Exclusive Screening of Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf

There are two new documentaries about important garden designers – Dutchman Piet Oudolf, creator of the Dutch Wave movement and designer of the NYC’s High Line and the Hudson River Valley’s Frank Cabot, who founded The Garden Conservancy.

Both of these films examine their subjects as artists who have a passion for their palettes, the landscape. Both men are constantly searching for their own idea of beauty – how to find it, what it means in nature and how to present it to others in the garden. And that is where the similarities end.

Revolutionary landscape designer Piet Oudolf is known for designing public works like New York City’s popular High Line and the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park that redefine our conception of gardens as works of art in themselves. This gorgeous, meditative documentary immerses viewers in his work, taking us inside Oudolf’s creative process. From his aesthetic theories to his strikingly abstract sketches to the ecological implications of his ideas, the film poetically reveals how Oudolf upends conventional notions of nature, public space, and, ultimately, beauty itself.

Oudolf started a small nursery in Hummelo, Holland, with his wife Anja, when he was 19. His gardens have become about a shift in perspective, seeing plants through their four seasons – not just at their big moment - and caring about their structure, leaves, seed heads, growth habits, as much or possibly more than the fleeting flower moment. Since most of the blooms – azalea, peony, phlox, rose - only last about two weeks, it’s logical. But in all honesty, it takes some time to finally realize you don’t even know what your garden looks like in the dead of winter, during the mud season of very early spring or a dark, rainy fall afternoon. Oudolf has become, arguably, the most famous garden designer working today and yet has been welcoming to thousands who visit his home and garden for inspiration year after year. Anja Oudolf says they may close the garden to visitors, “we are in our seventies, we are tired!” I suspect it won’t happen – they care about education too much. Oudolf claims, “For me, garden design isn’t just about plants, it is about emotion, atmosphere, a sense of contemplation. You try to move people with what you do. You look at this, and it goes deeper than what you see. It reminds you of something in the genes — nature, or the longing for nature.”

Cabot, who died in 2011, was a charming aristocrat who came to garden his family’s magnificent 40-acre estate in Charlevoix region of Canada after business reversals left him wondering what to do with his life. His wife suggested making some riding paths and from that small idea, he found his true métier, became a self-taught horticulturalist, and made two astonishing gardens – Les Quatre Vents in Canada, and Stonecrop in Cold Spring.

As I watched the two films, I began to think of Oudolf as the quirky Joe Pye weed and Cabot as Delphinium. Not surprisingly, Mr. Joe Pye totally shifts the understanding on how to see nature’s beauty while Mr. Delphinium goes back to ancient traditions and theories of beauty for his answers. For instance, Oudolf has taken what were considered weeds and reconfigured them as important plants in his designs.

To tell you more would be to ruin your pleasure. Go see both! Watching them both was like taking a hit of Miracle Grow – I felt a little guilty, but it was really energizing.

Saturday, April 7 at 7pm, The Gardener will be shown at the Moviehouse at 48 Main St. Millerton, NY. Gregory Long, CEO of the New York Botanical Garden will lead a Q&A discussion.

Monday, April 9th at 12:30 and 7pm, Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, will be shown at the Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Ave. Greenwich Conn. Tickets $25 at the door or call 203-869-9242 to reserve in advance. Tom Piper, the Director of the film will lead a Q&A discussion afterwards. Space is limited.