Product Description

Following on the success of Designing with Plants and Dream Plants for the Natural Garden, Piet Oudolf's landmark first book (co-authored by Henk Gerritsen), is now available in English. Thoroughly updated and revised, including several new chapters and many new photographs, it provides the definitive argument for the "natural garden." This updated edition of the book that started the "Dutch Wave," a movement that is now sweeping gardens from Europe to North America, shows how to plant a garden that can look wild but be tame at heart.

Hundreds of eye-catching plant combinations are explained in detail and provide ideas for every garden. The authors emphasize how gardeners can create moods and emotional responses with the deft use of themed plants, Foolproof lists and instructions for placing specific plants in particular garden habitats are included, as well as complete growing requirements. As ethereal, even lyrical, as these gardens and plants can seem to the eye, it is important to recognize that Oudolf and Gerritsen have chosen their plants for hardiness and suitability for garden habitats. These are tough plants that do not need to be pampered or coddled. The popularity of the "Dutch Wave," from England’s Chelsea Garden Show to the healing garden at New York's World Trade Center has as much to do with the reliability and sturdiness of the plants as it does to their beauty and grace.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #428837 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: Dutch
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

From Booklist
A guiding light in the international community of garden designers, Oudolf teams up with Gerritsen, a leading garden writer in the Netherlands, to present their stylistic approach to natural gardening. Gardeners wishing to ride the so-called Dutch Wave will find here a key to essential components, and Oudolf defines his aesthetic in an exuberant intermingling of tough yet showy plants. Perennial standbys like achilleas and artemisias feature, along with such common herbs as borage and bee balm. Named cultivars and specific species are highlighted to indicate the very best specimens for the ultimate in visual interest, and mixing it up is what it's all about, along with year-round beauty and benefit. Grasses appear prominently, bringing to the fore highly textural forms and gorgeous inflorescences. Various habitats are addressed, including arid and moist alpine, with a further range of situations covering ornamental gardening trends, and helpful listings of plant properties. All in all, Oudolf and Gerritsen offer a savory sourcebook. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A guiding light in the international community of garden designers."
—Booklist, December 1, 2003 (Booklist )

"Anyone who longs to move beyond the basics will marvel at this book for its fresh notion of a natural garden that holds up without looking weedy."
—Ann Shayne, BookPage, March 2004 (BookPage )

"Piet Oudolf ... the Dutch master of perennials"
—Anne Raver, New York Times, July 15, 2004 (The New York Times )

A guiding light in the international community of garden designers. Booklist, December 1, 2003 (Booklist )

Anyone who longs to move beyond the basics will marvel at this book for its fresh notion of a natural garden that holds up without looking weedy. Ann Shayne, BookPage, March 2004 (BookPage )

Piet Oudolf ... the Dutch master of perennials Anne Raver, New York Times, July 15, 2004 (The New York Times )

About the Author
Piet Oudolf is a world-renowned garden designer. He was recently awarded the design commission for New York’s Gardens of Remembrance, planned to memorialize the victims of the September 11 disaster. His designs have been featured in magazines and newspapers such as Gardens Illustrated, House and Garden, The Independent, Perspectives, and Marie Claire Maison. Oudolf is also the subject of a chapter in Page Dickey’s book, Breaking Ground, which profiles ten of the world’s foremost contemporary garden designers. He resides in the Netherlands.

Henk Gerritsen’s international projects include creating a wildflower garden from the formal Waltham Place garden at White Waltham (near Maidenhead) in England, and incorporating a natural garden in and around the French hamlet of Leyvinie, close to Perpezac-le-Blanc in the Correse. He is a celebrated writer in the Naetherlands with several books and monthly magazine columns to his name.

Customer Reviews

Pretty decent book...
After reading the foreward for this book, I was expecting to be able to learn about how Piet Oudolf designs, however there isn't any information regarding his designs in this book other than what plants he likes to use and the environment requirements for those plants. It's an interesting book, just not what I was looking for at the time.

Great photos but that's it
I had high expectations of learning more about the thought process that goes into the creation of Oudolf's garden's, useful information on structures and habits of particular plants. However there is none of that. The photos of gardens are beautiful and you can learn from looking - but info on individual plants is pretty minimal, and there is no discussion on the creating aspect of the gardens. I wouldn't recommend it.

comprehensive list of used plants
This book offers a comprehensive list of the plants used and developed by Piet Oudolf. And list them under a few different categories of uses as well as offering their colors, heights, and a couple other traits. If you want to start a business in the likeness of Oudolf I think this listing of plants offers a extensively comprehensive if not brute force method for doing so. Of course if one wants to design gardens of this complexity a few classes on art or design would definitely not hurt as design work takes training of the mind and eye and Piet's gardens are very complex. His approach is also intuitive (in my opinion) and therefore training/practice is more than likely a must.