Having studied landscape design in the Netherlands and horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Jan Woudstra then continued with Garden Conservation at the University of York.  His career commenced in landscape consultancy, first with Travers Morgan, where he worked on conservation projects including Hampton Court, Kensingtion Gardens and Chiswick House, work that continued when he set up his own consultancy EDA Environmental Design Associates. He completed his thesis on modernist landscapes at University College London. From 1988-2006 he taught part-time at the Conservation Course at the Architectural Association, London, and has worked as a Reader in Landscape History and Theory at the University of Sheffield since 1995.

He has published widely including a book on Britain’s best known landscape designer, Capability Brown (that can be downloaded for free): 
– Jonathan Finch and Jan Woudstra, Capability Brown, Royal Gardener: The business of place-making in Northern Europe (York: White Rose UniversityPress, 2020).
Other books:
– Jan Woudstra and Colin Roth (eds), A History of Groves (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2018)
– Jan Woudstra and Ken Fieldhouse (eds), The Regeneration of Public Parks (London: E. & F.N. Spon, with Garden History Society and Landscape Design Trust, 2000).

His most recent book is: 
– Jan Woudstra and Camilla Allen, The Politics of Street Trees (London and New York: Routledge, 2022), that includes a historical section, and addresses conservation issues.