Piet Oudolf, father of the New Perennial Movement, dug up and redesigned his famous double borders in the garden of the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley in Surrey. John Hoyland takes a look, with photographs by Clive Nichols.
Twenty years ago, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) unveiled a monumental two-acre double border designed by Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf in its garden in Wisley, Surrey. Lately the borders have seemed tired and over the past few decades Mr Oudolf, a leading representative of the so-called New Perennial Movement, had developed his ideas and practice further.
He and the RHS boldly decided to completely redesign and replant the entire area. The result, which opened a few months ago, is a glorious and uplifting tribute to the designer's art and the skills of RHS Wisley's gardeners.
How to get RHS Wisley style borders in your garden
- Don't skimp on the number of plants. Plant blocks should be as large as your garden allows. To achieve impact, plant in groups of at least 25 plants
- Ignore old advice about tall plants at the back of the bed and shorter ones at the front. Sensitive grasses, such as Molinia caerulea “Transparent,” planted at the edge of a path, creates a gossamer curtain through which you can see the edge
- You don't have to start with large plants to make an impact in the same year. Most of the plants here were grown in 3½-inch or 7-inch pots. The borders were planted this spring and were already lush by summer
- Some plants take time to establish themselves, but even before they are fully grown, they are still welcome guests to add to the party. Stipa gigantea It will take at least a season for it to sprout tall golden stems, but its evergreen leaf clusters make an attractive backdrop for other plants. Baptisia takes even longer to mature, but the young blue-green shoots make a lovely partner for many plants
The Oudolf landscape in front of the 40ft high greenhouse at RHS Wisley. ©Clive Nichols Garden Pictures
The original boundaries were flanked by a wide, grassy path – described by one expert as a light aircraft runway – with a viewing hill as a focal point at the top of a slope, so that visitors were herded towards and past the boundaries with barely a glimpse of which ones Plants they contained or how they were structured. This was frustrating for the designer and for the RHS. The organization's mission to train gardeners and its desire to showcase the planting ideas of Europe's foremost garden designer provided the motivation – and courage – to dig up the beds and start again.
Mr. Oudolf's first priority was to slow down the visitors so that they had time to look at the plants and study his techniques, but above all the beauty of the groups of plants, the way they reinforce each other, their movement and their Appreciate changes through the season. To achieve this, he introduced a path that winds to the top of the hill, with side paths winding around it. The arrangement allows you to get close to the plants while giving the feeling of being included in the planting scheme. From people's reactions it is clear that the new design is well received.
An overview of the old borders with their “runway” path. Photo credit: Adam Alexander / RHS
The garden showcases the two different planting styles that Mr. Oudolf has refined over the course of his long career. In both cases, he prioritizes the structural properties of a plant over the temporary properties of color and flowers. What a plant's skeleton looks like in mid-winter is just as important as its performance at the peak of the season. His best-known technique involves planting large blocks of perennials and grasses, usually repeatedly, with the edges of each group often flowing smoothly into the next.
Mr. Oudolf's priority may not be color, but there are some striking juxtapositions in the new borders: a group of soft pinks The bottle spun “Happiness” is enlivened by a cluster of dark purple lobelia X Nice “Hadspen Purple,” as elsewhere, has swathes of flaming red helenias intertwined with the acid-yellow flat heads of an Achillea.
Piet Oudolf creates impact by planting at least 25 plants in large blocks. These include Achillea, Helenium “Moerheim Beauty” and Lythrum salicaria “Blush”. ©Clive Nichols Garden Pictures
These block plantings are reminiscent of the bold colors and bold brushstrokes of Fauvist painters such as Derain and Matisse, while Mr. Oudolf's other technique, which he calls matrix planting, is often compared to the pointillism of Seurat and Pissaro. Matrix planting draws inspiration from the way plants grow in the wild, where some species dominate and specimens of other species merge with them or are scattered throughout the main plant group.
Four border combinations based on the work of RHS Wisley
- Velvety gray carpets Stachys byzantina are a perfect partner for a pastel blue Sage woodto which Mr. Oudolf adds the startling orange flowers of several Asclepias tuberosa
- The dark green leaves of Eragrostis is spectacular turn red and gold in fall and bear a cloud of deep pink flowers. Specimens of the prickly sea holly grow through them, Eryngium bourgatiitempered by the occasional plant of Baltic parsley, Cenolophius stripped
- The white tips and dark green foliage can be seen in the edges Lysimachia ephemerum winding between clusters of fiery heleniums and mounds of creamy blooms Hylotelephium (earlier Stonecrop) “Sunken”
- The upright foliage of Portuguese garlica dwarf bulb less than 1 foot tall is planted in a checkerboard pattern with flat rosette leaves Limonium platyphyllum. In summer, a foam of lavender flowers from the limonium floats over the plants. They are occasionally joined by pale pink tips Sidalcea “Little Princess”
In Wisley, a carpet of fragrant grass Sporobolus heterolepis is punctuated by the airy stems and pale purple flowers Scabiosa columbaria and occasionally Cenolophius strippeda relative of cow parsley. The glassy leaves of another grass, Schizachyrium scoparium “Ha Ha Tonka,” a favorite of Mr. Oudolf, grows through low mats Geranium renardiialong with lavender Phlox paniculata “Blue Paradise”.
The new planting scheme includes a few shrubs. Old, frequently pollinated specimens of Constant CoggygriaRemnants of the former borders give the airy planting a powerful presence. A few young ones Magnolia stripped have been added, but it will be a few years before they make an impression.
A dramatic border at the top of the new area with Echinops, Phlox paniculata 'Blue Paradise' and Lobelia x speciosa 'Hadspen Purple'. ©Clive Nichols Garden Pictures
The borders are a tribute to the year-round value of perennials. The few evergreen plants include varieties of Deschampsia cespitosa and several geraniums with semi-evergreen foliage. In winter, it is the remaining seed heads and dead stems of perennials and grasses that provide visual interest and serve as nostalgic reminders of their summer bloom. Equally important, they provide food and habitat for a variety of invertebrates and small mammals.
Leaving plants standing all winter is a bold move; Some traditionalists will frown, but many more gardeners will begin to recognize the value of perennial plants, even if they die. The new beds are already a great addition to the Wisley garden and will become even more stunning as the plants develop and the groupings grow together.
Visit www.rhs.org.uk/Wisley