Piet Oudolf And Chocolate Mousse
The Oudolf Field, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset
All last summer I’d been meaning to visit this place. There just wasn’t time.
There really isn’t time this year either, especially as it’s a two hour drive. But what do you know, all of a sudden Himself is chivvying for replacement floorboards and where is the best reclamation yard for miles around? Just up the road from Hauser & Wirth.
For the second time in 24 hours Mike rejected the route offered by his trusty navigator and decided to follow his own. After all the hard work I’d put into it too. All that burning of the late night oil, slaving over dusty old maps and sketching out of route plans on the back of an envelope.. OK, so I put the postcode into Google Maps and pressed ‘Go’. The most challenging part of the whole operation is finding a spot with 4G, as rare as a shedful of hens’ teeth in these parts. Faced with ‘No Service’, following a preset route requires imagination but is not impossible. Setting it up in the first place though, that needs every last bit of juice in the tank. Diligent observance of signal strength is required and a lightning fast reaction the second there’s enough. How many times has Mike had to ram on the anchors at the scream of “STTTOP!! HERE! NOW!”, sliding to a halt into a farmer’s gateway if he’s lucky and in the middle of the single track road if he’s not.
But this time of course we were going by Mike’s route. So how did that work then? On Tuesday night we followed a tractor which refused to pull over and then yesterday three large lorries in a convoy on a narrow country lane. The journey home on each occasion, following the directions provided by the app, proved to be faultless.
The Oudolf Field sits behind the Somerset outpost of modern art gallery Hauser & Wirth, located in Bruton at Durslade Farm.
Carefully shaped and planted, the garden echoes the tradition of classical gardens, but the variety of species and combination of plants creates a looseness, softening the formality of the appearance. The garden contains over 26,000 herbaceous perennials. Wide canopied trees have been planted between the gallery and garden to frame the view. The surrounding hedges provide a sense of enclosure, whilst the views of the hills and fields beyond remain visible. A series of paths cut through the vegetation, inviting visitors to wander through the garden. Oudolf’s landscaping design continues around the buildings including the inner cloister courtyard, where the old buildings meet the new. *
I just loved it. The sweeping vistas from one area of the garden to the next..
The perfect composition of the borders in terms of height, colour, texture and form.
The softness of the planting enhanced by grasses.
On this quite breezy day, the movement and rustling of the leaves.
Echinacea purpurea ‘Fatal Attraction’
The whole site is literally alive with butterflies, bees and flocks of small birds homing in on the seedheads that are already starting to form.
Snails? Welcome ones.
The art gallery (no indoor pictures allowed), as with the garden, is free to enter and well worth a look around. Whilst it may not appeal to those with a more traditional taste it is interesting without doubt. I will gaze upon the jars in the kitchen cupboard in a completely different light from now on. And then there is the Roth Bar & Grill. We booked ahead and I’m glad we did. It’s extremely popular. Mostly, it would appear, with the local ‘Ladies Who Lunch’. And why not indeed.
Our customary practice on a lunch outing, for the sake of the perpetual diet, is to share a dessert. One portion, two spoons. But by this time of course Mike had spotted the chocolate mousse being served at a table nearby. It seemed that if I was to enjoy so much as a single molecule of the mousse and its accompanying salted caramel sauce I would have to order one of my own. Delicious. If a tad rich. A half portion would have been ample. For me.
A further wander around the garden to try to burn off some of the calories before plotting the onward route. Floorboards were calling. Back to the place with the Russian tank. But that’s a tale for another day.
No shortage of inspiration to take home.
* words from the Oudolf Field guidebook
With thanks to Jill Anderson for reminding me to go. You can find her recent post about Hauser & Wirth at Growing Nicely (here)
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How gorgeous, Jessica. My friend visited a year or so back and it’s another on my list. I’ve even got the place nearby to stay at written down. Your photos are wonderful; I do hope to see it one day. PS You brought back not so distant memories of us trying to get Spotify coverage on our drive down to Devon!
We kept saying as we walked around that you would love it. It does make me think that I should be filling in all the gaps here with more of the same rather than new plants of a different type. The impact that all those huge drifts make is phenomenal. I shall wait and see what survives the winter wet and then buy more/divide/take cuttings and encourage self seeders. We’re still having internet problems at home as well. One day we’ll make it into the digital age.
