how to create a woodland garden
how to create a woodland garden
Did you know? It's hotly tipped that 'ancient woodlands' will be a key theme for show gardens in 2025! That means thinking about planting schemes including Ferns, Foxgloves, ornamental Moss & Lichen to name a few! Want to grow your own? Keep reading for how to create a woodland garden.
You don't need a big space
A woodland garden creates a serene and tranquil space of natural beauty, appearing effortless to the eye. Plants for this garden style will also make the overall maintenance easy and simple with little care needed throughout active growth. Subject to common assumption, woodland gardens can be conjured from small spaces, creating dreamy shaded areas with an abundance of beautiful shrubs, trees and perennials. You do not need to possess acres of land to create a tranquil woodland garden. It is possible to create movement, shade and serene surroundings from smaller trees, shrubs and perennials.
What should I plant?
- The perfect atmospheric specimens for a shady woodland space will combine texture and radiance allowing a procession of colour throughout the summer. Betula (Silver Birch) can be a fantastic choice for both large and medium sized spaces, with a number of species ranging from dwarf, weeping and multi-stemmed root stock. For smaller spaces, incorporate shrubs such as Acer to introduce bold foliage and stem colour interest to borders.
Don't just stop at trees and shrubs!
- Under planting is extremely important when creating your woodland, thinking about the colour, shape and form you want to achieve. For example, are you thinking about wild Cumbrian woodland with masses of native Foxgloves and Ferns? Or perhaps you love the native english bluebell woodlands to the South? Whichever the case, try to alternative the height and flowering times of your chosen perennials to create weaving bands of colour from low to high growing blooms, to give you months of colour.
Prepare the space
Prepare the area you wish to use by clearing away weeds and debris. Apply a generous amount of compost to the native soil and mix thoroughly breaking down any clumps of earth. This will improve both the drainage and quality of the native soil, producing healthy plants, shrubs and trees in abundance. If you're not planning to plant straight away, why not weigh down flattened boxes to the area you're hoping to create a border? A fab way to block light to the weeds and will decompose after a number of months too!
Plan your planting
It can be easy to buy lots of plants without a plan, so grab yourself some scrap paper and roughly mark when you might plant things in your new woodland garden space, you don't need fancy drawings, just circle symbols depicting the different sized plants and annotations will do. Think about longevity, and things growing in the space over time, you don't want to overcrowd your new garden!