Planting the Natural Garden

by Piet Oudolf, Henk Gerritsen

“If the world of gardening has rock stars, Piet Oudolf qualifies as Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Prince rolled into one.” — Gardenista

The original publication of Planting the Natural Garden ushered in a revolution in landscape the New Perennial Movement. Spearheaded by internationally renowned designer Piet Oudolf, and incisively articulated by the late plantsman and designer Henk Gerritsen, it transformed private and public spaces with its emotionally resonant, naturalistic use of hardy perennials and grasses.

Now this classic has been expanded and updated to include scores of new plants and combinations. Packed with practical information and visual inspiration, Planting the Natural Garden zeroes in on the New Perennial Movement’s power to move us, making its distinctive plant palette available to all. For enthusiasts of these vibrant landscapes, it is an essential text; for gardeners who love the dreamy moods and colors that Oudolf and Gerritsen celebrate, it’s the key to a magic kingdom of garden beauty.

Genres: Gardening, Nature, Nonfiction, Plants, Design, Horticulture, Reference

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

World-famous landscape designer Piet Oudolf is principal of a small landscape design firm in Hummelo in the eastern part of The Netherlands. He has designed award-winning public and private gardens in Holland, Germany, Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Canada, and the U.S. "

Reviews

[romney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book disappointing, but good. It is mostly a plant catalogue - albeit a large format, well illustrated one. There are some sections about garden design, but if you admire Piet's designs there are better books. (e.g. "Planting: A new perspective" has detailed planting plans and descriptions of Piet's methods and philosophy. And many great pictures!)

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Piet Oudolf is a great artist and garden designer, that does not translate necessarily into being a great author. If you live in the Netherlands or nearby environs this might be a good book for you, but if you live in North America please do yourself a favor and find another book. Eighty-five percent of the book is an alphabetical plant directory listing perennials and grasses that he uses in his designs. Unfortunately he does not include any hardiness or zone information so you can not tell if the plants will grow in your climate making most of the book useless. The remaining 15% has some value. It includes gorgeous photographs which may help with your garden design or plant combinations. It also includes specific plant lists for specific conditions like "Exuberant plant combinations", silvery plants, "beautiful autumn colors", "beautiful winter silhouettes". If you love Piet Oudolf's natural style like I do borrow this book from the library but buy another title.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come to learn more about unique pairings in the garden (and the great photos and descriptions, along with many diagrams and ideas for your own space...)

Stay for the wry and witty takes on plant species.

Entertaining and educational compendium from two well-regarded Dutch landscape designers.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous guide to unstructured but planned perennial gardens from a cheeky pair of Dutch landscape designers. I particularly enjoyed their opinionated commentary about certain plants and pairings. A book that I would like to own.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Love this gardening style.

[Megan Lougheed · Rating 3 out of 5]

My dear friend mentioned this author. Currently I am doing a lot in the garden and I want to keep in mind to build it for the (small) animals such as insects, hedgehogs and birds. This book helped me to understand some things better about placement of plants in the garden. This book isn’t about the ecological garden, but it was informative.

[Lindsay Sawey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos. Great for inspiration

[Marcin Szneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Najpiękniejszy katalog roślin jaki możecie sobie wyobrazić

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell that this is an updated book from one that was published some time ago, because it reminds me very much of garden books I had years ago (and not in a good way). While the authors are clearly experts in the field and gifted at designing natural gardens, the book is mostly a sort of encyclopedia of perennials but only of the few that can be packed in with descriptions of the hundreds of thousands of choices. There are color photos but not of all the plants recommended, which had me constantly scrolling back and forth to see if one that sounded good was pictured (it generally was not). It's also written for the European gardener, which means there are no garden zones and many of the plants won't work in my Minnesota garden -- and I have no information about whether each one will or won't. Lastly, the photos really remind me of garden photos from older books. They are accurate but uninspiring.

A good read for really dedicated perennial lovers, but probably one to check out from the library.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

For what it is - a book a photos of flowering perennials and short descriptions, with a series of short but well illustrated essays on specific garden themes - it’s amazing. It reflects Piet Oudolf’s distinctive palette of plants - if you’ve visited any major American city, you’ve seen a garden designed in the last 15 years to express this aesthetic. In that sense, it’s a little like reading a exploded catalogue of the pigments and media of a favorite artist: by definition, it’s not *all* the paints an artist can use, but you’re likely to get a much better understanding of why the particular artist’s creations look the way they do. That’s a real treat if you like the look. The hardback is an excellent size for holding, the ink is vibrant, and photos are well chosen to show the overall effect of each species or variety in the garden, foliage and flower, rather than just a close up of the flower. One shortcoming for an American reader: the plant description includes the month(s) that each plant blooms, but not the North American heat or climate zone, which of course wouldn’t make sense for the primary European audience. But that means if you like a plant and want to grow it in a US garden, it would be a good idea to look up its zone online.

