A fortified farmstead near Bruges whose free-flowing garden is shaped by art
Most gardens look the same in Flanders. Clipped and formal, they are predominantly green, with neat hedges and topiary giving a sense of finely tuned structure and control. In total contrast, the garden of Bonem Hoeve, near Damme, is not remotely influenced by this local idiom. In fact, it is the very antithesis of other gardens in this area of Belgium, with 39 hectares of land designed in a free-flowing way, shaped by art as well as nature. Surrounded by moats and waterways, this fortified farmstead dates back to the 13th century, when nearby Bruges was connected to the sea by a natural inlet, the Zwin river. Today, at the centre of the property, an unassuming cluster of attractive, white-painted farm buildings is set on what is essentially an island, isolated yet reassuringly secure in this watery landscape.
When Marc Ooms bought Bonem Hoeve in 2005, he commissioned the Belgian landscape designer Erik Dhont to help him reimagine the land around the buildings to give it more structure and shape. Erik opened up waterways, planted architectural avenues of trees and designed a new vegetable garden and greenhouse. He also introduced monumental topiary frames, initially conceived for yew, but now used to train hornbeam into a series of abstract, blocky shapes. These living sculptures echo the extraordinary pieces that Marc collects from artists such as Richard Long, Antony Gormley and Claudia Comte, which are carefully placed in this tranquil setting to enhance vistas and create focal points.
Since 2012, the garden has evolved further under the eye of head gardener Gijsbert Smid who has not only continued the artistic direction of the garden by introducing surprising new elements, but turned it into a haven of biodiversity as well. With a background in organic farming and gardening, Gijsbert also studied art for a short time in Antwerp and the job here has allowed him to tap into these various areas of expertise. Since he started, more of the surrounding pastureland has been acquired, which Gijsbert is slowly allowing to regenerate. Wildflowers are now returning and thickets of native shrubs and trees, such as hawthorn, birch, field maple and willow, encourage a huge diversity of bird and insect life.
Gijsbert has turned each semi-wild area into a living work of art. In one meadow, a willow archway over a narrow waterway beckons you through to a place where hillocks and ditches look like they might be a medieval ridge and furrow system. Less romantically, it turns out that it was used as a rubbish dump in the 1970s and 1980s, but Gijsbert has used this to his advantage, mowing paths around it, planting coppices and creating installations strategically to draw the eye. ‘What I wanted to do was to establish a route round the garden with things to be discovered along the way,’ he says. ‘Even when I’m mowing the paths, I am imagining the art that I’m producing by making those shapes.’ When viewed from above in a drone photograph, a complex, beautiful pattern emerges that makes clear exactly what he is doing. ‘I never draw it out on paper: I just do it by eye and by feeling,’ he explains. Even the small haystacks in the meadow become art, in addition to acting as welcome habitats for animals and insects.
Near the house, there are formal beds containing bulbs and other pollinator-friendly flowers, set off by a few token clipped box balls and a series of statuesque, multi-stemmed hornbeams with flat, wide canopies. Curves are the overriding theme of this garden, from the snaking stone sculpture by Richard Long to the free-form rill on the opposite side of the moat and the abstract shape of the natural swimming pool. Even the greenhouse in the vegetable garden has a curvy
linear roof, which was inspired by a similar greenhouse at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In contrast, the canal network that feeds into the garden is on a grid system. Along one of these, Gijsbert has installed a long, narrow boardwalk to encourage visitors out into the landscape alongside the waterway and back along a path. A characterful willow leans precariously towards the canal and Gijsbert explains how they decided to build the boardwalk around the tree rather than felling it. ‘I had just been in Spain and they always seem to build walls around the trees, doing their best to preserve them – so I thought, why not do the same here? It’s good if you can change plans while you’re working in order to adapt to nature.’ Appearing exactly halfway along, the tree adds an artistic twist, making you pause and take in the view as you step round it.
With each year that goes by, Gijsbert has experimented with more creative interventions. By the entrance to the vegetable garden he is twining together climbing roses, forsythia and hazel to make an organic arch over the gate. Fascinated by the juxtaposition of wild and tamed, he has joined areas of coppice with a finely clipped section of hedge to signpost that this is a garden and not a wilderness, and has interwoven living plants to make sculpture. In one of the furthest corners of the garden, his living willow cathedral provides a quiet, contemplative space – and like most of the artworks in this garden, it is limited by time – a temporary installation shaped by nature.
Gardening here requires an intimate engagement with the land and Gijsbert feels lucky that his creativity is allowed to flourish. ‘I see the garden as a giant artwork,’ he says. ‘You can make a garden design in 10 minutes on a computer, but I’m not interested in doing that. It’s nature that leads the way here'.
Bonem Hoeve is open to visitors on June 6 and 7, 1-5 pm, and for guided tours at other times for groups of 10 or more people by arrangement: email bonemhoeve@telenet.be | @bonemhoeve
Eva Nemeth1/11A series of flat-topped hornbeams near the house – a nod to the evergreen topiary that is so often seen in Belgian gardens – provides a contrast with the wilder areas of the garden. Tall mature willows line the edges of the moat, thriving in the damp conditions and casting mesmerising reflections
Eva Nemeth2/11The narrow boardwalk along the canal was built around a leaning willow, which has itself become a work of art and part of the view out towards the wider landscape.
Eva Nemeth3/11An eccentric sculpture of interwoven roses, forsythia and hazel arches over the gate into the vegetable garden.
Eva Nemeth4/11Planted 11 years ago in the far reaches of the garden, the living willow cathedral is a quiet, contemplative place that invites exploration.
Eva Nemeth5/11
Eva Nemeth6/11
Eva Nemeth7/11
Eva Nemeth8/11
Eva Nemeth9/11
Eva Nemeth10/11
Eva Nemeth11/11
