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June 03, 2005
The Battery Bosque
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The second phase of Piet Oudolf's master garden plan for the gardens at The Battery opened to the public yesterday. The Battery Bosque is a complete transformation of the dispiriting grove of plane trees that used to form the gloomy heart of The Battery. The trees have been limbed up bringing light and air into the bosque, and the tall mottled trunks of the plane trees are one of the many pleasing elements in the design.
Gone is the Belgian block paving, replaced by wide gravel paths and gracefully curving island beds edged in very contemporary bands of corten steel. But the real excitement is the planting. A huge palette of unusual plants will create a rich weave of texture under the trees. Instead of the more common flat plane of groundcover, vinca or pachysandra, a complex matrix of different varied shapes and especially heights should provide a different visual effect. We can’t wait to see what it looks like when the plantin grows in.
An excellent feature of The Battery web site is the plant list they provide. Over a hundred and thirty varieties are listed, and many of them you won’t find in your local nursery, things like Seslaria, Sorghastrum nutans, and Zizia aurea. We are planning to take the plant list down to The Battery, for a little Plant ID 101.
Posted by gardenguidenyc at June 3, 2005 09:29 AM