Gardening Expert

Jacqueline van der Kloet

Renowned bulb expert and garden designer, collaborator with Piet Oudolf. Passionate about naturalistic designs.

I'm perhaps best known for my collaboration with the famous planting designer Piet Oudolf. My expertise is bulbous plants, experimenting in my own garden, the Theetuin (“tea garden”), which was established at Weesp near Amsterdam some 30 years ago. I source plants in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Africa, China, the United States, Oman and “most Western European countries,” observing plant communities in the wild with a view to replicating them at home as part of my naturalistic designs.

A late starter, I “fell into plants” at the age of 28, soon after qualifying as a garden designer I travelled to China and was amazed to see the likes of Nandina domestica (the heavenly bamboo) and also the camphor tree, Cinnamomum camphora, growing both wild and as a street tree. I have been to the USA and China many times, but nothing inspires me as much as the spring mountain meadows, which always blow me away. It has something to do with the 'natural style’ that I love so much.

My first love was perennials. It gave me so much joy discovering which ones would be suitable for the different parts of the garden, which is mainly on clay soil, so quite moist, but with some drier areas. But then after six or seven years I discovered’ spring-flowering bulbs and the possibility of mixing them with other plantings. In the past few years annuals and summer-flowering bulbs have become favourites. I find those four groups of plants so inspiring and I like to test all kinds of combinations.

I'm excited to be able to reach out to you wherever you are in the world, and share my knowledge and passion through these online horticulture and garden design courses at Learning with Experts. Piet Oudolf and I continue to collaborate on bulb plantings all over the world and update our work here accordingly. I look forward to seeing you in the classroom.

Related course

Spring Flowering Bulbs with Perennials

£45 £36 Save 20%
Level: Peer






View product details

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT options?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.
When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.
How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.
Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

For privacy or data questions, please contact us here.

Awards & accreditiations