Outdoors: Ulf Nordfjell Garden Design

No matter what country he’s working in, Stockholm-based landscape architect Ulf Nordfjell’s gardens convey a strong flavor of Sweden. His recent Chelsea Flower Show garden, which won Best in Show three years ago, relied on such typically Swedish materials as granite, steel, and timber:

Photographs via Crocus, except where noted.

Above: Nordfjell’s designs often feature contemporary buildings in a garden setting.

Above: “My wish is that all who see the garden will become aware of its ecological subtext of using the right plant in the right place,” Nordfjell says.

Above: Swedish granite, combined with a plant palate of blues, whites, and gray.

Above: Image via English Garden.

Above: “Gardens are to be celebrated as one of the most complex forms of culture,” says Nordfjell, “as they unify architecture, nature and art.”