Museumtuin Gaasbeek

About the museum

The Museum Garden lies in the castle grounds of Gaasbeek, a 49-hectare estate that together with the facing Groenenberg forms an important green lung on the edge of Brussels. The garden is not a renovation of an old garden but a completely new creation by the Agency for Nature and Forest, modelled on an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century castle garden, with the gardens of around 1900 as reference.

The garden is a tribute to the Flemish gardeners and fruit growers who were among the best in the world between 1860 and the Second World War. What you see is sown, planted and cared for as the gardeners of that time did: vegetables, herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees from large gardens more than a century ago, including sea kale and strawberry spinach. A real eye-catcher is the collection of espalier fruit, such as pear trees trained in the shape of a large vase, on which up to six pear varieties grow.

The garden covers about 2.5 hectares and is enclosed by walls of field-kiln brick and screened by hornbeam; the inside of the walls is painted white to reflect light and warmth. It consists of six compartments: an ornamental garden with orangery, a kitchen garden, a garden for soft fruit and figs, an orchard of regional plums, a high-stem orchard and a low-stem orchard. In 2012 the Museum Garden became the only garden in Flanders to receive the European Garden Award.

Highlights

• Unique collection of espalier fruit trees, such as pear trees trained in vase shapes
• Forgotten vegetables and fruit from gardens around 1900
• Walled ornamental garden with orangery and old-style fruit store
• View of Gaasbeek Castle and the Pajottenland
• Children's treasure hunt with Tilia the bee
• European Garden Award 2012

Permanent exhibition

• De zes compartimenten van de Museumtuin – Ornamental garden with orangery, kitchen garden, garden for soft fruit and figs and three orchards, with information boards, an old-style fruit store and beehives.

Operated by

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos

Admission & discounts

Free admission also applies to holders of a museum pass, National Trust members and employees of Nature and Forest; they collect their free ticket at the ticket desk in the entrance building or have their museum pass scanned there. Tickets are bought in the entrance building on Kasteelstraat; you pay by bank card or cash. For guided group tours, the museum pass and other discounts are not valid.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to the Nature and Forest brochure, most paths are suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Dogs are not allowed in the Museum Garden.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Stroller-friendly

For children there is a trail with the bee Tilia, hidden in various places in the garden, with a few tasks. Ask the supervisor or the guide in the Museum Garden for the brochure. Children under 18 enter free.

Getting there & parking

By car, take exit 15a from the Brussels Ring. In the centre of Vlezenbeek, go straight on to the next roundabout, where you turn right.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

In the entrance building on Kasteelstraat you will find the ticket desk and a shop.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit