Last summer, the area planned for a new “designer garden” on Detroit’s Belle Isle didn’t look like much. High water levels in the Great Lakes contributed to some significant inland flooding on this island in the Detroit River. This flooding threat actually led to a bit of a change in plans in the original design from famous Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf.

New addition to Belle Isle: Oudolf Garden Detroit

According to a recent article by WDET, the design was altered to raise the beds 3 feet, adding retaining walls, because the original design would be 30% underwater when it floods. The site now includes a green infrastructure rain garden that will serve as an example in Detroit as one way to mitigate increased flooding risks more likely in the area with climate change. It’s designed to hold 1873 cubic feet of water, planted with a variety of water-loving flowering plants, grasses, trees, and shrubs. This will provide a great example for Detroit area communities as a method to improve stormwater infrastructure.

The 2.5-acre garden opened to the public a little over a week ago, located adjacent to the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory gardens. The intriguing aspect of this garden is that it is designed to have plants, grasses, and flowers around 365 days of the year, evolving and changing about every 10 days. The continuously evolving landscape should encourage a lot of repeat visits from both humans and non-humans alike.

Our visit showed it didn’t take long to become a favored place for migrating monarchs, honey bees, and other pollinators.

Because there were a considerable amount of people around at the time, I didn’t get to explore as much with K-2SO as I had hoped. I only flew him up on the outside perimeter. But the aerials do give a small hint of what is to come as these new plantings fill in and flourish.

I look forward to a repeat visit to see what new surprises the garden has in store. More information about this great new addition to Detroit’s urban green spaces can be found at Oudolf Garden Detroit.

“For me, garden design isn’t just about plants, it is about emotion, atmosphere, a sense of contemplation. You try to move people with what you do. You look at this, and it goes deeper than what you see. It reminds you of something in the genes — nature, or the longing for nature.”

~ Piet Oudolf