Summary (by AI): I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the stunning Oudolf Field in Somerset and felt inspired to recreate its naturalistic beauty in my own garden despite arriving earlier in the season than intended.
Blog: Over the years, I’ve grown to absolutely love those big, wild grasses you can plant in your garden—things like Miscanthus. Through them, I discovered Piet Oudolf, the Dutch designer who has done some incredible pieces of garden design all over the world.
The first time I came across his work was up in Norfolk, at the Millennium Garden in Pensthorpe Natural Park. It was beautiful—just full of these tall, structural grasses. He’s even designed the High Line in New York, if you’ve ever been there.
Recently, I was looking for a garden to visit in Somerset because I knew I was heading down that way, and I happened to stumble across this one: the Oudolf Field. The garden is set in the grounds of Hauser & Wirth, which is actually a pretty fancy art and design gallery created out of an old Somerset farm. The location is stunning.
I turned up on this beautiful day, but once again, I think I made a mistake and came at completely the wrong time of year. It’s mid-to-late spring now, so the grasses are only just starting to come through and the tall perennials are barely peeking out. Even so, it is still a beautiful place to be.
It seems this part of Somerset is a really well-to-do area; looking across the fields, you can see some absolutely beautiful buildings and estates. In fact, The Newt is just around the corner.
The garden itself was lovely, and I’ve already resolved to come back at various times of the year. I think it will look absolutely stunning in the winter, when the grasses mellow out and die back, leaving those beautiful brown structures with all their seed heads still intact.
As I was walking through the gift shop on my way out, I noticed a book on how the garden was designed. It looked fantastic, so on a whim, I bought it. Now, I’m going to see if I can recreate some of that magic in my own back garden!
Overall, it was a wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I will definitely be hunting out more of Piet Oudolf’s gardens.
The Map: