Neighbourhood in Amsterdam-Noord
Gardener in Tuindorp Buiksloot
What makes a garden in Tuindorp Buiksloot different from one three streets away, and what that means for what goes into the ground.
Noord district, Amsterdam
What to reckon with in Tuindorp Buiksloot
- Built between 1930 and 1932 on a polder raised in 1930 with blue-tinted sand.
- 794 dwellings on completion, almost all under seventy square metres, every one with at least a small back garden.
- 912 homes today, 77 per cent single-family and 79 per cent housing association owned. Source: CBS 2025.
- Waddendijk, Texelplein and Terschellingstraat: small gardens where fewer species work better than more.
People in the neighbourhood call this estate het Blauwe Zand, the blue sand, and the name is literal: the polder was raised in 1930 with sand that had a blue cast to it. On top of that, 794 dwellings went up between 1930 and 1932, the first keys handed over on 3 September 1931. Almost all of them are under seventy square metres, and every single one was given at least a small back garden.
That last fact defines the work here. A back garden of four by six metres is not a small version of a large garden but a different design problem: everything in it is seen from close up, there is nowhere for clutter to disappear, and one oversized shrub takes the light out of the whole plot. On Texelplein, Terschellingstraat and Vlielandstraat we therefore work with fewer species rather than more.
Of the 912 homes in this neighbourhood, 79 per cent belong to a housing association (woningcorporatie). That matters. In a Dutch rented home the upkeep of the garden is usually the tenant's, but the boundary fence, paving laid by the landlord and trees in communal green are not. If a job falls in that grey area we say so on the phone, rather than turning up first and mentioning it afterwards.
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 Tuindorp Buiksloot 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 Tuindorp Buiksloot
What can you actually do with a garden four metres by six?
More than most people expect, provided something comes out rather than goes in. At this size a layout works with two zones and not four, and with one narrow-crowned tree instead of three shrubs. What usually disappears is the fence in the sightline and the path around the edge; what appears is room. We draw that on paper before anything happens.
I rent from a housing association. Can I still call you?
Yes. Garden upkeep is normally the tenant’s responsibility, so you are free to arrange it yourself. What is not yours: the boundary fence, paving the association laid, and trees standing in communal green. If you call us about something in that second category we will tell you straight away, not after we have driven over.
Can I put up a shed here without it sinking?
Only on a foundation that reaches firm ground, and firm ground is not shallow here. On a simple slab bed laid on the made-up layer, a shed tilts visibly within ten years, which is why you see so many leaning ones in this neighbourhood. We set them on screw piles, and if that cannot be justified for the budget, we say so.
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.