Piet Oudolf's new garden at Planting Fields opened to the public on October 17, as most perennial beds on the North Shore are being cut back for the year, and the timing fits the design. According to the Foundation's landscape curator, the Oudolf Garden "was designed to be a four-season garden," so the fall and winter months many visitors skip are part of the plan.
The opening date was not a fallback, either. A June 2025 announcement from Planting Fields Foundation projected a summer 2026 debut. By July 2026 the date was set for mid-October. For Brookville residents who already treat the 409-acre arboretum as part of their week, this garden rewards the visits made after the summer crowds have gone.
What Now Sits Behind the Blue Pool
The garden covers one acre behind the Blue Pool and Italian Garden. The Long Island Herald described the ground there before construction as an open, mostly undesigned area. At its center stands the Rose Arbor, which James Greenleaf designed around 1906. Oudolf built his plan around it, and the Foundation is restoring it with 31 custom arbors.
The Foundation calls the project its most significant landscape addition since the Olmsted Brothers' work in the 1930s. It is also Oudolf's first public garden on Long Island. The Foundation reports that it was one of 20 projects worldwide picked for The Architect's Newspaper's fall 2026 roundup of notable architecture and design openings.
The layout has two parts. Outer "block" beds hold flowering perennials in groups. Inside them, meadow-like "matrix" beds use prairie dropseed grass as a base, with groups of perennials repeated through it. Three raised lawn domes sit inside the meadow. They give you somewhere to rest and a higher view over the planting, and gently winding paths lead through the beds.
The plant counts grew as the project went on. The Foundation's February 2026 release cited 24,000 plants and more than 90 species. Its July update reported 21,000 plants in the ground, 4,000 more to come over the summer, and more than 100 species. Its curator now cites more than 120 plant varieties. The July list named prairie dropseed, threadleaf bluestar, pale purple coneflower 'Hula Dancer,' purple lovegrass, yarrow 'Moonshine,' calamint and ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty.' The Herald reported that Foundation officials describe the planting as honoring Long Island's native species and biodiversity, with many selections native to the U.S. and friendly to pollinators.
"Brown Is a Color Too"
The plant list explains why opening in October works. Landscape curator Peter Slothower's seasonal note on the Foundation's blog says the main event this fall will be foliage more than flowers:
"From the bright yellows of willowleaf bluestar to the reds of sea lavender and geranium, all the fall colors you expect on your trees will be present in the garden."
Some flowers should keep going until frost. Slothower names toad lily 'Hatagisa,' deep purple monkshood 'Arendsii,' calamint and asters such as 'Twilight' as likely to bloom late. Volunteers have watched the calamint draw bees since it first flowered in June. He also repeats a line Oudolf likes to use, "Brown is a color too!", and expects the prairie dropseed meadow to fade into "a sea of soft blonde" with other colors and textures showing through.
That blonde meadow is the matrix described above. In summer it is the green background behind the flowers. In late October it becomes the main thing you see.
Winter Is the Season It Was Built to Show
The reasoning comes from Oudolf himself. In a Fine Gardening interview, he said he prefers late-flowering plants, good autumn color and perennials that keep their shape after they finish blooming. He also said grasses and seed heads can stay attractive in dew, snow and winter light. He cuts back some plants, but he leaves most standing because they keep their structure after flowering.
Slothower expects winter to be new for many visitors. He looks forward to people seeing "the seedheads and the architecture of the dormant plants," and he describes birds on a winter morning "flitting from stem to stem pulling seeds from coneflowers sparkling with frost."
A garden that stays standing through winter needs someone deciding which stems stay and which are cut, and the Foundation's fundraising reflects that. The Herald put the garden's estimated cost at $1.5 million and reported that the Foundation was trying to raise closer to $4 million, in part to fund long-term care and a full-time landscape curator. The Foundation's own campaign seeks a $2 million endowment for that curator position and $300,000 to restore and maintain the Rose Arbor. Earlier, Bank of America announced a $100,000 grant. Foundation president and CEO Gina J. Wouters has said the garden was made for the community to explore, learn from and return to through the seasons.
The spring display is already being planned. Slothower says nearly 22,000 spring bulbs are going in this November, including daffodils, tulips, quamash, foxtail lilies and trilliums, and the Foundation has said it will ask for volunteers. Neighbors who help plant this fall will see those bulbs come up through the cut-back meadow next spring.
The Calendar After the Crowds
Planting Fields has a practical reason to wait for the off-season, too. According to the Foundation's hours and admission page, the $8 parking fee is charged only on weekends and holidays from Labor Day to November 16. Weekday visits in late fall are already free. Seniors 62 and older park free on weekdays all year by swiping a driver's license at the pay station. The garden's visitor information lists no separate ticket for the Oudolf Garden.
The hours depend on which page you check. The Foundation lists 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, closed December 25. The New York State Parks page lists 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and gives November 15 as the end of fee collection. On a short December afternoon, plan around the earlier closing time.
The rest of the year, in order:
- October 30 and 31, 1 to 4 p.m.: Trick or Treat Tours in the Main House. Tickets are $15 for adults, $14 for seniors, $5 for children 6 to 12 and free for children five and under.
- Through November, Fridays to Sundays: Self-guided Main House tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m., with last entry at 3:30.
- November: Spring bulb planting in the Oudolf Garden, with a volunteer call expected from the Foundation.
- November 16: The last day the Foundation charges weekend parking.
- December 4, 10 to 11 a.m.: First Fridays: Holiday Magic at the Main House, a $25 walk with the Education team covering the natural materials used in the holiday decor.
- December 9 to 30: Holiday House Tours, self-guided or guided. The guided tours include the second floor.
- December 19 and 20: Home for the Holidays, with two sessions each day and a visit from Santa Claus.
Any December event lines up with the garden's winter look: dormant stems and seed heads, and possibly frost, a short walk from the Main House. Planting Fields notes that event changes are posted on its website and social media.
Across the Lawn, a Ruin Under Construction
The Foundation opened a second project the same day. Catalyst 2026, "Fragment of the Foundations for a Babel Tower" by artist Fiona Tan, is a large walk-through installation on the East Lawn, just north of the Main House. Its labyrinth-like layout draws on the Tower of Babel story and a 1679 engraving of the tower. It is built to look both under construction and in ruins, like foundations partly dug up by archaeologists. The Foundation links it to the tradition of the garden folly. Support came from Dutch Culture USA and the Mondriaan Fonds, which ties it to Oudolf's Dutch background, and the Foundation says it will stay on view through fall 2027.
That means the installation will be there for every season of the Oudolf Garden's first year: this fall's blonde meadow, the winter seed heads, the 22,000 spring bulbs and next summer's full bloom. News 12 previewed the garden the day before it opened and described a design meant to change through the seasons. Anyone who wants to help pay for that change over time can sponsor a plant in the garden for $25, $50 or $100.
Landmarks like Planting Fields are part of what a Brookville home sits next to, and they belong in how that home is presented when it comes time to sell. If you're thinking about how the Gold Coast's gardens, estates and cultural landmarks fit into your own plans, Dalia Elison would be glad to talk it through. Schedule a Confidential Consultation.
