In 2008, I designed a naturalistic landscape for a client’s residential property in rural central Illinois. A 15,000 square foot garden now envelops the home and compliments the beautiful pastoral setting. The house is sited on a natural ridge with views of grassland and timber. Substantial grading was required to create level planting areas around the house and existing pool. Perennials and natives were woven through a grassy matrix to create a visually dynamic display. The design successfully blurs the junction of the wild and the domestic to provide four seasons of interest for my client’s enjoyment. (Note: the images above were captured the week of June 10, 2013. More images- http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamwoodruff/sets/72157634076440052/).
A vertical garden designed by Patrick Blanc wraps the facade of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.
RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW 2013 (The Show Gardens)
Follow the link for individual slideshows of the award-winning gardens.
GARDEN FOR A STYLE ICON
Last week, I was in London for the Chelsea Flower Show and a Gardens Illustrated lecture featuring Piet Oudolf & Jinny Blom. Piet has a new garden in Paris that I’ve been dying to see. Since we were so close, we hopped on the Chunnel to check it out.
Oudolf’s garden is a forward to the No. 5 Culture Chanel Exhibit at the Palais de Tokyo. It is “a poetic evocation of the emblematic fragrance by Gabrielle Chanel”, and will remain a permanent feature at the museum when the exhibit closes.
The 440 square meter garden is found on two levels at the northwest corner of the museum. The street level garden is visible from Avenue du Président Wilson. Access to the exhibit is through the intimate lower level garden found at the intersection of Rue Fresnel & Rue de la Manutention.
There is a soft femininity to the highly textured garden, heightened in contrast by the surrounding hardscape. No doubt deliberate on Oudolf’s part, as Chanel played with masculine and feminine in her work.
The garden was just installed in April, yet already appears quite full. At least seventy-seven different varieties of plants, many fragrant, are woven together to create a rich sensory experience.
Follow the link for the complete slideshow or email me at principal@adamwoodruff.com if you would like a copy of the plant list and planting plan.
SUMMARY & REVIEW- by Adam Woodruff
Piet Oudolf & Noel Kingsbury’s highly anticipated new book, Planting: A New Perspective will be released toward the end of March.
The authors explore planting design for the twenty-first century. Specifically, the new, emerging planting design based on… [read more]
I visited NYC last week, for the first time. APLD’s President Elect, Susan Cohan was my awesome tour guide. I was in town for two specific lectures. My friend, plantsman and designer Roy Diblik presented at Plant-O-Rama and seven-time Chelsea Flower Show gold medalist Tom Stuart-Smith spoke to a packed house at the NY Botanical Garden. Another reason for my trip was a long overdue visit to The High Line- Piet Oudolf and James Corner’s sensational elevated park in Manhattan. I’ve included a few photos for your inspiration- for the complete Flickr album follow the link.
I’m very fond of the retaining wall that surrounds this Marblehead, MA home. It is composed of large vertically set stone slabs with smaller stones placed horizontally to fill the gaps.
I toured the Bernard Trainor & Associates ‘Foothill’ Garden in Los Altos Hills, CA a couple of weeks ago as a part of the APLD International Design Conference. It was one of my favorite gardens of the tour. More photos are available by following the link above, at Ruskin Gardens Co. (the APLD member company that maintains the site), and on my Flickr.
OUDOLFIAN INSPIRATION
I just returned from the UK, where my partner and I spent the past couple of weeks visiting Piet Oudolf’s gardens. Unexpectedly, I was able to squeeze in a side trip to Hummelo where I enjoyed an afternoon visit with Piet and his wife Anja.
For your viewing pleasure, I’ve shared my Flickr photo collection- UK, Netherlands garden visits FA’ 12. The collection includes over 1,500 photos from: Oudolf’s private garden, Scampston Hall, Millennium Garden at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, Trentham Estate (including work by Tom Stuart-Smith), Bury Court (including work by Christopher Bradley-Hole), Potters Fields Park, RHS Gardens Wisley (including work by Tom Stuart-Smith, Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough). The collection also includes a set of photos from Sussex Prairies, designed by Paul & Pauline McBride in the New Wave Planting Style.
Over the years, I’ve visited several of Piet’s gardens. While my photos illustrate the complexity of his planting schemes and speak to his artistic genius, I fear they do not capture the true magic of his work- his ability to create an experience within a space that evokes emotion. For this reason alone, I encourage a personal visit! None-the-less, I hope you are inspired by the photos.
LAWN SUBSTITUTES
Consider replacing areas of high-maintenance turfgrass with mixed plantings. By blending an assortment of low growing perennials into a matrix of ornamental grass (Sesleria autumnalis) we created a visually appealing, low-maintenance alternative to bland, boring turf. Be mindful to select plants with similar cultural requirements and growth rates to insure a successful planting. Plant list- Sesleria autumnalis, Allium Summer Beauty, Achillea Walther Funcke, Origanum Herrenhausen, Salvia Purple Rain, Echinacea Coconut Lime, Eragrostis spectabilis, Molinia Transparent, Agastache Black Adder, Calamintha nepeta. [more photos]
