The Oudolf Garden at Planting Fields Was Built for the Months After It Opens

Most gardens open in May. The new Oudolf Garden at Planting Fields opens to the public on October 17, 2026. Its first public season is late fall and winter, and for this design those months are the main event. Piet Oudolf, the Dutch designer behind New York City's High Line, Chicago's Lurie Garden and Philadelphia's Calder Gardens, designs plantings to keep their seedheads through winter. He treats the form and structure of a plant as it dies back as part of the design, not as leftovers from summer.

For Locust Valley, that timing matters. Neighboring Oyster Bay now has one acre that should get more interesting as the leaves come down. It is the first public Oudolf-designed garden on Long Island, and the Foundation calls it the most significant addition to the Planting Fields grounds since the Coe family commissioned the Olmsted Brothers more than a century ago. Locals who visit between now and March will see the garden in the state Oudolf plans hardest for.

Where the Acre Sits, and What It Was Before

The garden is one acre laid out in quadrants around the historic Rose Arbor, behind the Blue Pool Garden. The Long Island Herald reported in June that the site was open ground before, so the garden didn't replace an older planting.

The Rose Arbor is older than the Coes' time at Planting Fields. James Greenleaf designed it for the Byrne family around 1906. The Coes took over the property in 1913 and kept the arbor, building important gardens around it, and Foundation archive photos show Mai and Henry Coe under the roses in 1921. Oudolf's plan puts the arbor at the center of the new acre. The Foundation is restoring it with 31 new custom-designed arbors and is raising $300,000 for that work.

A Gilded Age arbor at the center of a modern perennial planting is the reason this garden doesn't look like the High Line copies found in so many newer public spaces. When the grasses die back to tan in winter, the arbor gives the garden its shape.

What Was Planted, and Why It Holds Up in January

The planting count grew over the course of the project. In January, Newsday previewed a garden of about 24,000 plants, and coverage in February still cited more than 90 species. By the Foundation's July 21 release, the plan was more than 25,000 plants and grasses from over 100 species. About 21,000 were in the ground by then, with 4,000 more planned for the summer.

The Foundation named a few of the plants:

• Prairie dropseed, the grass that anchors the meadow sections
• Threadleaf bluestar
• Pale purple coneflower 'Hula Dancer'
• Purple lovegrass
• Yarrow 'Moonshine'
• Calamint
• Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'

Newsday describes the planting as meadow matrices built on prairie dropseed. It is mostly perennials, with more than a dozen trees and shrubs. In a matrix, one base grass is planted throughout and the flowering perennials are set into it. Coneflowers and ornamental onions leave seedheads behind after they bloom, and the grasses keep their structure. A garden like this can't be judged by its bloom count in late October.

Who Built It

Newsday's July report covered the installation. Staff translated Oudolf's grid plans onto a sloped site, volunteers did the planting, and about 200 people took part. Landscape curator Peter Slothower led the work alongside Foundation staff, consultants, volunteers and State Parks staff.

Funding came from several sources:

The July release also lists the Margaret D. Sullivan Fund, the Prospect Hill Foundation, PHF Foundation, Inc., Dutch Culture USA, the Netherland-America Foundation, On White Wall, GEM, Risk Strategies and anonymous donors as supporters.

Outside attention came before the opening. The Architect's Newspaper put Planting Fields in its fall 2026 roundup of building and design openings, listing the October 17 date and describing a one-acre garden of 25,000 grasses and other plants. The Foundation says it was one of 20 projects worldwide in that feature.

The Other Opening on October 17

On the same day, a second commission opens on the East Lawn just north of the Main House. Fragment of the Foundations for a Babel Tower is a large walk-through installation by Dutch artist and filmmaker Fiona Tan. It draws on Athanasius Kircher's Turris Babel, published in Amsterdam in 1679, and is designed to look like a foundation half dug up at an archaeological site. Tan is the seventh artist in the Foundation's annual Catalyst program, and the piece stays on view through fall 2027.

The two projects suit a winter visit for similar reasons. Tan's maze-like paths and the garden's dried grasses both read well in low, angled light, and since the installation runs through next fall, there's no rush to see both on opening weekend.

Opening Day Is Invitation-Only

The October 17 unveiling runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is free but limited to the Foundation's donors and volunteers, and the deadline to register is Friday, October 9. Check-in is at the Main House at 11, remarks at noon, the garden ribbon-cutting at 12:30 and the Catalyst opening at 1:30. The Foundation notes the grounds include grass and pebble paths and recommends sturdy shoes.

Anyone not on that list can still get a preview. The fall Gold Coast Garden Tour runs Fridays and Saturdays through October 31, from 11 a.m. to noon, and includes a short stop outside the Oudolf Garden. Tickets are $18 general, $17 for seniors and $5 for ages 6 to 17.

The Practical Case for Going After the Fee Ends

According to the Foundation, the park is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but December 25. The Visitor Center and Main House are open Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the greenhouses are open Wednesday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking costs $8 per car, collected on weekends and holidays from Labor Day through November 16, and drivers 62 and older park free on weekdays. State Parks lists slightly different details, with a 4:30 p.m. closing and a fee window of September 12 to November 15. Check either site before you go.

So after mid-November, a weekend visit to the garden costs nothing to park, and that is also when the dried seedheads Oudolf plans for are taking over the beds. The Main House season ends a bit earlier. Self-guided visits at $15 general and docent-led tours at $18 general run Friday through Sunday until November 15.

For anyone planning a few visits this season, these are the next nearby dates:

1. October 10–11: the 70th Apple Fest at Mill Neck Manor, with food, live music, shopping and family activities
2. October 23–25 and October 30–31, 1–4 p.m.: Trick or Treat Tours at Planting Fields
3. October 24: the Planting Fields Fall 5K
4. October 30: a 1920s-themed murder mystery in the Main House
5. November 6, 10–11 a.m.: a one-day Everett Shinn tour
6. December 5: Deck the Halls
7. December 19–20: Home for the Holidays at the Main House, with two sessions each day

Each of these is an excuse to walk past the Rose Arbor and see how the planting has changed since the last visit. A garden designed to change with the seasons is worth seeing more than once, and residents of Locust Valley can make the trip any week from October through March.

How a planting is set out around a historic structure is the same kind of design question I work through with clients when a house's setting matters as much as the house. If you have questions about how the grounds and garden design shape the way a North Shore home presents, Laura Zambratto is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.