The Dommelbeemden are, along with the

Moerkuilen The Moerkuilen are, along with the Dommelbeemden a forestry area in a bend of the Dommel river north east of Nijnsel in Meierijstad. It is located at the Lieshoutse Dijk, not far from the A50 motorway. The protected area measures over 100 acres an ...

a forestry area in a bend of the

Dommel The Dommel is a small river in Belgium and the Netherlands, left tributary of the Dieze. It is 120 km long, of which 85 km in the Netherlands. The Dommel takes in water from the Keersop, Tongelreep, Run, Gender and Kleine Dommel streams and me ...

river northeast of

Nijnsel Nijnsel ( North Meierijs dialect: ''Nènzûl'' ) is a village in the province of North Brabant, located in the Meierij of 's-Hertogenbosch. Nijnsel is a parish of the municipality of Meierijstad. Etymology The word Nijnsel means ''new residence'' ...

Meierijstad Meierijstad () is a municipality in the province of North Brabant. The municipality is the result of a merger between the municipalities Schijndel, Sint-Oedenrode and Veghel in 2017. After the merger it became the largest municipality in terms of ...

. It is located at the Lieshoutse Dijk, not far from the A50 motorway. The protected area measures over 100 acres. The Dommelbeemden are part of the larger area

Het Groene Woud Het Groene Woud (The Green Forest) is a special area of the Netherlands which is located in North Brabant between the cities of Tilburg, Eindhoven and 's-Hertogenbosch. It includes nature reserves such as the Kampina, the Oisterwijk forests and f ...

. This diverse area was designated as a natural monument in 1977. The most original part and natural state of the Dommel can be found between Eindhoven and Boxtel and hence in the Dommelbeemden. Here the

has still its original winds and meanders and forms a cultural-historical and valuable landscape area. Dommeldal SintOedenrode

The Dommelbeemden consist of species-poor meadows with

willows Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

and include rattles and

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

. There are

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologicall ...

s in which rare plants such as Marsh Lousewort can be found. A clogging old meander of the

there is filled with

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic p ...

. At a higher elevation, which is part of the Central Brabant Sand Ridge, there are traditional "bolakkers" (high

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

s). The meadows are the low-lying grasslands directly along the Dommel. Through regular flooding these grounds were once only suitable as a hayfield. This hay was important because it served as winter feed for livestock. Originally, this landscape was interspersed with carrs and coppice hedges. On the upper parts of the river valley, there are ''bolakkers'' (high fields) where mainly cereals were cultivated. The area is known to have rare plants and animals. In the southeast the area connects with the

Vresselse Bossen East of the village of Nijnsel and the hamlet of Vressel, both in Meierijstad, North Brabant, Netherlands, is the location of the Vresselse bossen or ''Vresselsche Bosch'' (Vressels Forest). The Vresselse Bossen is a forest area of 241 ha. It is ow ...

. The current management is aiming to restore the old landscape of the area as much as possible. The meadows are extensive grazed and

Staatsbosbeheer Staatsbosbeheer, founded in 1899, is a Dutch government organization for forestry and the management of nature reserves. Staatsbosbeheer currently oversees over 250,000 hectares of land in the Netherlands. Usually this land is open to the public ...

replanted hedges and knotted willows.

References

{{Coord, 51.5486, 5.4983, display=title Forests of the Netherlands Geography of North Brabant Meierijstad