You are so right: I am quite a big fan of repetition. Not boring repetition, but ‘just enough’! I keep trying to persuade my Mum to do exactly as you suggest, as I think it could reduce the demands her garden makes of her, but I’m not sure I’ve had much impact as yet! Very wise to check which plants are happy first though! Hope your internet improves very soon.
Internet is driving me mad tonight. The spinning wheel of doom is much in evidence.
I’ve had so many plant failures that it pays to test one or two out before breaking the bank. Next year will be a real war against pests and I must also improve the soil, drainage and fertility.
Oh,I was in Somerset last week and completely forgot about this garden to visit!!!! Next time, The advantage of Tom Tom is that it doesn’t need coverage but on the other hand the routes aren’t always as good as Google and we have to remember to pack it and bring it home afterwards!!
It’s really quite strange because the route and current position seem to come via satellite and the background maps via the mobile signal. Every so often the map disappears and it becomes something of a game keeping the blue spot (position) following the blue line (route). I know I’ve gone wrong when the blue spot takes off into the ether!
Just looked at the map (google of course) and we must have almost driven past it!!! !!!! !!!!!
Next time, as you say. It’s well worth it. And so close to the A303 that you can easily take a detour. Just rather too many air and motor museums in the vicinity. Sooner or later favours will be called in.
Now I am green with envy and must return to Durslade Farm. We visited in January 2015, and I knew in my heart of hearts that it was really too early to view The Oudolf Field, but it is far more beautiful than imaged it would be when it was still wearing its winter cloak.
I hope they leave the grasses and seedheads uncut over winter. I’ve planted phlomis this year, although will need more now having seen them en masse. It will be interesting to see it with a coating of frost.
It sits so perfectly into the landscape, doesn’t it? You certainly chose what must be the best time of year to require floorboards. Well done! I was a little confused by the whole pudding business. Since when was half a chocolate mousse sufficient?
The hedges are the perfect height to frame the garden without interfering with the views. And from outside the garden you wouldn’t know it was there, well apart from the space ship thingy. Ahhh, you’ve exposed my lack of a sweet tooth. I’m more of a savoury sort of girl. There is an exception though. Anything with salted caramel has to be good. The salt makes all the difference.
What a lovely place! Absolutely stunning
I was expecting it to be good, but it really is stunning.
Good to see you got there, finally. It’s marvellous, I love it.
I liked the repetition, especially of the grasses like Molinia ‘Transparent’ and Imperata cylindrica. Goodness knows how I would make it work on a slope, an extra challenge.
Maybe think of sand dunes or mountain slopes … lots of grasses work brilliantly on tricky sites. I know Ouldolf Field looks unrepresentative, as it’s a dead flat almost rectangular expanse but with your imagination you can make the plantings of dreams work for your sloping garden.
I think I have the basics of it but it is clear from Oudolf Field that I need to bulk up all of the plantings. This is definitely a case of less (variety) being more. And hopefully the slope will add an extra perspective on the design.
What a lovely day out, Jessica, and what lovely, and tidy, gardens. I shall just carry on enjoying your photos, hoping that one day I shall manage to create a patch of flowery loveliness, even if it is a one metre square patch of our land!
It seemed as if every clump of the same type had an invisible boundary so it just touched its neighbours but never overcrowded. Very neat indeed. It’s still a very new garden. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when it has matured and softened a bit.
What an inspiring garden…perfect for an art gallery. I especially like the area in the first photograph, with the lawn-covered mounds. They relate nicely to the green hills beyond and add an interesting contrast to the blooms. You have been lucky in your travels this year!
Those mini mounds do work very well. I spent a long time skulking in the heleniums to get that shot without too many people in it.
Oh My, thanks for sharing your great photos of this place! So inspiring.
It is very inspiring for me as it is exactly the sort of effect I want for my slope. Just not on the same scale!
Ooh, another place to put on my list of “places to stop when travelling down to Exeter”. I did go to Cothay after you mentioned it last time. It was lovely, it rained but it was lovely!
