De Rhulenhof

The Garden

Due to personal reasons the garden is closed as of 2010. Visits are no longer possible. 

De Rhulenhof is a regional-style former farmhouse with a long façade. Built at the end of the 19th century, it was restored extensively in 1975. Following this reconstruction work, the owners laid out several gardens based on a plan drawn up by garden designer W. de Jong. The house was restored in simple manner in accordance with the principles of the Bossche School. It combines with the gardens to form a spatial whole.

The gardens were created on what was once arable land. As in the case of English cottage-style gardens, their design is inspired by the way they get the sun and by the functional and spatial relationship between house and garden. Various themed gardens surrounded by hedges of yew and hornbeam were laid out around the house. There is a serene temple garden to the east, a vegetable garden near the kitchen and a walled and decorated inner courtyard to the south. In the evenings, the sun sets over the rose garden. The design of the gardens adheres more or less strictly to a formal pattern.

De Rhulenhof is influenced by postmodernism as well by the cottage-garden and landscape styles. The various formal “garden rooms” alternate with open landscape sections and park-like areas with large ponds. Classical garden concepts and contemporary garden design have been integrated in surprising ways here.

Each garden has its own character

Each garden has a marked character of its own, which is expressed in the way it is planted and is particularly evident at flowering time, e.g. the rose garden makes reference to history with its scented old and new roses grouped around a baroque garden vase. Similarly, the temple garden refers to Persian garden design with its silver-grey planting in harmony with the temple and canal. And the vegetable garden, or ‘potager’, is a colourful interplay of herbs, flowers and vegetables in strictly arranged symmetrical plots. The thriving herbaceous perennials in the borders on both sides of the 140-metre pear-tree avenue combine with the bushes and trees to mirror the colours of the rainbow.

Orangery plants are a speciality at de Rhulenhof. They adorn the courtyards and paths in large containers and pots. Together with the walls they create a southern-European atmosphere.

The glass orangery where these subtropical plants are housed for the winter is located at the centre of the garden. This special building was designed with a structuralist layout and features a honeycomb motif.

Landscape and Water

Water plays an important role in the gardens and there is a large natural pond in the landscape garden. Visitors have a view of the water and the rough vegetation on the shore from the tea house. A path winds its way along the narrow stretch of water on the south side of the wood’s edge. The many shades of green and the strong undergrowth are truly a visual delight.

A park with large ponds spreading out like fans was laid out on the west side of de Rhulenhof at the beginning of this century. These ponds are surrounded by grass, bushes and high green walls. The expressive interplay of lines created by the reflecting water surfaces is one of the special attractions of walking around the garden. Visitors also pass by a transparent lookout tower and the “green village” of hornbeam hedges along the way.

Botanical Paradise

The large variety of herbaceous perennials, bushes and trees makes the gardens a botanical paradise for plant lovers. Information signs inform visitors about plans for planting the garden.

The Rhulenhof gardens are distinguished by their southern European atmosphere and great botanical variety as well as by the sense of open space generated by their design.

The greenhouse at the entrance serves as a garden café with an information counter and reading corner. But it is also possible to withdraw to one of the terraces by the water with a cup of coffee, e.g. to ‘het Midden’, right in front of the orangery, where dancing fountains add a refreshing touch to a visit to the garden.

De Rhulenhof is a member of ‘The most beautiful gardens of the Netherlands’ network and the ‘Route of Garden Design between Rhine and Meuse’.