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Groningen’s most beautiful spring gardens

Spring is in the air. We went in search of the colourful harbingers of spring and found them in community gardens and other gardens open to the public. Does spring make you happy too? Treat yourself to a trip to one of these beautiful spring gardens in the province.

Fraeylemaborg

Hoofdweg 30, Slochteren – The Fraeylemaborg itself is, of course, magnificent, but the park surrounding the manor is just as enchantingly beautiful. In 1800, the estate was redesigned in the English landscape style. That was the trend at the time. A style characterised by asymmetry and meandering forms. Letting the landscape run wild was also popular. The lord of the manor therefore had all manner of bulbous plants planted around the manor. As a result, wood anemones, finger-helmet flowers and crocuses have been growing wild around the Fraeylemaborg for over 200 years. It is, therefore, a place where spring can be seen and smelled early on.

Ennemaborg

Hoofdweg 100 Midwolda – Fancy a taste of spring? Around the Ennemaborg , you can enjoy the signs of new life emerging all around the manor. The front garden consists of a lawn where many stinzen plants bloom in spring. This flora is also regarded as the speciality of the manor garden. Next to the manor stands a beech tree that is around two hundred years old, and behind the house lies a wood 2.5 kilometres long and 300 metres wide. As a nature lover, that should keep you happily occupied for a while.

Domies Toen

Hoofdstraat, Pieterburen – Next to the fifteenth-century Petruskerk in Pieterburen lies Domies Toen, the vicar’s garden. This garden is a colourful example of a ‘slingertoen’, the Groningen variant of an English landscape-style garden. The winter aconites and snowdrops are already in bloom here, and you can see up close how the other bulbs are also pushing their way up through the soil. Buds that are just about to burst open. In Domies Toen, virtually all the well-known and lesser-known spring-flowering plants bloom in spring, including snowdrops and crocuses. Would you like to find out more about these spring-flowering plants and the rest of the garden? Then sign up for a guided walking tour.

Hortus Haren

Kerklaan 34, Haren – The Hortus Botanicus in Haren is one of the oldest and largest botanical gardens in the Netherlands. A garden that becomes increasingly colourful as spring progresses. In the Laarmant Garden, you’ll find fairy-tale-like spring snowflakes and other early bloomers, and of course, a visit to the Chinese Ming Garden is a must. Want to see it for yourself? The Hortus is open seven days a week. No booking is required.

Menkemaborg

Menkemaweg 2, Uithuizen – In the stunning gardens of, and in the area surrounding, the 14th-century Menkemaborg , you can find various types of spring-flowering plants. For example, around the outer moat lies the impressive canal, where you can find a sea of spring flowers beneath the trees in spring. First come the crocuses, followed by the finger-helmet flower and later the white-flowering and particularly fragrant wild garlic. Spring is also in full swing in the Lusthof. Here you’ll find, amongst other things, tulips and a magnificent magnolia tree that blooms profusely in spring (often around late March/early April).

Arboretum Notoarestoen

Ernstheemsterpad 1, Eenrum – Arboretum Notoarestoen was the brainchild of notary Smit, who saw it as a challenge to make exotic plants thrive on the tough Groningen clay. The result is an atmospheric park with a remarkable collection of 1,000 exotic trees and plants, including 600 species of (wild) rhododendrons. From spring onwards, the garden becomes more colourful with each passing week, and in spring the various spring-flowering plants burst forth from the ground. Together with the hundreds of rhododendrons in bloom at that time, it creates a stunning spectacle. In May, the rhododendron bloom is celebrated in festive style during the ‘Fragrances and Colours Festival’.

Ewsum Castle Grounds

Oosterburen 1, Middelstum – Nature lovers will be in their element in the historic gardens of the Ewsum manor grounds. At the end of March, you’ll mainly find spring bulbs here, such as snowdrops and daffodils. From April onwards, spring really gets underway in the garden. First, the fruit wall is in full splendour, followed by the orchard and the berry bushes coming into bloom. The profusion of flowers also makes for a veritable feast of colour in spring. It’s teeming with butterflies and bees at this time of year. And if you’re lucky, you might even spot a rabbit hopping through the garden. Round off your visit on the terrace of the tea room, surrounded by all the greenery, for that real spring feeling.