Piet Oudolf

Piet Oudolf, the world renowned planting designer has been appointed Visiting Professor of Planting Design at the Department of Landscape, at the University of Sheffield.

“I was very pleased to take up this appointment at what is undoubtedly the leading University Department in the world in Planting Design” said Oudolf on his appointment.

Piet Oudolf has transformed the profile and role of public planting design in urban landscapes over the past 20 years.

He has shown that, when expertly designed and when the plant material is also expertly understood, it is possible to produce plantings that are robust, long lived, and manageable and which also have a dramatic, uplifting effect on urban people.

His work has challenged the beliefs that planting is a rather secondary factor in the design of urban places, and that the provision of generic greenery, based on structure and texture is all that is required for successful urban spaces.

He has done this through a variety of projects, both in Europe and the USA, for example, the Lurie Garden in Chicago, and most notably the High Line in New York.

Although location and built form in the latter project, is iconic, it is really the day by day changing tapestry of colour, scent and form of the planted herbaceous ground layer, that continues to draw in visitors, and in particular local residents.