It is situated behind the University Medical Centre, and includes a garden area of about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of which about 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) is occupied by glass-houses.

Since 1988, the garden no longer has an educational function, but the property is still owned and supported by the university.

[1] The collection includes about 10,000 species, such as varieties of hardy ferns, cacti and succulents.

The garden's existence was threatened in 2009, when plans for an expansion of the university hospital called for it to be removed.

In 2016 the garden changed its name from Hortus Botanicus Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (which was often abbreviated to VU-Hortus) to its current name, after the better known Zuidas development area it is in.