I see plants as a metaphor for a lot of things
I see plants as a tool to express yourself
Gardens are a sort of living picture
I live with my wife Anya in Hummelo
and we have a garden that is open for the public
a particular time of the year
and that's what we do for 35 years
We collect the plants from all over Europe
from specialist nurseries
but my work was more changed by meeting people
people that came from more nature preserve areas
or were more aware of native plants
so that's why I started to use plants in my designs
that were probably wild plants
and not used in gardens before or very, very little
I started to intermingle them, to bring them into my designs
and that created a complete different look to gardens
So instead of being ornamental it becomes more loose
and more, sort of looking wild
It was not wild at all but it looked wild
Although it might look simple, it's very complex
You cannot really rule it, you have to edit it
That's why I love working with perennials
You get a very personal sort of expression
In Spring there is a lot going on
without anything in flower, just a few things
but there are so many birds that are making their nest
and trying to get a partner
so every day it's one big sound garden
Most gardening is sort of household
and you go outside, you clean up your plants
you take out your dead flowers
That is traditional gardening
You make everything smooth so that it looks like your interior
I think I'm more moved by something that's dying sometimes
than moved by something that's alive
When the flowers are over you get seed heads
You get the grasses that flower
You get the sort of skeletons
and that has its own charm
It can be short lived, long lived
biannual, annual
So not everything has to flower at the same time
You go into it, you enjoy it, you take it in
because you know that the next day it can be completely different
You can only just guide it into the future
I don't try to change the world
I just do my best to add something to the world of horticulture