One of the world's most celebrated garden designers just planted his first public garden on Long Island, and it's open now in Oyster Bay, at the peak of fall color.
On October 17, 2026, Planting Fields Foundation opened the Oudolf Garden, a one-acre landscape designed by Piet Oudolf. You may know his work from Manhattan's High Line and Battery Park. This is his first public project on Long Island and his first new public garden in New York in more than a decade. Planting Fields calls it the most significant addition to the historic estate since the Olmsted Brothers finished their work there in the 1930s.
The numbers are big for a single acre: more than 24,000 new plants, 22,000 bulbs and over a dozen new trees, with the estate's restored Rose Arbor at its center. Oudolf's naturalistic style is built to change with the seasons. The garden is meant to be beautiful through bloom, decay and rebirth, so seed heads and grasses in November are as much the point as flowers in June. Planting Fields has a name for it: "The Most Beautiful Acre on Long Island."
A Babel Tower on the East Lawn
The same weekend marked the debut of Fragment of the Foundations for a Babel Tower by Dutch artist and filmmaker Fiona Tan, the seventh commission in Planting Fields' annual Catalyst program for living artists. Built from 4,000 white clay bricks and inspired by Athanasius Kircher's 1679 depiction of the Tower of Babel, the labyrinth-like installation looks like the half-excavated foundations of a tower. It invites visitors to wander its paths and think about communication and our desire to understand one another. It sits on the historic East Lawn just north of the Main House and stays on view through September 1, 2027.
📷 via Fiona Tan
Plan Your Visit
Planting Fields President and CEO Gina J. Wouters credits the projects to hundreds of hours of work by Foundation staff, volunteers from near and far, interns, service learners and New York State Parks colleagues. Here are the details to plan your next visit to Planting Fields and take in their new additions.
Where: Planting Fields, 1395 Planting Fields Road, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
Park hours: 9:00am–5:00pm daily (closed December 25). Parking fee policies apply; check the Planting Fields website before you go.
Greenhouses: The Main Greenhouse and Camellia House are open six days a week and closed Tuesdays.
Main House Visitor Center: Friday–Sunday, 11:00am–4:00pm
How You Can Get Involved
Planting Fields Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit and doesn't receive ongoing operating support from New York State. If you'd like to help the garden grow, you can sponsor a plant starting at $25 and see your personal message on the website, or support the larger Rose Arbor, tree, bench and endowment campaigns. You can also browse more Planting Fields events on PPN.
Sources: Planting Fields Foundation announcement from President and CEO Gina J. Wouters (October 23, 2026); The Oudolf Garden at Planting Fields; Catalyst 2026: Fiona Tan.
