Piet Oudolf is a household name to many amateur and professional gardeners with his unique approach to gardening. An inexhaustible source of new ideas, with an emphasis on shape, form, colour, size, texture and light. Stunning & inspirational photography, this really is a book from which to dream, plan and design your garden.

Piet Oudolf has designed gardens and public parks throughout Europe, and his own garden and nursery (run by his wife Anja, see www.oudolf.com) in Holland is world famous, having featured in many articles and books. He is a skilled plant breeder who creates new varieties for specific design purposes. Noel Kingsbury is recognized internationally as a leading innovator in horticulture and landscape. His main area of interest and expertise is nature-inspired planting design, and the application of plant ecology to design and garden management. He writes for the UK and US garden press and has written 15 books. Together with Tim Richardson, he co-hosts 'The Vista Debates', a monthly forum for the discussion of garden and landscape issues, at London's Museum of Garden History.

INTRODUCTION PLANTING PALETTES: form, leaves, colour. DESIGNING SCHEMES: combining forms, combining colours, structure and filler plants, using grasses, using umbellifers, repetition and rhythm, assembling and planting, natural planting, planting through the seasons, breaking the rules, evolution, using plants as architecture. MOODS: light, movement, harmony, control, the sublime, mysticism. YEAR-ROUND PLANTING: birth, life, death. PLANT DIRECTORY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS