Marieke Nolsen’s garden at the Ossenstal on Landgoed Den Treek-Henschoten in Leusden, Netherlands, is a working example of a “garden like a bouquet”: a place where borders are composed for beauty, paths are designed for discovery, and plants are grown to become flowers, foliage, berries and natural decorations. The approximately 1,600-square-metre garden combines an ornamental, walk-through landscape with a dedicated cutting area, so harvesting does not exhaust the design.
Its central lesson is composition. Color matters, but so do stems, leaves, grasses, rose hips, berries, seed heads, fading flowers, containers, supports and the views revealed along a path. The result looks abundant without being accidental because each layer has a role in the garden and in a future arrangement.
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What “a garden like a bouquet” means
The phrase describes a design method rather than a single planting style. Nolsen groups plants with future bouquets in mind, yet the garden is not arranged as a production field of straight crop rows. It is intended to be walked through and looked into. Straight sight lines from the house connect sections of the garden, while brick and grass paths lead visitors past openings that show only part of what lies beyond. Trees and shrubs soften the outline of the borders, giving the planting a lush, airy and natural appearance.
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That combination creates the same qualities found in a well-made bouquet: a strong overall shape, contrasting textures, varied heights and details that become visible gradually. A flower may provide the focal color, while a leaf supplies a broad plane, a grass adds movement, and a seed head or berry gives the arrangement a fine point of interest. Spent flowers are not automatically waste; they can contribute form and maturity both outdoors and in a vase.
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For a home gardener, the principle is useful because it prevents a common mistake: choosing only plants that look good at the moment of flowering. A border designed for bouquets needs material before and after peak bloom, including foliage, fruit, stems and structures that hold their shape as the season changes.
From a paved starting point to a flower-rich garden
Nolsen and her family moved to the Ossenstal in 2002. According to her official biography, the garden then consisted of a hedge, lawn, conifers and extensive paving. They transformed that relatively spare framework into a flower-rich garden on the estate in Leusden. The biography gives the present garden’s size as approximately 1,600 square metres, an estimate rather than an exact survey measurement. Nolsen’s biography provides the location, origin and scale.
The transformation illustrates why structure should come before a plant list. Existing boundaries, the relationship to the house and the route through the space establish the garden’s framework. Planting can then fill that framework with seasonal color without blocking every view. The feature in Fine Gardening’s account of the garden describes linked sections, straight lines of sight and partial views: visitors see enough to be drawn onward, but not so much that the whole garden is revealed at once.
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A cutting garden can be productive and still feel like part of a designed landscape. In Nolsen’s example, paths and sight lines make the garden rewarding before a single stem is cut. This is an important distinction from a purely utilitarian bed, where access and yield may take priority over the experience of moving through the space.
When planning a smaller garden, reserve clear routes for walking, watering and carrying buckets. Place taller plants where they frame rather than erase a view, and use openings between groups to create glimpses of another bed, tree or container. These choices are design decisions even when the ultimate purpose is to bring material indoors.
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Plants that extend the bouquet beyond flowers
Nolsen’s palette demonstrates how a bouquet garden is built from several kinds of material. Pink hydrangeas are favorites and are cut through summer and fall. Dahlias are described as the stars of the cutting garden. Other named plants include plume poppy (Macleaya cordata), globe thistle (Echinops) and yellow wax-bells (Kirengeshoma palmata). Her biography also identifies ornamental apple trees, rose-hip varieties, ivy berries and hydrangeas as plants grown for flower work.
Flowers for focal color
Dahlias and hydrangeas provide the obvious visual impact: large, recognizable flower forms that can anchor a vase or a border. The practical lesson is not to copy a particular cultivar or quantity—those details are not established for this garden—but to include enough repeated flower forms that a bouquet has a coherent center. Grouping related colors can make cutting easier because several stems already work together.
Foliage, grasses and stems for volume
Leaves and stems are the connective tissue of an arrangement. They fill gaps, establish direction and keep a flower-only planting from looking flat. Grasses contribute movement and fine texture, while woody branches can provide height or a strong line. A garden planned only for blooms may have a short harvest window; foliage and stems help carry arrangements between major flowering periods.
Fruit, seed heads and fading flowers
Rose hips, berries, seed heads and fading flowers add texture and structure after the showiest blooms have passed. They also give a bouquet a sense of season. In the garden, these elements prevent the borders from becoming visually empty once peak flowering is over. Letting selected flower heads mature can therefore be a deliberate design and arranging choice, not a sign that maintenance has been neglected.
How to plan a garden inspired by Nolsen’s approach
The following sequence translates the garden’s visible principles into decisions for a domestic site. It is an interpretation for gardeners, not a claim that every step follows a published plan from Nolsen.
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- Map the experience before buying plants. Mark the principal view from the house, the route visitors will walk and the places where a partial view could create interest. Connect sections with practical paths, using surfaces that remain legible when planting is at its fullest.
- Separate access from production. Decide which beds are primarily ornamental and which are dedicated to cutting. A dedicated cutting area can carry more repeated plants, while the walk-through borders can emphasize shape, sequence and views. Keep both connected so the productive area feels like part of the garden rather than a hidden work zone.
- Build combinations, not isolated specimens. For each flowering group, choose supporting foliage, a grass, a stem or a seed head. Think about what could be cut together at several points in the season. Nolsen’s method groups flowers and colors with future bouquets in mind.
- Plan for material after peak bloom. Include plants that offer berries, rose hips, foliage and mature seed heads. Reserve some flowers to fade naturally if their form will be useful in arrangements or provide late-season structure.
- Layer height and sight lines. Place shrubs and trees where they soften the silhouette and frame views. Use taller perennials toward the back of a bed or beside a path, but retain openings so the eye can move through the planting.
