Designing With Plants

Piet Oudolf & Noel Kingsbury

Editions

Review

The basic precept of Piet Oudolf's attitude to gardening is simply stated in the first sentence of his introduction:

"Structure is the most important component in a successful planting; colour is important too, but it is a secondary consideration."

In his first book, Gardening With Grasses hbk £20, Oudolf enthused about grasses and now he turns his attention to other herbaceous perennials, discussing all aspects of the plant from the first shoot, unfurling leaves, flowers, seed heads, autumn foliage through to skeletal remains.

His plantings are natural rather than formal, and he concerns himself with interesting factors such as the movement of plants and the mood of planting schemes, though he also values a plant's individuality as well as in association.  Where he touches on colour it is more in human responses to it rather than in rigid schemes, e.g. colours are earthy, sombre, sweet, cool or hot.

This is a fascinating book and adds weight to Oudolf's reputation as a free-thinking and original gardener. - review by Stewart Grimshaw

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