Synopses & Reviews
Review
Ornamental Grasses: Wolfgang Oehme and the New American Garden by Stefan Leppert is an interesting mix of biography, history lesson and landscape design primer. For a landscape designer, like myself, previewing the book was like eating a big bowl of my favorite ice cream a guilty pleasure.
In case youre not familiar with the New American Garden movement, suffice it to say that Wolfgang Oehme and his design partner, James van Sweden, are the fathers of the movement. A New American Garden is filled with wide swaths of ornamental grasses and perennials such as black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia), goldenrod (Solidago) and sedum to name just a few. It is an anti-lawn movement that finds beauty in wide open expanses of prairie plantings rather than turf grass.
Ornamental Grasses looks at the professional life of Wolfgang Oehme - how he was influenced by Karl Foerster, his friendship with Kurl Bluemel and his collaborations with James van Sweden. All names any gardener interested in ornamental grasses and the New American style knows well.
Stefan Leppert tells Oehmes story through the many public and private gardens he has designed. The book is full of breathtaking photos of these wonderful gardens that have indeed influenced so much of what we do as gardeners today. I found it so interesting to read how Oehme created the market for ornamental grasses because they were unavailable here in the US.
The book ends with a list of Wolfi-Plants. These are plants Oehme has used over and over in his designs. According to Leppert, Oehme looks for four qualities in a plant: stability, robustness, flowering duration and competitiveness. Based on those qualities, Oehmes benchmark plant is Periscaria polymorpha.
If youre thinking about turning an area of your lawn into a version of Oehmes New American garden then youll want to check out Ornamental Grasses for inspiration (and the extensive plant list). —From Gardenofpossibilities.com
Synopsis
Wolfgang Oehme is one of the most important garden designers of the last 30 years. In partnership with James Van Sweden, who contributes an essay to this book, he ushered in the revolutionary garden style known as the New American Garden. Eschewing previous conventions such as vast lawns, clipped shrubs, and dreary beds of annuals, the New American garden embodies the simple beauty and grandeur of the prairie, defining itself with large sweeps of herbaceous perennials and grasses. The feeling of sheer beauty and calmness that pervades Oehme's gardens is a reminder of our connection to nature. Ornamental Grasses chronicles Oehmes professional journey, from his childhood in war-torn Germany to his immense success in the United States, all the while exploring his remarkable career, both solo and in partnership with Van Sweden. Over 200 gorgeous photographs depict dreamlike gardens, Wolfi” plants, people, and much more.
Synopsis
Wolfgang Oehme, in partnership with James Van Sweden, has been one of the most influential garden designers of the last thirty years. Together they have spearheaded the revolutionary garden style known as the New American Garden. Encompassing the simple beauty and grandeur of the prairie, the New American Garden is defined by large sweeps of herbaceous perennials and grasses, in contrast to such previous conventions as vast sterile lawns, clipped shrubs and annuals.
This book is the first to chronicle the professional journey of Wolfgang Oehme. From his childhood in war torn Germany and his postwar forays around Europe, the scene shifts to the eastern US and Oehme's remarkable career as a garden designer, his highly successful partnership with James van Sweden with their landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden & Associates, Inc., and ultimately to his successful solo projects in his German homeland and the US.
Lauded as a 'garden book of the year' in the original German edition, the book is bursting with dreamlike gardens, original drawings and observations. Of considerable interest to gardeners wishing to follow Oehme's lead, a final section illustrates a selection of 'Wolfi plants', the most beloved and characteristic ingredients of this great designer's work.