Pruned: Artfully Planned Decay

(Photo by Herman Wouters for The New York Times.)

There's a fine article today by the New York Times on Piet Oudolf, the Dutch avant-gardener and rarely mentioned co-conspirator of the future elevated park of New York's High Line. Go read and find out why “the real test of a well-composed garden is not how nicely it blooms but how beautifully it decomposes” and also why Oudolf got tired of “the soft pornography of the flower.”

In the Archives:
The Very Rich Hour of a Compost Pile

3 COMMENTS —

tristan
January 31, 2008 at 12:45:00 PM CST
so there you are at last !

i'd begun to scan the obituary columns for news ...

Anonymous
February 1, 2008 at 12:37:00 AM CST
Thanks for pointing us to the article. Just goes to show the wabi sabi aesthetic isn't just an esoteric eastern conceit. Having grown up in older New England towns, it's distressing to be surrounded by subdivision landscapes that feature trees just out of cans or boxes and forever staked to crutches. (I live and work in the 'burbs of SF) But that is what sells, is demanded, and sadly, that's what a lot of us in the la profession wind up propagating. I got a kick out of your archive link to John Pfahl's artful compost piles. yeay for decay!

Anonymous
February 1, 2008 at 10:38:00 AM CST
"soft pornography of the flower"
like this is the funniest phrase of 2008 so far! :)
sadly though, it's true.
flowers should be dead, long live decay!

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	Artfully Planned Decay Thursday, January 31, 2008 #heroes (Photo by Herman Wouters for The New York Times.) There's a fine article today by the New York Times on Piet Oudolf, the Dutch avant-gardener and rarely mentioned co-conspirator of the future elevated park of New York's High Line. Go read and find out why “the real test of a well-composed garden is not how nicely it blooms but how beautifully it decomposes” and also why Oudolf got tired of “the soft pornography of the flower.” In the Archives: The Very Rich Hour of a Compost Pile 3 COMMENTS — tristan January 31, 2008 at 12:45:00 PM CST so there you are at last ! i'd begun to scan the obituary columns for news ... Anonymous February 1, 2008 at 12:37:00 AM CST Thanks for pointing us to the article. Just goes to show the wabi sabi aesthetic isn't just an esoteric eastern conceit. Having grown up in older New England towns, it's distressing to be surrounded by subdivision landscapes that feature trees just out of cans or boxes and forever staked to crutches. (I live and work in the 'burbs of SF) But that is what sells, is demanded, and sadly, that's what a lot of us in the la profession wind up propagating. I got a kick out of your archive link to John Pfahl's artful compost piles. yeay for decay! Anonymous February 1, 2008 at 10:38:00 AM CST "soft pornography of the flower" like this is the funniest phrase of 2008 so far! :) sadly though, it's true. flowers should be dead, long live decay! Post a Comment — Comments on posts older than a week are moderated — —— Newer Post Older Post —— Home	1