Historically high water levels are putting a damper on plans for a highly anticipated new garden on Belle Isle.
Eighteen thousand plants were planned to go in the ground in mid-September — the first major planting — at Oudolf Garden Detroit, a new garden designed by world renowned Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. It’s to be installed in front of the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon right next to the Detroit River.
You cannot control Mother Nature. As you may have heard in the news lately, or experienced personally, the Great Lakes have surpassed 100-year records for high water levels this summer! It has impacted people across the region and it’s impacted our garden too. The Belle Isle garden site is right next to the Detroit River in the middle of the Great Lakes basin. Our wetland looks more like a lake, and the groundwater is still quite high all over the garden site.
See More “Fall 2019 Planting Postponed to 2020 due to High Water”In March 2018, Ray Sander, president of Delaware Botanic Gardens, sent a letter to the Garden Club of America in support of Piet Oudolf’s nomination for their Medal of Honor award. On May 19, the Garden Club of America announced that they have bestowed their Medal of Honor to Piet Oudolf.
via Piet Oudolf receives major award from Garden Club of America | Coastal Point
DETROIT (AP) — A proposed garden for Detroit’s Belle Isle by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf is starting to take shape.
Construction is set to begin Tuesday on a 2.5-acre (1-hectare) garden that’s expected to open in fall 2020. Organizers say 18,000 plants being grown for the site have been ordered for a planned installation in September.
via Garden by Piet Oudolf to take shape on Detroit’s Belle Isle – SFChronicle.com
Work is underway on a new garden on Belle Isle by world-renowned Dutch landscape designer and “plantsman” Piet Oudolf.
Plans call for about 18,000 plants and two plantings — one that takes place in September and another in spring 2020. The 2.5-acre garden will be ready in fall 2020.
via Piet Oudolf garden breaks ground on Belle Isle | News Hits
Belle Isle will become even more beautiful when an intricately designed garden built with thousands of local flowers opens next year.
Oudolf Garden Detroit, a creation of Dutch designer Piet Oudolf that’s set to open in fall 2020, broke ground June 11 on the island.
The 2.5-acre space, currently a marshy field in front of the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Tower, will source about 90% of its plants from Michigan.
via Belle Isle garden with famed designer Piet Oudolf breaks ground
DETROIT (AP) — A proposed garden for Detroit’s Belle Isle by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf is starting to take shape.
Construction is set to begin Tuesday on a 2.5-acre (1-hectare) garden that’s expected to open in fall 2020. Organizers say 18,000 plants being grown for the site have been ordered for a planned installation in September.
via Garden by Piet Oudolf to take shape on Detroit’s Belle Isle | Nation | theeagle.com
DETROIT (AP) – A proposed garden for Detroit’s Belle Isle by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf is starting to take shape.
Construction is set to begin Tuesday on a 2.5-acre (1-hectare) garden that’s expected to open in fall 2020. Organizers say 18,000 plants being grown for the site have been ordered for a planned installation in September.
via Garden by Piet Oudolf to take shape on Detroit’s Belle Isle – Washington Times
Over on Belle Isle today, boosters broke ground on the Piet Oudolf garden, the unofficial name for the landscape installation planned for 2.5 acres at the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon.
Oudolf is a legendary Dutch garden designer and author who’s perhaps best known for his work on New York City’s High Line, a linear park on a former elevated rail track, and the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park. You can watch a PBS NewsHour segment with him below; in it, he talks specifically about the project in Detroit and the city itself.
On today’s episode, we speak with two members of the volunteer organization Oudolf Garden Detroit — Maura and Duncan Campbell. They tell us all about how Oudolf was persuaded to do a commission in Detroit, what’s involved and how backers hope it might lead to some transformational changes to Belle Isle — and the city as a whole.
via A Garden By A World-Class Designer Is Coming To Belle Isle
A highly anticipated garden on Belle Isle drawn up by world renowned Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf is beginning to take root as crews and volunteers on Tuesday broke ground, laying the groundwork for the first plantings which will go into the dirt in mid-September.
Holding shovels while banners that read “Oudolf” flapped nearby, a group of more than a dozen supporters and crew members stood in front of the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon on Tuesday as the sun shone down on where Oudolf Garden Detroit will be installed. Over the next three months, construction crews will improve the site’s drainage, bolster the soil and install garden beds and gravel paths.