Jacqueline Van der Kloet

Jacqueline van der Kloet is an international garden designer based in Weesp, Holland, renowned for her artistry in combining, in a very naturalistic way, perennials and flower bulbs with blooming shrubs and trees.

When she was a teenager, she wanted to attend an art school. Discouraged by her parents who worried about her financial situation, she opted for another form of art: garden design. And we are glad she did because her landscapes are a feast for the eyes. Her garden in Weesp, the Tea Garden, is a wonderful place where she has been experimenting over the past 30 years with multiple combinations of perennials and flower bulbs, whose results are generously shared with her clients. She doesn't simply assemble plants to create a garden. She 'paints' the garden with a unique palette of colors and shapes, randomly intermixing spring and summer bulbs with perennials or ornamental grasses to our delight. Her planting schemes are not only elegant and a regal delight for the eyes, they also last from spring to summer through her sophisticated use of plants. Jacqueline has been involved in countless projects, from small to large gardens, private or public, in Holland and abroad. She worked with her compatriot, Piet Oudolf on the plant scheme for the ‘Seasonal Walk’ in the New York Botanical Garden, creating a four season garden. She also created the plant scheme relating to spring flowering bulbs for 'Battery Park' in New York City, designed the plant scheme for the National Perennial Plants Theme Garden in the 'Tuinen van Appeltern' and so on. The list is long and impressive !

For those who want to achieve a naturalistic look when planting bulbs, Jacqueline suggests an easy technique: “We like to toss the bulbs out into the bed and plant them where they fall,” Jacqueline explains. “This gives a very pleasant random pattern that is pleasing to the eye.”