The Hotel Garden at the Van der Valk Hotel in Apeldoorn
Van der Valk Hotel Apeldoorn has a special kind of garden. Both in terms of size and layout. The landscape garden with different natural zones make it a varied landscape with many different characteristics. For example, you will find woods, meadows, willow paths, an alder grove, thickets and ponds with beautifully sown bank mixtures. Beautiful plants grow and bloom along the banks of the ponds in different seasons. Ducks and coots nest there. The ponds not only have an important ecological value, but are also an important source of water. A drainage system has been installed throughout the garden to ensure that excess water flows back to the ponds. From those ponds we pump water back up to irrigate the garden when needed. In the garden you will also find wildflower meadows, a natural playground, a standard fruit orchard, a large vegetable garden and, of course, animals to admire.
Animals
In the garden we have a very modern caravan for our chickens. In the caravan there are laying cages, sleeping facilities, feed and water for the chickens. They further walk outside as much as possible to scavenge for extra food and to take a sand bath. The fresh eggs can be found at the breakfast buffet and are for sale at the reception.
Right by the chicken pasture, our pigs scavenge in their own pasture. At the moment we have Pied Bentheimers who roam freely and can root around in the earth. The garden team cares for the pigs with love and provides them not only with food specially tailored to them, but also occasionally a few crunchy willow twigs which they love and in autumn the acorns from the oak trees. They can also particularly appreciate leftovers from the vegetable garden.
Besides the pigs running around in the garden, there are also honeybees buzzing around. At the back of the garden, right next to the pigs, you will find our apiary. A beekeeper manages several hives here. We provide enough food in the garden by taking into account planting and food distribution for all kinds of insects, including the honey bees. The honey can be found on the breakfast buffet.
If you pay attention, you can often find squirrels in the woods and along the hazel trail enjoying a fresh (or preserved) hazelnut. This path is a bit hidden behind the Tesla charging poles, but is definitely worth wandering through.
People
In addition to flora and fauna, people also have an important role for us in the garden. Of course, we think it is important for our guests to enjoy our beautiful garden. We have a team of very enthusiastic gardeners and women with a love of greenery. Every day they do their best to maintain the garden well. We also offer apprenticeships in the garden. In addition, residents of the Thomashuis Berg en Bos work several days a week in the garden and students of the Praktijkschool Apeldoorn (practical school) build bird boxes for us. An enthusiastic bird work group from Apeldoorn conducts bird counts for us and helps us clean the nesting boxes. A valuable addition, because knowing which birds live there also tells us something about the quality of our garden. More than 40 different bird species have been seen in recent years!
Kitchen Garden
An important part is the vegetable garden. This part of the garden is also public and accessible to all. The carefully designed compartments, paved and unpaved paths make the garden completely tourable and even wheelchair accessible. With this, we would like to invite you to "take a look inside" the chef's kitchen. Much of what you see in the garden may just end up on your plate. Different vegetables and herbs are used in the dishes and even edible flowers from the garden can be found on your salad or dessert! Come see, smell, taste and enjoy.
You can find the vegetable garden between the restaurant and the nature playground. If you walk onto the terrace from the restaurant and turn right you will reach the vegetable garden. From the district Apeldoorn East you can see the garden when you have cycled or walked through the standard orchard. Walking from the hazel path you will see the Glasshouse which will automatically guide you to the vegetable garden.
We hope you enjoy this unique garden!