Cassian Schmidt, Director of Hermannshof Garden, Germany - 8 November 2023

“Meadow inspirations from nature: designing resilient combinations of grasses, perennials and bulbs for dry habitats.”
Under Cassian Schmidt’s leadership since 1998, Hermannshof, a public garden in Germany, has broken new ground and set international trends with its innovative blend of ecology, artistry, and imagination. Cassian is particularly focussed on developing habitat-based low maintenance perennial planting mixes for effective maintenance concepts based on ecological strategies.
He talks to us about the garden’s dynamic mix of unique perennials and naturalistic grasses arranged by habitat and origin which create an all-season kaleidoscope that is inspired by nature, without replicating it.
He demonstrates how stylized North American prairie and Eurasian dry grassland vegetation, as well as Mediterranean garrigue, have been modified and enhanced for aesthetic and practical demands to achieve climate resilient plantings.