An aerial view of Oudolf Garden Detroit at Belle Isle.
Photo courtesy of Oudolf Garden Detroit
Oudolf Garden Detroit (OGD), the newest public garden designed by world-renowned perennial garden master Piet Oudolf, will officially open to the public at 10 a.m. today, Saturday, Aug. 28. Unfortunately, due to COVID-related travel restrictions, Oudolf will not be able to join in person for the opening of his masterpiece 2.5-acre perennial garden on Detroit’s Belle Isle. The garden opening will be marked by a ribbon-cutting and brief remarks at 10 a.m. at the garden site in front of the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon.
“Detroit is very special to me. My bags were packed but unfortunately, this trip was not to be. This garden sits on one of the most natural sites for one of my gardens anywhere,” said Oudolf. “It’s a place where people can go and never be bored or disappointed. It is also a place that will teach you about plants because you will see plants you have never seen before or have never seen combined this way.”
What began as a love letter from Detroit sent to Oudolf from The Garden Club of Michigan has become a reality after more than five years of hard work and perseverance by the all-volunteer Oudolf Garden Detroit Grounds Crew. Collectively OGD brought this garden to life by gaining the official permission to plant the garden, raise the $4.7 million to install and endow it and overcome curveballs like record flooding in 2019, and a global pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
“Last year, when Mother Nature sent us all to our rooms, some of us snuck out and planted an incredible garden designed by Piet Oudolf,” said Maura Campbell, Oudolf Garden Detroit Grounds Crew spokesperson. “A public garden like this is needed now more than ever. It offers a peaceful, beautiful and safe place to enjoy a piece of living art. It’s good for the body and the soul.”
Oudolf Garden Detroit is an all-volunteer group dedicated to placing and maintaining a Piet Oudolf designed garden on Belle Isle in Detroit. Piet Oudolf is the internationally renowned Dutch garden designer and horticulturist who created the High Line in New York City and the Lurie Garden in Chicago. His public gardens transform people and places. OGD is committed to overseeing the garden and its operating activities after the garden opens.
Oudolf Garden Detroit is a collaborative project, the Grounds Crew worked closely with partners including The Department of Natural Resources, The Belle Isle Conservancy, The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Detroit-area foundations plus individual donors and volunteers. The professional contractors and technical team for the garden included InSite Design, Anglin Civil and United Lawnscape.
“Every ten days it’s a new show as the plants grow and change,” said Richard Thomas, another original OGD Grounds Crew member and local garden expert. “Piet’s design offers accessible year-round beauty since he designs gardens to be accessible and interesting in all seasons.
According to Oudolf no group has ever planted one of his public gardens more expertly or efficiently as OGD. Innovations include using technology to guide the garden planting as well as educate the public via the OGD website’s plant database and interactive map interfaces.
However, this public garden is above all a testament to the genius of Piet Oudolf. When the Oudolf Garden Detroit site flooded in July 2019 due to the historic water levels in the Great Lakes, Oudolf went back to his drawing board and redesigned the garden while Oudolf Garden Detroit went out and raised more money to elevate the entire garden site by three feet to withstand future flooding. This is the first public garden to incorporate all three of his iconic planting styles: block, matrix, and group planting. The design is divided into A, B and C beds for each style, respectively. The garden includes 32,000 hearty perennials and grasses including many native species that were planted in late summer 2020, with 90 percent of these plants coming from Michigan growers.
His work at the High Line in New York City and Lurie Garden in Chicago are tourist attractions that have been both economic and artistic successes. The public is welcome to the opening. Organizers will follow the most current COVID safety guidelines as of Aug. 28.
For more information visit www.oudolfgardendetroit.org to view interactive maps and plant lists, drone video coverage, photos, plant quiz, a sponsor a plant donation effort and even an audio Latin plant names pronunciation guide.
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