Naturalistic Planting
自然主義プランティング / 1990s– / Style / Garden Styles
Planting design modeled on perennial meadow ecologies, led by Piet Oudolf: beauty extended to the dead seed heads of winter, a year-round idea rewriting urban public space from the High Line outward.



At a glance
Visual cues
- Perennial and grass communities
- The beauty of dieback
- Drifts of planting
- Ecology as the model
Best used for
- Planting public space such as a riverbank or an old viaduct cheaply
- Designing a garden open all year that must hold up in winter
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- Perennials and grasses, few species repeated in large masses
- Composition
- Drifts that meander and interlock along blended edges
- Material
- A single cut in spring, seed heads and stems left standing
- Caution
- Copying the look by adding species lets the strongest grasses smother the rest by the second year, and the drift turns into weeds.
- Further study
- Piet Oudolf / the High Line / the New Perennial movement
Related entries
- Cottage Garden (コテージガーデン)Same Garden Styles lineage.Compare Naturalistic Planting and Cottage Garden
- Garden City (田園都市)Shared effects: Calm / Futurity.Compare Naturalistic Planting and Garden City
Often confused with
More from Garden Styles
Continue through styles in the same Garden Styles family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Roji (Tea Garden) (露地)Shared effects: Calm / Intimacy.
- Moss Garden (苔庭)Shared effects: Calm / Intimacy.
- Korean Garden (韓国庭園)Shared effects: Calm / Intimacy.
Browse all Garden Styles entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/naturalistic-planting
- Markdown
- [Naturalistic Planting — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/naturalistic-planting)
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- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/naturalistic-planting">Naturalistic Planting — IndexStyle</a>