For a new exhibition titled \u2018Spontaneum\u2019 (until 15 March 2022, Via Privata Rezia 2, Milan) Italian leather goods brand Mars\u00e8ll commissioned photographs of Piet Oudolf\u2019s private garden at his home in Hummelo, the Netherlands. The company enlisted Dutch photographer Awoiska van der Molen, known primarily for her black and white...
at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, which opened in 2019. Speaking from home – an old farmhouse on an acre of land outside the village of Hummelo, in the eastern Netherlands, where he has lived with his wife Anja since 1982 – Oudolf shares his thoughts on how to transform a miniature plot, work for Vitra’s HQ , and our future reliance on finding pleasure closer to home – and ultimately, in our gardens.
W*: A lot of your work is related to planting in urban spaces, such as the High Line and Battery Park, both in New York. Why do you think it’s important to have planted areas in our cities? In cities, so many people don’t have access to nature. Either they don’t have the money to travel outside the city, or if they can afford it, they go on holiday to places where plants are not so important.
W*: You often work in expansive spaces, but how do you approach smaller spaces? What do you advise for people who are starting a small garden at home? I’ve done many, many small gardens – small public office gardens or private gardens. Most people are not designers, what they see is the plants they like. I say to budding gardeners, ‘Buy the plants you like, don’t try to be a designer.’ That is what people can take from my work.
It’s at least one year. My planting palette is different to other landscapers, so we need to be sure the plants are available in growing season, or we have to let them grow. We use plants not only from the Netherlands but also from America. Some things like the High Line go on for years and years. I started in 2004 and the opening was in 2009, so five years.
W*: Do you have rules for colour combinations, mixing textures and using different heights and variations of species? When I’m designing, texture is on the first plan; colour comes second. Texture is the architecture, or the character, of a plant. When you meet a person and you see their body language or expression, you know if it’s someone you like or don’t like. It’s the same with plants, and they don’t have to flower to show you their character.
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