Flown’ installation that I had organised in Scheltema in 2010 (to commemorate 100 years of Rhijnhof) were exhibited here.
I am currently providing advice and guidance to the Foundation for the Boerhaave University Residential Area in Leiden on an art project for the garden of the former Anatomy Building. This building was part of the teaching buildings of the Faculty of Medicine. The Faculty has acquired the building and refurbished it as living accommodation for PhD candidates. The three artists involved in the project will present their designs in March 2016. More will follow on this project.
This exhibition features the Circular Garden, a design for an urn garden made up of burial mounds. The exhibition was organised by Van Luijn Natuursteen in Tiel. More info: www.asinbeeld.nl.
Read more on the Circular Garden project page.