I’m glad you liked Cothay. That’s another really good garden.
Oh, is that tank still on offer?! 😉
Having lived next door to Kansas for much of my life, it’s fascinating to see the very well-planned “prairie look” as a garden. The use of grasses is wonderful, and the knowledge to work so closely with natural growth habits.
On a somewhat related note, have you checked Gaura (now Oenothera lindheimeri) as a possible plant for the slope? Definitely takes dry conditions quite well and is said to be hardy to -28 C with good drainage… Just a thought 😉
The tank was still there and I even got a picture of it which will no doubt feature at some point. You would think everyone would want a Russian tank for their lawn. I’m tempted, just to put the wind up the rabbits.
I had Gaura up there last year but it has come back looking very weedy, in fact only one piece has really come back at all. With the heavy wet clay I will struggle with so many perennials. It will be very much trial and error.
Heavy clay is tough stuff – wet or dry 🙁
It is. And with only about a day in transition between each state when it is actually workable.
What a fabulous place to visit, very inspirational. Your route planning made me giggle! x
Anything involving technology is such a struggle down here. I don’t understand why it has to be so hard!
Unbelievable…breathtaking…and not a Pheasant in sight!
Wonderful photos Jessica…thanks for the tour!
Get the floorboards?????
Cheers!
Linda :o)
I bet they are there, lurking in the woods. At night, when everyone has gone home, they come in and peck the bloom off something, just because they can.
No floorboards yet, but possibilities!
Don’t get me started on any navigation other than the map and me the passenger. A fantastically inspiring garden and the planting there is the only thing that comforts me if I have box blight-jury still out on that one but looking OK currently.
I do hope you manage to escape the box blight. The lonicera hedge we planted here is filling out, but it’s not the same. And much faster growing.. it needs clipping every few weeks!
Brilliant! I know Scampston in North Yorkshire and Pensthorpe in Norfolk by Oudolf. One of the best designers, and not difficult to emulate if you know what grows best in your area (the Prairie look is something of a challenge in the wet west of Scotland). But mainly I think it is being bold enough to plant fewer things but more of them – am slowly heading that way – maybe I should just go for it? Lovely to see another of his gardens Jessica. (Wish you hadn’t mentioned that chocolate mousse!)
The prairie look may be a challenge for me too but it’s so lovely I’ve got to try. Like you I am moving towards fewer things, it does look so good to see big drifts of colour. We should just go for it. Sorry about the chocolate mousse, I forgot it was fast day. So far I haven’t lost any weight this week. I wonder why?
Brilliant, lovely photos and a great post. Yes, an ambition….
Your climate may be better suited than mine. Perhaps my biggest challenge will be defeating the slugs. I love heleniums but I do believe the slimy ones love them more.
You show us so many fabulous places I think we shall have to come and live with you, and join you on your days out ……..
You’re very welcome Anne, as long as you remember to bring your plasterer’s trowel.
No problem ……. but I haven’t done any plastering since we lived in our Victorian house in the 90s, so I might be a little RUSTY (sorry, couldn’t resist that one!!)
I’m sure we can find alternative employment. There are still several tons of rubble to shift.. 🙂
I’m so glad those floorboards were close to here! We visited the garden this time last year and we loved it. It is our favourite style of planting and the garden looks as if it gets better and better each year. I think you will trying to find more floor boards to replace in the future to get a return trip! Sarah x
It is quite a long drive so it’s a real bonus to find other reasons to make the journey! There are areas of the garden that have obviously been recently replanted, I suppose it must be three years old now so will be due some maintenance. The vast majority still looks fab and so densely planted there is little room for weeds!
What a gorgeous place. Beautiful house and those gardens look so rich. As for the choc mousse…. 🙂
The choc mousse was good, it has to be said. I have made several forays into my bramble patch since then in an attempt to burn off the calories.
Fantastic photos and the Piet Oudolf planting looks wonderful. This garden is now on my list. Last May Noel Kingsbury gave a talk on Piet Oudolf which is well worth hearing if you ever see Noel doing it again.
Hi Steve and welcome! I have been an Oudolf fan for a while based on pictures of his designs. Having now seen one in the flesh so to speak I would say it is even better than I imagined. I will certainly keep an eye out for one of Noel’s talks, thanks.
