Oriental Garden
Photo: Bloemenpark Appeltern / CC BY-SA 4.0. modified.
Overview
The Oriental Garden at Appeltern is a themed inspiration garden at Bloemenpark Appeltern / De Tuinen van Appeltern in Appeltern, Gelderland, the Netherlands. It is officially presented in Dutch as Oosterse Tuin and in English as Inspiration garden “Oriental Garden.” The garden is not presented as a fully traditional Japanese garden, but as an eastern-inspired model garden using selected Japanese and oriental design elements within a large public garden inspiration park.
History
The garden was developed as one of Appeltern’s many example and inspiration gardens. The official Appeltern page explicitly notes that a real Japanese garden is based on symbolic, historical and spatial principles, while Dutch gardens often adopt an eastern atmosphere without fully following traditional Japanese garden rules. Appeltern’s Oriental Garden was therefore created to show different forms of paving, planting and design elements that can fit a Japanese-inspired garden, rather than to reproduce a traditional Japanese garden according to strict principles.
Design features
The garden combines eastern-inspired atmosphere with practical model-garden design. Its documented elements include paved paths, natural boulders with azaleas and bamboo, a wooden platform with cushions, a Japanese-style tea pavilion, a natural pond with koi, natural stone paving and a hardwood Bale Bengong relaxation structure. The planting list includes several bamboos, Japanese maples, Pieris japonica, Nandina domestica, ferns, hostas, Japanese iris, Japanese azalea and other plants used to create an oriental garden character.
Garden elements
Bridges
Buildings
Enclosures
Waters and islands
Stones
Current status
The Oriental Garden remains part of Bloemenpark Appeltern / De Tuinen van Appeltern. The official page describes it as one of more than 200 example gardens in the park, and the English inspiration-gardens page lists “Oriental Garden” among the top inspiration gardens. For the 2026 season, Bloemenpark Appeltern states that the park is open from 14 March to 1 November, daily from 10:00 to 17:30, with ticketed entry.