Lurie Garden: "The New Wave Planting Style"

Continued from the post on Lurie Garden.. click here..
Lurie Garden is one of the first examples in the United States to experiment with the "New Wave Planting Styles".. It looks like brush strokes of an impressionist painting. It makes use of native plants, perennials, grasses and bulbs, to create a landscape that changes colors, textures and shapes through different seasons, just like a natural landscape does. This style is relaxed and natural. It is less geometric and less controlled than traditional gardens.

Piet Oudolf, the world renowned Dutch plantsman, is one of the founders of the New Wave Planting Style. In designing the plantings of the Lurie Garden, he grouped perennial plants into combinations of plants that looked good and grew well together. His design considers each plant's entire appearance, including growth habits, leaf shape, flowering seed case and winter silhouette...

The garden is not cut back for winter months..
In the traditional gardens plants are cut back in preparation of winter months.. In the Lurie Garden, the plant materials are left throughout the winter months. It provides trhe garden the texture and structure. The ornamental grasses specifically stand out in this enviornment. In early spring, the entire garden is cut to the ground to make room for spring bulbs and perennials...