Book review - Hummelo by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury

Another book review already, this is me working through the books I got from Christmas last year and that I bought at Barter Books last Christmas! I am determined to work through as much of my book mountain this winter as possible but they seem to be adding as quickly to the top! We'll see. Any way, this book I did get for Christmas last year, to add to my Piet Oudolf book collection. I love his style of planting and use of plants, it very much influences a lot of what I do in the nursery and at home. 

This is a lovely book to hold and look at, even before beginning to read, with it's more unusual dimensions and thick paper all the way through. The pictures are sumptuous as only an Oudolf planting could be on paper, you can almost feel the movement of the grasses and perennials as they sway in a breeze. This book has a well deserved place in my Oudolf book collection as it is more biography than planting plans. It tells the story of Piet Oudolf's journey from a nursery man and garden designer in the Netherlands through to his world renown as the designer of New York's High Line and Battery Park and many other international gardens.

Written by Noel Kingsbury to celebrate Oudolf's 70th birthday, this book takes us on a journey from his early days in Haarlem near Amsterdam to a plot of land near the village of Hummelo. This is where he created his nursery and famous gardens, bred new plants and trialled planting plans and combinations that led to the wonderful plantings Oudolf is now so well known for. The book chronologically follows his career and the development of his designs through the years. As Oudolf himself says, he has no real formula that can be written down and followed, he is very much a designer who sketches ideas but the work is really done on the ground as the plants are placed. 

Every so often there is a couple of pages about a subject that interests Oudolf, small insights to the man and his life. These include notes on people that he got to know or influenced him, things he collects, his interest in photography (almost all the photos in his books are taken by himself, this is interesting because it lets us see the plantings through the creators eye, always a valuable insight). 

Whenever I see photographs of Oudolf's work, such as the ones above, I instantly want to go out and start clearing an area and planting huge swathes of grasses and perennials. I love those huge plantings, intermingling and disappearing into the distance, the colour combinations and textures which last right into winter if left to their own devices. I have plans to do something similar in the nursery in the next couple of years and can't wait to get started. A lot of the plants Oudolf uses are tough perennials and grasses that will cope with our clay soil, weather conditions and we also stock, so it's a great way of showing what our nursery stock is capable of in a garden.

If you are a fan of Oudolf and his work, this is definitely a book to add to your gardening book shelf and a lovely book to read on cold, dark winter days. It is a fascinating insight not only of the man but of the new perennial movement and other plantsmen and women who were influential in it's creation. 

My Oudolf bit of my gardening bookshelves!

Available through online book sellers, or if like me you frequent second hand book shops, you may be lucky and find one. 


Previous book reviews:

Gardens in Time and Space by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury

The Well Tempered Garden by Christopher Lloyd



If you are interested to see what else is on my garden book shelves have a look at this blog
My Gardening book shelves. Happy reading!

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