Prairie Planting Style
The prairie style has quickly become the favoured style for contemporary planting design with the esteemed Dutch planting designer, Piet Oudolf leading the charge, through his bold use of prairie planting, alongside contemporary landscape design.
Planting in the prairie style can be achieved using species native to the American mid-west prairies, but also with species originating from similar climates. A successfully planted prairie bed should be designed with neighbouring plants selected to maximise inter-species competition, to ensure the border is completely and robustly established.
The principles of the prairie planting style aim to recreate the diverse and rich palette of the grasslands. This is best achieved through the use of drift or block planting (whereby same species are planted side by side) of varying dimensions. Repetition and a perceived randomness to the planting layout gives a naturalistic and organic feel whilst providing a rich array of nectar and pollen for bees and insects.
Prairie refers to the environment in which these plants originate. The grasslands of the United States accommodate a mostly treeless landscape situated within the temperate grasslands, savanas and shrublands biome known as the prairie. The lack of trees alongside a moderate level of annual rainfall in such a temperate climate allows for a composition of grasses, flowering pernennials and shrubs to step forward and dominate the landscape.
Plants we might use in an Prairie garden.
Planting Design
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