Utrecht University Botanic Gardens

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Fort Hoofddijk

Von Gimborn Arboretum

The Utrecht University Botanic Gardens have consisted of two locations since 1987: the main garden at Fort Hoofddijk in Uithof and Von Gimborn Arboretum in Doorn.

However, the history of living plant collections of Utrecht University dates back to the 17th century. The first botanical garden of the university was founded in Utrecht in 1639, three years after the establishment of the university itself. Around 1723 the collection moved to another location within the old city, which still exists as the museum garden of the University Museum, known as Oude Hortus (old garden). It is the place where around 1730 Ginkgo biloba was planted for the first time in Europe. In 1920 Cantonspark in Baarn became another part of the university gardens, with a rock garden and systematic beds. In 1963 Utrecht University acquired the land at Fort Hofddijk, one of the forts of the New Dutch Waterline, situated in Uithof, the modern campus of the university on the eastern outskirts of the city of Utrecht. In 1964 the university bought the Sandwijck buitenplaats in De Bilt, where greenhouses and a nursery were organized, and in 1966 it acquired Von Gimborn Arboretum in Doorn. In 1964-1974 the rocks from the old rock garden in Cantonspark and additional 2100 t of rocks from Ardennes were laid on the top of Fort Hoofddijk in order to build the new rock garden, which has become one of the largest in Europe. In the 1970s systematic beds were laid down there as well, and in the 1980s the new complex of greenhouses was constructed. In 1987 the collections of Oude Hortus, Cantonspark and Sandwijck were transferred to Fort Hoofddijk, which thus became the main location of the botanical gardens.