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply beautiful and delightful to read. The translation of wry and witty Dutch comments into English makes the book exceptionally funny in a good way. The alphabetized lists are very helpful (if you can pass the learning curve of Latin names) . The main downside is that many of the recommended plants are not easily available and if, like me, your interest in natural gardening overlaps with the frugal aspect of it, this must be taken into consideration with the inspiration of the plant suggestions.

"Dreamlike combinations that keep us awake at night. Just imagine a massive block of Veronicastrum virginicum interspersed with a huge number of Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firedance' and a few robust heads of Filipendula rubra 'Venusta magnifuca' towering above....The next morning you dash into the garden and what a pity, it was only a dream - the garden is already full!"

[Linda Ingersoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book and greatly admire Piet Ouldof. I’m sure I will return to it as a reference book (it is mostly a catalog) filled with recommendations for what to and especially what not to do to create a beautiful garden. I often found snark and plant snobbery humorous, but occasionally intimidating. It is clear the authors are convinced their way is right, and everyone else is wrong. I actually laughed out loud at their description of my beloved rudbeckia (something about how the plant has no merit until its garish petals have fallen off). And because of that, they do nothing to build the confidence of amateur gardeners. Will I let it stop me from creating an exuberant garden? No.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oudolf is a giant among gardeners these days, so I was definitely interested to read his book. It was somewhat underwhelming that so much of the book is plant lists. I mean, I like plants and he had some I haven’t heard of, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. As for the rest of the book, I have read enough about Oudolf that there weren’t any particular surprises in it, but he has a gentle, amusing descriptive voice.

I would use this mostly as a reference guide if I needed ideas when I was ready to put in perennials or grasses.

[K (pronounced k) · Rating 1 out of 5]

A plant catalogue. Lacks useful information on growing conditions or zones, as mentioned elsewhere—and HILARIOUSLY badly formatted in ebook form. It DOES have information on shade/sun preferences, height, and flowering, in the form of symbols, each of which takes up an entire page of my ebook reader. The first Oudolf I’ve managed to get hold of by any means (including interlibrary loan requests), and very disappointing, but luckily purchased on deep discount.

[Love to read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book!

What a great book that talk about all the varieties of perennials plants and how to care for them in the right way, I learned a lot from this book and now I am more clear how and where to plant the right ones for my garden. Thank you! Love the section of the best neighborly plants!

[Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this with no expectations but really enjoyed reading through. Very accessible tone. I also love the hand-drawn garden plans. My only wish would be to have the common names for the plants alongside their official names. I’ll definitely be referring to this while I’m making plans for my yard and garden!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, beautiful pictures, easy to understand. The book is broken into parts: part one is plant descriptions; part two is uses; and part three is planting plans and combinations. There is an index of plant names, nurseries, metric conversions and a reading list.
I read this to get ideas for reducing the amount of yard I have to mow!

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book, full of wonderful illustrations and perfect for any keen gardener like me.
I loved this book, it was informative and entertaining and a pleasure for the eyes.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Ruhegeist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. Helpful that it gave me freedom and permission to not be so formal or ridged while planning a garden. Being in AZ means this book is not as useful as others for plant selection. Still recommend for the beauty Oudolf brings to the world.

[Kaila Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully colorful book that explores the use of unique perennials in the garden. I enjoyed reading about how much has changed in perennial gardening on the past thirty years or so and I love the pages and pages of plants that I didn’t even know existed. The second half of the book is gardening plans to help you incorporate a natural garden style and offers great inspiration!

[Trish Remley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a later edition (2019) Edited by Noel Kingsbury. Have read a lot of these authors books, but this one still contributed some nuggets for me and thoughts to think about landscaping with perennials and grasses.

[Abby]

“The old approach was to grow perennials for what were little more than blobs of color. The wildlife approach encouraged gardeners to see them as homes and food resources for biodiversity.”

Gorgeous book.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very unique in it's descriptions, terrific photos and sketches, but I think it's just too subjective to be useful in other parts of the world.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrill to read this book. Many books divide plants by season and / or color. This book also describes the appearance of the blooms and what mood they create. Long time can of Piet Our old.

[Debbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as practical as the title would suggest. I will keep it for a year to see if it becomes useful, but I suspect there are better books available for the N.American gardener.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only my garden looked like this! I read it cover to cover and will continue to use it as a reference for years to come.

[Sofiamaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finish it being inspired

Beautiful! Simple, direct and awesome! I will use ideas exposed in the book to my projects in Chile. Highly recommended!

[Laura Gilfillan]

DNF Not what I was looking for.

[BJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional photos and descriptions

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not enough detail about soil conditions to be really useful, though good photos of plants in examples of companion planting.