Neighbourhood in Amsterdam-Noord
Gardener in Nieuwendammerdijk and Buiksloterdijk
What makes a garden in Nieuwendammerdijk and Buiksloterdijk different from one three streets away, and what that means for what goes into the ground.
Noord district, Amsterdam
What to reckon with in Nieuwendammerdijk and Buiksloterdijk
- 635 homes, 93 per cent owner-occupied and no housing association stock at all: the most unusual profile in Noord. Source: CBS 2025.
- Average WOZ property value 986,000 euro, roughly double the surrounding neighbourhoods.
- Dike houses with the crest on one side and polder level on the other: level differences above a metre.
- More retaining walls, banks and steps than the rest of Noord combined. Groundworks are the main item here.
This is the oldest ribbon of housing in Noord and statistically the most unusual: 635 homes, 85 per cent single-family, 93 per cent owner-occupied and not a single housing association dwelling. Average property value for tax purposes (WOZ) stands at 986,000 euro, comfortably double most surrounding neighbourhoods. For our work that means one thing above all: here the question is not what it costs but how long it lasts.
Gardens along Nieuwendammerdijk, Buiksloterdijk and Meerpad are rarely level. A dike house has the crest on one side and the polder level on the other, and the difference is often more than a metre. That is why there are more retaining walls, banks and steps along this ribbon than in the rest of Noord put together, and why groundworks rather than planting make up the bulk of a quotation here.
A retaining wall on this ground is a structure, not masonry. We calculate the pressure of the retained soil before a stone is laid, and where the numbers do not justify it we say that a planted bank is the better answer. A wall that has moved forward after eight years costs more than it ever saved.
Closed over at most
50%
We will not build a garden that is more than half hard surface. On this ground the water has to go somewhere.
Lead time
3 to 6
Working days for a garden up to a hundred square metres, spread over two weeks.
We come back within
12mo
Anything we plant that fails to take, we replace within a year at no cost.
What we come to Nieuwendammerdijk and Buiksloterdijk for
Garden renovationThe whole garden out and back in, with a scale drawing before the first spade goes in.
Paving and terraceWhy a terrace goes out of level here, and what has to sit underneath to stop it.
Planting and bordersWhat takes on wet peat soil, and what is gone again within three years.
Pruning and hedgesHedges, shrubs and trees, and what does and does not need a permit in Amsterdam.
Garden maintenanceFour fixed rounds a year, with what happens in each of them written down.
First whether it can be done, then what it costs
Photograph the spot where the water stands. That answers half the question on its own.
Questions from Nieuwendammerdijk and Buiksloterdijk
My retaining wall is leaning outwards. Can it be pushed back?
Pushing it back rarely works; rebuilding almost always does. A wall that tilts has a problem behind it, not in front of it: water is trapped with nowhere to go, and it pushes. We take such a wall out, put drainage behind the new work, and rebuild on a footing that can carry the retained soil. Without that drainage it comes back.
Am I allowed to build on the dike itself?
The dike body is governed by the water authority (waterschap) and not only by the city, and its rules cover digging, deep-rooting planting and hard surfacing. We check that before anything is agreed. What happens on your own plot alongside the dike is a separate matter, and that is usually what the job is about.
How long do steps in a bank last here?
Entirely down to what is underneath. On a compacted, drained base, steps in a bank here easily last twenty years. On the made-up layer without a base they start to twist within five, because the ground around them settles and the treads do not. That difference lies in the groundworks and not in the stone, which is why we itemise the base separately in the quotation.
The other neighbourhoods we work in
Your request
Six fields and a photo. With the area and the type of garden we can name a band before coming out; without those two, any answer is a guess.
Start with a photo
One photo from the back door showing the whole garden almost always saves a trip. Send two if you like: one of the whole and one of the spot where it goes wrong.