Art of the Garden Designing Durslade, Piet Oudolf in Conversation with Tania Compton

Piet Oudolf has created a garden for Hauser & Wirth Somerset, which includes a 1.5-acre perennial meadow to the north of the farmyard, planted with some 26,000 perennials. But how do you start a garden from scratch? Until recently, Oudolf Field, was just that: a field. Tania Compton talks to Oudolf about his long association with Somerset, the inspiration he has drawn from the surrounding countryside at Durslade, his creative design process and the relationships with those working on the project with him. Piet Oudolf is an internationally renowned garden designer, who is best known for his work on the High Line in New York and, in the UK, Scampston Hall, Pensthorpe Wildlife Park and the garden for Peter Zumthor’s 2011 Serpentine Pavillion. Tania Compton is a garden designer and writer, who spent 12 years as gardens editor of House and Garden. She is the author of Dream Gardens: 100 Inspirational Gardens and is currently compiling a book for Little Brown, which will be published in 2015. She advises on various private gardens in Wiltshire and Dorset. This event has now sold out Art of the Garden is a celebratory programme that will explore the relationship between gardening, art and the landscape. This autumn and winter, to celebrate the opening of Oudolf Field, a perennial meadow designed by Piet Oudolf, Hauser & Wirth Somerset has invited leading lights in the fields of landscape and garden design, art and sculpture, literature and photography to talk about their work. Art of the Garden is curated by Caroline Donald, Garden Editor of the Sunday Times