Digging In: Finding Inspiration

By Jennifer Smith

Like many, I’m inspired by the work of master garden designer Piet Oudolf. The gardens I’ve had the privilege to view in person have never disappointed. I find his use of plant material sophisticated and beguiling. Equally impressive are his books which never disappoint. They are pure joy to read and very informative when it comes to understanding the methodology behind his planting style. Other books about his gardens such as Planting Oudolf Gardens at Hauser & Wirth Somerset by Rory Dusoir, are incredibly insightful, forthright and beautifully written. 

A well-written garden book is such a treat: It’s instructional and motivational all the while giving us an unprecedented look at the life of the garden from design, planting and perhaps most importantly, its care. However, no matter how well written they are, no matter the number of visits you take to see the seasons of an Oudolf garden, it’s not enough to translate his designs and plant selection to a home garden. A homeowner’s how-to garden book they are not. 

For one, who among us has an acre plus in which to plant a garden to the extent that his gardens are planted and the staff or team of experienced volunteers at the ready to ensure its success? We are studying masterful designs executed in incredible settings: Battery Park along the Hudson River, The High Line hovering over the streets of Manhattan, the Oudolf garden in Detroit tucked on an island. How can you recreate the High Line in your front yard?  You can’t. Even if you did recreate part, perhaps one of the beds within a Oudolf design, in your own yard, it still would not be an Oudolf garden. For one, the setting of a garden is as important as the garden itself: they aren’t mutually exclusive. You may have the exact planting, but how the garden relates to its space and the setting around the garden will impact how the garden is experienced and interpreted. Just as important as the setting of a garden is how a garden is maintained. 

Put aside the notion that pollinator, or naturalistic style gardens are low or no maintenance. It’s simply not true. Care is required to maintain a garden be it the rigid formal garden with boxwoods demanding constant shaping or a garden infused with native plants. It’s from its care that the character of a garden is revealed. Every plant you decide to edit, to thwart from expanding an additional foot, or deadhead to prevent from seeding, imprints your personal mark, your design sense on the garden.  No matter how astute a student you are of another’s design, your garden will inevitably be your garden and your garden alone. And this is how it should be. Talk to any gardener and half the fun of gardening is learning which plants are happy in our little plot of earth. There’s bit of pride when we find a unique plant pairing, successfully grow a fickle plant, or tame an otherwise unruly plant to play well with its garden mates. 

Spending time with a good garden book or walking the paths of your favorite garden is not time wasted. We know after studying an Oudolf garden that more grasses are almost always a good thing in a garden, that many plants look quite interesting standing in the winter garden, and that we can find success in a plant arrangement of large stands of the same plant or when plants are allowed to intermingle. We find tips for planting our gardens in a lusher manner, forever banishing expanses of mulch in the garden, and we discover plants that otherwise would have been unknown to us.  

Jennifer Smith is an award-winning pollinator garden designer with Wimberg Landscaping.