- Choose support structures as part of the composition. Tall or heavy flowering plants need support before they flop. Make the support visually compatible with the planting instead of adding a conspicuous framework after the fact.
- Use containers as a deliberate vignette. Group pots by height and relate their colors. A cluster reads as one composed display when the vessels share a warm color family or repeat a tone found in the planting.
Ornamental border or dedicated cutting bed?
The garden presents two complementary approaches rather than competing doctrines. The table below turns that distinction into a practical choice for a home site.
| Decision axis | Ornamental border | Dedicated cutting bed |
|---|---|---|
| Primary experience | Walking through, looking into and discovering linked views | Reliable access to stems for bouquets |
| Planting emphasis | Layered silhouettes, shrubs, trees and combinations that read from a distance | Repeated flower groups arranged around future bouquets |
| Access | Brick and grass paths connect sections and frame openings | Clear working access for cutting and carrying material |
| Harvest role | Selected stems can be taken without losing the border’s overall composition | Plants are grown substantially for cutting, foliage, berries and related work |
A small garden does not need two physically separate zones. The distinction can be made within one border by placing repeated cutting plants where they are easy to reach and reserving the most visible edges for long-lasting structure.
Natural supports that belong in the planting
Martin, who builds supports for the garden, uses posts and hazel branches. Nolsen also uses woven birch twigs so the supports do not distract from the plants. These materials demonstrate a useful construction principle: a support can be functional infrastructure and still look intentional.
Branch supports are particularly suited to a naturalistic border because their irregular lines echo stems and twigs already present in the garden. Insert them early enough for growing plants to cover or integrate with them. If you prefer purchased supports, select a finish and scale that recede into the planting; the aim is the same visual integration, not a particular product.
Support decisions should follow the plant’s eventual height and weight. A light framework may suit airy stems, while a heavier structure is needed where large flower heads can catch wind. Check supports as plants develop and tie stems loosely enough to allow movement and expansion.
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Containers as a composed color study
The container displays use pots at different heights, including terra-cotta and zinc, grouped in warm colors such as orange, salmon, yellow, pink and red. The significance is not any one pot or color but the way the group is composed. Height variation creates a stepped profile, while related warm tones keep the display from reading as a collection of unrelated containers.
To adapt the idea, establish one visual relationship before adding plants: repeat a pot color, echo a border color or arrange vessels from low to high. Leave enough space to water and move each container, but keep the group close enough to read as a single scene. Containers can also provide a flexible place for seasonal combinations when an in-ground bed is already full.
Harvesting and arranging from the garden
Nolsen grows substantial quantities of cut flowers, berries and foliage for arranging, and she uses garden material for wreaths and other natural decorations. A practical harvesting plan should therefore include more than flower buckets.
- Cut with an arrangement in mind. Before entering the bed, decide whether you need focal flowers, filler, foliage or a strong line. This reduces random cutting and protects the border’s composition.
- Gather contrasting textures. Pair a broad leaf or hydrangea head with a finer grass, a berry stem or a seed head. Texture differences help a small number of stems feel intentional.
- Use seasonal maturity. Fresh flowers can share a vase with rose hips, berries or selected fading heads. The mixture records the season instead of trying to make every stem look equally young.
- Reserve structural material. Keep suitable branches, grasses and sturdy stems available for wreaths and natural decorations. They can also support a bouquet that needs height or direction.
- Protect the garden’s view. Cut from areas where removal will not leave a conspicuous gap, especially along the most visible edges. The cutting bed can carry the heavier harvest while ornamental borders retain their designed outline.
The garden’s “bouquet” quality begins before the vase: plants are grouped so that a useful combination is available at the moment of cutting. Arrangement is the continuation of the planting design indoors.
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Books and workshops for deeper instruction
Marieke’s Pluktuin
Marieke’s Pluktuin: Het hele jaar plukken en schikken met tuinbloemen is a Dutch-language hardcover by Marieke Nolsen and Modeste Herwig. The publisher lists ISBN 9789000382101, 192 pages and a first publication date of 22 April 2022. Its subjects include establishing a picking garden, harvesting and caring for flowers, vases, arranging, decorative branch supports and seasonal calendars. Details are available from the Lannoo publisher page and Nolsen’s official book page.
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- Hard hat clip- attaches for easy access
- Quick dry time with reduced smearing and marking
Mijn Voorjaarstuin
Mijn Voorjaarstuin is a 2025 first-edition hardcover by Nolsen, ISBN 9789000395194. The author’s description focuses on planting bulbs, combining bulbs with perennials and foliage plants, using pots, creating spring arrangements and working from planting plans. It is the more targeted resource for gardeners interested in the spring side of the bouquet idea. Consult the official page for Mijn Voorjaarstuin for current information.
Workshops and online learning
Nolsen’s official workshop program lists seasonal in-person sessions and an online “Pluktuin Portret” consisting of six videos and a printable digital guide. Dates, locations and prices change, so check the current workshop program before making plans. Do not assume that the private garden is open on a particular date; opening information should be confirmed through official channels.
What to take from the Ossenstal garden
Nolsen’s garden shows that a productive cutting garden does not have to look like a field attached to a house. Its paths, partial views, layered borders, natural supports and grouped containers give the space a clear architectural and visual logic. The plant palette then supplies material through changing stages of the season: flowers for color, foliage for volume, berries and rose hips for fruit, grasses and seed heads for texture, and fading blooms for maturity.
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For gardeners adapting the idea, the most durable approach is to design the route and structure first, then choose plants as components of future combinations. Grow enough repeated flowers to cut confidently, but protect the larger composition with shrubs, trees, foliage and openings. When the garden works both as a place to walk and as a source of material, every bouquet becomes a continuation of the landscape rather than an extraction from it.
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