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.