Discover the landscape design of Piet Oudolf

Piet Oudolf is a pioneer in naturalistic landscaping. And he’s a big inspiration for us here at Grounded. Here is a book that celebrates him.

Here at Grounded, we sit on a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum are nature restoration experts. These are the people who repair landscapes, rewilding them with native plants. At the other end of the spectrum are people who design landscapes in a naturalistic way, but don’t necessarily use native plants. Piet Oudolf is one of those.

I’ve learned from many people. Larry Weaner is on one end of the spectrum: he creates native plant landscapes, but with an overlay of gardenesque design. Piet Oudolf creates gardens, but planted in a naturalistic way. I put Grounded smack bang in the middle of these two.

Oudolf is revered in the naturalistic planting movement. He began what has come to be called the New Perennial Movement, which features landscapes using primarily perennial plants. Those landscapes are famous for their drifts of flowers but also for the use of grasses. They are planted densely, like nature does and, perhaps most importantly, they celebrate plants outside the flowering season. A visit to an Oudolf garden in fall or winter is as rewarding as a visit in July.

He’s perhaps most famous of The High Line in New York. But also for Lurie Garden in Chicago, and many public and private commissions in Europe.

Works of art

The glorious monograph, Piet Oudolf at Work, is a celebration of this inspiration.

As someone forever learning about naturalistic landscape design, this book is a treasure-trove. It takes you through Oudolf’s career, but more than that, it takes you through his thinking. I’ve learned, for example, how he picks plants that offer more than just pretty flowers, how he groups plants together, and how he creates landscapes that work as a whole.

In the book are many of Outdolf’s plant layouts. These are artworks in themselves. Indeed, they’ve had an exhibition dedicated to them. To learn how Oudolf puts plants together, either in blocks or in a matrix, or a mix of the two, is fascinating.

This is a beautiful coffee table book, with thick pages and stunning photographs of Oudolf’s work.

I’m inspired. I’m educated. I’m in love with this book.

Simon Payn

Piet Oudolf At Work, by Cassian Schmidt, James Corner and Noel Kingsbury, can be ordered from Master’s Book Store. Price $100 (and worth it).