Imagine this: A bright Saturday afternoon in the Netherlands last September interrupted by sheets of rain.

As project lead, Corner has seen firsthand how Piet’s ability to collaborate has driven his greater success: “His work alongside clients, architects, landscape architects, artists, plant nurseries, soil specialists, ecologists, gardeners, and installation and maintenance crews, among others, has led to extraordinarily productive exchanges wherein the whole far exceeds the sum of the parts.”One of the special fold-out inserts in the book shows how the drawings are used to guide the nuts and bolts installation of a full-scale public garden in the architectural wonderland of the Vitra Campus in Germany. a b c Stuart-Smith, Tom (4 May 2013). "Dutch master: the garden design genius of Piet Oudolf". The Telegraph . Retrieved 23 May 2016. At Work presents a series of five essays, each written by a leading luminary related to Oudolf from the realms of landscape architecture, design and horticulture. Piet Oudolf At Work] juxtaposes detailed photography with the largest collection of his drawings ever published, generously offering a Technicolor road map to his oft-imitated schemes.’ – Architectural Digest

Kingsbury, Noel (10 April 2013). "A Wilder Way". New York Times. T Magazine . Retrieved 23 May 2016. In my conversation with Piet, I asked if he considers himself to be an artist and his answer splits the difference between art and gardens.Fair enough, although I would argue that “movement” is an accurate enough term to describe the generation of designers and gardeners from around the world actively inspired by Oudolf’s work to pursue a more naturalistic path. A movement now supercharged by social media into a global community numbering hundreds of thousands of followers.

About the Vlinderhof". vlinderhof.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016 . Retrieved 23 May 2016. Piet’s collection of mugs filled with markers and coloured pencils is parked over to the side. There we are, eating our herring at the very wooden table where Piet has sketch by sketch, plan by plan and landscape by landscape, done much to artfully rewild our perception of gardens in the modern public sphere.

One book. Many voices.

In his new book, Piet Oudolf at Work, readers can fully appreciate why Oudolf ignores a cultivar’s brief moment of blooming, to see a plant’s beauty in a more rounded sense, prizing buds and seed pods as much as petals. The book also describes Oudolf’s decades-long career, which began with him selling Christmas trees at a garden centre and currently sees him being commissioned across the world to create gardens of great beauty, poise, and character. Most of all, it illuminates how Oudolf has always applied deep intelligence, great planning, and careful consideration to his projects, season-by-season, in a remarkably consistent manner.

As Piet reminds us, “It goes deeper than what you see”. There’s the feeling of reconnecting with the numinous mysteries of life itself. When plants are ascendant, we glimpse something beyond our merely human selves. Step into a Piet Oudolf garden and you are transported into a dreamlike meadowscape, filled with perennials, seasonal color, and texture. Made in close collaboration with Oudolf, this book showcases gardens throughout his career and across the globe from New York's acclaimed High Line to the newly planted Vitra Campus in Germany. The book offers fresh insight into the work and creative practice of Oudolf, both from a horticultural and artistic perspective, showcasing high-profile and lesser-known gardens, including Chicago's Lurie Garden, Hauser & Wirth Somerset and Menorca, Venice Biennale, Singer Museum, Belle Isle in Detroit, Noma, and others. PO:We live in a terrible time at the moment [during the Covid-19 pandemic], and many people are rethinking their lives.People may not be out of jobs now, but you never know what happens after this. So many people were working in the city, and if you are a younger person, and you always were very stressed and working hard to get a good income, especially in very competitive businesses, wouldn’t you think about what to do with your life?I’ve noticed that people in their careers sometimes can be very intelligent and have very good jobs, and then turn to something different, and I think the times we live in now will make thathappen more than ever. W*:How do you think these times will change our relationships with our gardens in the future? Planting the Oudolf Gardens at Hauser & Wirth Somerset (2020) by Rory Dusoir with foreword by Piet OudolfThere’s no better summer book than a book filled with large, full-bleed images of beautiful gardens.’– Fast Company Piet Oudolf at Work Garden star Piet Oudolf tells us about 'seasonal emotionalism', how to coax 36,000 plants into life, and why you shouldn’t call him an artist (although he definitely is) Hans Ulrich Obrist: Piet, it would be great to hear more about your own garden at Hummelo [in the Dutch province of Gelderland], because I know you’ve left it to change freely with the seasons, in a very organic way. I’ve always been interested in the idea of how to negotiate control and not control, or organization and self-organization. Was that a methodology that was honed in this laboratory of your own garden? Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf review – art of a Dutch master". Guardian News and Media . Retrieved 15 September 2019. The extensive Hummelo nursery was an integral piece of the puzzle. It served as a living laboratory for 28 years where Piet and Anja collected, propagated, trialed and refined what became his signature palette of robust perennials and grasses necessary for his designs.