What a beautiful place. Thanks for showing us,, theres no way I would ever get there. How does anyone visualise what to plant like that? Amazing.
Jill, if you can manage .59 you would easily do this. Plus it’s all on the flat, chariot friendly paths. Red wine available at rest stops. The beauty of this is that it uses relatively few different plants. There is a lot of repetition (in a good way), with new combinations each time. They have achieved what I struggle with most.. getting the heights right.
I’m a stickler for paper maps, preferably Ordnance Survey ones – just love those. And you don’t need a signal for them 😉
Wonderful photos and I love some of the combinations such as the Echinops & was that Veronicastrum? I’ve not even known of this garden but I’ve added it to my list now. What a fine place to enjoy colour and form, and interesting art too.
I used to love paper map reading too. Then Himself bought a Tom Tom and I was made redundant. At least using the iPad gives me some control back! When it works it also shows useful things like traffic congestion so you’ve a chance to avoid it and find another way.
From studying the planting plan I believe it’s Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Erica’.
P.S. I’m with Mike, a whole choc mousse just for me!
🙂
Those snails … look like eyes to me. Disembodied. Creepy. Very.
We have been revelling in the Tibits buffet (in London and Zurich).
A dessert buffet. With chocolate mousse. Warm brownies, And and and. Yummy!
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-louise-bourgeois-eyes-carved-in-black-granite-at-hauser-wirth-art-82368423.html
Definitely creepy. Shudder.
You were right. Staring up out of the earth. Definitely creepy!
Whilst I saw snails (I see molluscs in my sleep so hardly surprising..) Mike saw eyes too. In fact he sees the head of a Mandarin duck. I could see it immediately he described it.
It is just as well there is no Tibits in Devon..
I have read about this new garden, having visited some of his other gardens it is on the to do list.
Thanks for the preview.
Definitely worth the trip down Brian.
Very interesting .. I love his gardens & use of colour. Your photos are wonderful .. I look forward to looking at them on a bigger screen … We are travelling at the moment & the phone screen while have to do. .. Hope all goes well with your renovations.
Thanks Gerrie. Hope you’re travelling for pleasure and having a great time!
What an incredible garden but why is the last house on those weird mushroom supports?
They are staddle stones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staddle_stones
The building would have originally held grain or some other foodstuff and having it raised above the ground kept the rats out!
Stunning combinations of plants and great swaths of color. Your photography really does it justice, too. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Beth. It is a truly inspirational garden. It’s an easy thing to say, but it really has given me plenty of new ideas. Parting with a fiver also let me come home with the planting plan so I’ve a great resource to look up new things to try here.
Absolutely breathtaking! It brought to mind a symphony conducted by a world class maestro, which I guess is exactly what it is.
Indeed it is.
Those borders are gorgeous, if only I had the space to recreate something like that!
I have to admit when I first looked at the snails I thought that they were eyes. This is the first time in a post that I have read about someone and seeing lots of butterflies as it seems this year there is a certain lack of them. I wondered if the windy weather that has prevailed is something to do with that.
Turns out they are eyes.. see Diana’s link above.
I’m seeing fewer butterflies here too (no pun!). Mostly they’re white ones. I’ve not seen a single comma so far this year, a couple of peacocks and no red admirals. Perhaps it’s too early. I would imagine the concentration of blooms at Hauser & Wirth brings them in from miles around, but come to think of it they were mostly white there too.
Beautiful shots, well worth the trip. It won’t take you long to rival it 🙂
Rival it, never. Maybe just an impression of it here and there.
Sounds like it was quite a drive to get there, but oh what a gorgeous jewel at the end of the journey! I love Oudolf’s work. The gardens look amazing with those flowing bands of texture and color. So incredible! The art is interesting, too, and the dessert sounds delicious. What a great place to visit!
The huge drifts of plants were so impressive. It makes my planting in threes look rather inadequate. I can see I’m going to have to get into serious propagation mode in the future.
Beautiful plantings and a fantastic post! Your photos are exceptional and it sounds like you had a great visit. I love seeing the mass plantings of perennials all in peak bloom at this time of year, it’s really a show.