Whole garden, one plan
Garden Landscaping In Amsterdam
Would you rather get the whole garden right in one go?
Paths, patio, borders, lawn and water planned together for Amsterdam's garden suburbs and garden villages
Garden landscaping in Amsterdam starts with one question: where does the water go? In the Westelijke Tuinsteden your garden sits on sand dug from the Sloterplas, in Gaasperdam on sand from the Gaasperplas, and in Tuindorp Oostzaan the groundwater is so high that many gardens are boggy. We draw up the path, patio, borders, lawn and any pond as a single plan so each part works with the others. We're happy to do the whole job in English.
Plan your garden with us
- 1Tell us briefly what you want from the garden
- 2We visit and measure up free of charge
- 3You get a plan and an itemised quote
- Free site survey
- Fixed price in writing
- KLIC utility check done
- Foundation built to suit
- English & Nederlands
Why one plan works
What makes garden landscaping in Amsterdam different
Doing a garden piece by piece tends to leave you with a patio that sits too high for the border and a lawn in a dip. Planning it as a whole avoids that. Here's what it means in practice in this city.
Levels that line up
The patio sits 1 to 2 cm below the back door threshold and falls away from the house. Paths and borders are set to meet it, so there's nowhere for rain to sit.
Plants that cope with wet roots
Deltares links high groundwater and kwel (water seeping up from below) to damage to garden greenery in Bijlmer-Oost. In spots like that we choose plants that tolerate damp and set the borders a little higher than the lawn.
Knowing the sand underfoot
Dig in Slotermeer or Osdorp and you soon hit the fill sand the district was built on in the 1950s and 60s. That garden needs a different plan from one in Tuindorp Nieuwendam, a 1920s garden village built on very different ground.
Room for plants and a table
A guidance sheet on permeable paving from bodies including RIONED and STOWA recommends keeping at least 60% of a garden green. We size the patio so you hit that ratio and still fit a table for six.
Subsidy paperwork sorted
For Amsterdam's Subsidie Groen (green garden grant) the council wants a quote that splits labour, materials and VAT. Ours are laid out that way as standard, so you can attach it straight to your application.
Built for 40-odd frosty nights
KNMI records an average of almost 43 frost days a year at Schiphol. Paths and edging get a base that doesn't hold water, otherwise the frost lifts them by February.
1
point of contact from survey to handover
m²
quotes itemised per square metre
KLIC
cable and pipe check before we dig
€0
for the site survey and advice
How we work
From bare ground to finished garden in Amsterdam
Landscaping a garden means groundwork, paving and planting done in the right order. This is the order we stick to.
- 01
Look, measure, dig a test hole
We measure the garden, check its height against the street and the back door, and push a spade in a few times to see how wet it is under the lawn.
- 02
Plan and written quote
You get a sketch showing paths, patio, borders and lawn, plus a quote with labour, materials and VAT rates listed separately. If you're applying for Subsidie Groen, we wait until it's approved before starting.
- 03
KLIC check and setting out
If a mini digger is going in, we first file a KLIC notification with the Kadaster, the legal check for buried cables and pipes. Then we peg and string out where everything goes so you can see it full size.
- 04
Groundwork and raising
Old tiles out, poor soil away, sand in where needed. Paths and patio get a base of roughly 20 cm including the bedding layer, while the borders get loose soil that lets water through.
- 05
Edging
Edging kerbs keep the paving in place and double as the line between paving and border. We set them slightly below the paving surface so there's no raised lip sticking out of the lawn.
- 06
Paving, planting, seeding
Hard landscaping first, then the plants, and the lawn last. That way nobody wheels a barrow across fresh grass.
- 07
Walk round together
We go over everything with you, show you where the rainwater runs and leave a planting list saying what's where and how much water it needs for the first few weeks.
- →
What next?
Start at step 1: a visit to measure up. Free, and you are not committing to anything.
Book a survey →
Commitments you can reread
What we promise is written down
Paving that starts to ripple after one winter is rarely a problem with the stones on top. The fault sits underneath: too little sand, a sub-base that was never compacted, or edging that gets pushed out the first time a car rolls over it. That is why our quote spells out more than the stone you are getting. It also states how deep the foundation goes, what we raise the level with and how the edges are held in place.
It also keeps any complaint simple. If part of the paving works loose or a strip sinks because of the way we laid it, we come back and put it right. Settlement caused by the ground itself is a different matter - peat under Amsterdam slowly compresses whatever anyone does - and we would rather tell you that up front. What we can do is build it so that raising the level later means lifting and relaying the stones, not starting again from scratch.
In writing
foundation, materials and edging are all in the quote
We return
if our workmanship is the cause, we fix it
Before you choose
What to look for in an Amsterdam landscaper
Nobody can price a garden fairly from photos alone. How wet the soil is, whether the garden sits below the street and where the downpipe comes out only show up on site. Amsterdam Weerproof described a garden in the Mercatorbuurt that lay about 50 cm below street level, with groundwater 20 cm down. Raising it would have been such a big job that the owner opted for a garden designed to handle rain instead. A good landscaper visits first and proposes a plan afterwards.
Ask what goes under the paving. For a path or patio, a base of around 20 cm including a 3 to 5 cm bed of clean sand is usual, with a fall of at least 1 cm per metre. Borders want the opposite: no compacted layer, just soil that roots and water can get through. If you live in an older part of the city, get a lead check (loodcheck) first; the council offers one for gardens.
Check what's being supplied, too. Concrete slabs and blocks with a KOMO certificate under BRL 2312 or 2313 have been tested for size and strength, and for clay pavers the standard is NEN-EN 1344. Plants are a different question: do they suit the spot? A border full of drought lovers won't last long where the water table is high.
Compared
Garden landscaping in Amsterdam against the alternatives
There's more than one way to sort out a garden. Here's how a full plan stacks up against three common routes.
| One-plan landscaping | Pave it all | Lawn with a slab path | DIY in stages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainwater | Runs into borders and lawn | Has to go down a drain | Lawn soaks it up until saturated | Depends on the order |
| Wet patches | Planting and levels matched | Puddles where it sinks | Bare, boggy areas | Often found late |
| Upkeep | Seasonal pruning and weeding | Sweeping, topping up joints | Weekly mowing in season | Varies |
| Subsidie Groen | Possible if 10 m²+ of tiles go | No | Possible if tiles are removed | Only if approved first |
| Guide price | €30-70/m² excl. VAT | €45-115/m² incl. VAT | Depends on groundwork | Materials plus your time |
| Permit | Usually not, check for monuments | Usually not, but yes for a new exit | Usually not | Usually not |
Planting
Borders for garden landscaping in Amsterdam that survive a wet winter
A border is more than a strip of soil along the fence. Where the water table is high we build it slightly above the lawn and fill it with free-draining soil. Then we choose plants for sun, shade and moisture, not for whatever happens to be on offer that week.
- Borders raised slightly where groundwater is close to the surface
- Plants chosen for their spot, with a list you keep
- An edging kerb as a clean line between paving and soil
- Space for a water butt or pond if you want one
- A planting scheme that still has shape in winter
"In a lot of the gardens we measure up in Nieuw-West and Zuidoost, the wettest corner turns out to be exactly where the lawn has refused to grow for years."
Cost
How much does garden landscaping in Amsterdam cost?
Price guide Trustoo puts garden landscaping at €30 to €70 per m² and a landscaper's hourly rate at €35 to €65, both excluding VAT. Add 21% VAT on the labour. Plants are still at the 9% rate, but that goes up to 21% on 1 January 2028, so if your plan includes a lot of new planting, timing makes a difference. You get the real price after the free survey.
- €How much of the plan is paving compared with planting and lawn
- €Whether the garden needs raising first; in Bijlmer-Oost gardens sink around houses on piles, while in Tuindorp Oostzaan house and garden go down together
- €Access: a back garden with no side or rear entrance means carrying everything through the house
- €The size and type of plants, from young perennials to large shrubs
- €Disposal of old tiles, unless you use the council's free Tegelservice (tile collection)
Guide price from
€35/m²
Indicative price, excluding VAT, based on national price guides. After the survey you get a fixed price with labour, materials and VAT listed separately.
Ask for a fixed priceQuestions
Garden landscaping in Amsterdam: your questions
Do I need planning permission to re-landscape my garden?
Usually not. Paving and planting in your own garden in Amsterdam doesn't normally need a permit. It's different for a rijksmonument (national listed building), in a beschermd stadsgezicht (protected townscape), or if you want a new uitweg, the permit for a driveway exit across the pavement. Check your own address with the vergunningcheck on the Omgevingsloket before we start.
How does Amsterdam's Subsidie Groen work?
If you remove at least 10 m² of tiles from the garden of a house with its own ground, the council pays €15 per m² up to a maximum of €1,000. The area has to be planted and stay green for five years; a pond also counts. You apply with DigiD and a quote that splits labour, materials and VAT. The key point: you need the approval before any work starts.
What VAT rate applies to garden landscaping?
The work itself is charged at 21% VAT. The reduced 9% rate for work on homes only covers insulation, painting, plastering and wallpapering. Plants we supply are at 9% for now, but under the Belastingplan 2027 flowers and plants move to 21% from 1 January 2028.
My garden floods after every downpour. What can you do?
First we find out why. If the garden sits below the street, raising it can help, though it isn't always worth it. Where the water table is high, we often use slightly raised borders, plants that tolerate wet soil, and paving that falls towards a spot where water is allowed to collect. We talk it through at the survey.
What happens to my old tiles?
We take them away if that's in the quote. You can also have them collected free by the Tegelservice run by Weerproof and the council, which operates from April to October. Register by 16:00 on the Sunday before and put the tiles out by 07:00 on collection day.
Is the soil in an older Amsterdam garden safe to dig?
Older city gardens can have lead in the soil, which is why Amsterdam council offers a lead check for gardens. Have it done before you start digging or grow vegetables. Zaandam has the same issue, known locally as Zaans lood; since 2019 the council there has cleaned up badly affected gardens by removing the top 50 cm of soil.
Reviews
What our customers say
Judge us on paving that is already down.
We have only just started collecting reviews, and they will appear here as they come in. Until then, ask to see photos of recent work near you when we come out to measure up. A terrace two streets away says more than five stars.
Related
Other garden services
Service area
Garden landscaping across Amsterdam and nearby
We work across the garden suburbs of Nieuw-West from Slotermeer to Osdorp, in Gaasperdam, where Reigersbos went up from 1980 and Gein from 1982, and in Noord's garden villages of Oostzaan, Nieuwendam and Buiksloot. Beyond the city we cover Amstelveen, Diemen, Weesp, Landsmeer and Purmerend.
- Amsterdam-Zuidoost
- Amstelveen
- Diemen
- Duivendrecht
- Ouderkerk a/d Amstel
- Abcoude
- Weesp
- Almere
- Badhoevedorp
- Hoofddorp
- Zaandam
- Purmerend
Have your garden designed as a whole
Send us a message with a few photos and your garden's measurements. We'll visit free of charge and you'll get a plan with a quote you can also use for Subsidie Groen.