Inspiring ideas for woodland gardens

Create a green haven

The sense of enclosure and protection offered by a woodland garden is a sure-fire shortcut to a relaxing vibe. It’s one of the most immersive types of garden, offering layers of soft green foliage to soothe mind and spirit. Use a mix of evergreen and deciduous

Deciduous refers to plants (mainly trees and shrubs) that lose their leaves seasonally, usually during autumn. This is a natural process triggered by the season's shorter days and lower temperatures and allows plants to conserve energy during the winter months.

plants to ensure year-round appeal.

Even small town gardens can become green getaways

Allow room to breathe and see

Careful pruning of trees and shrubs keeps the woodland feel but allows views through the greenery

What’s the key to keeping it looking like a garden and not just an overgrown mess? One of the most effective techniques is to ‘crown lift’ trees and large shrubs – by removing lower branches, you allow more sunlight through, allowing woodland plants space to thrive in the dappled light and be seen in all their glory.

How to crown lift a tree

Make a place to sit and enjoy it

Create your own forest bathing haven

Humans can benefit from shade too, especially on a hot summer’s day. Place chairs or benches in inviting spots so you can cool down and appreciate the greenery all around you. Woodland gardens are great for wildlife – so you may be lucky enough to have birdsong to enjoy or other creatures to watch.

Lead the eye

Winding paths invite exploration

If you’ve got the space, put in a meandering path to tempt you to explore – with gentle curves leading out of sight, who wouldn’t want to follow this delightful woodland path? This one uses bark

Bark is the outermost layer of woody plants (trees, shrubs and woody climbers). It is several cells thick and provides protection against physical damage, disease and environmental stresses. Bark comes in a wide variety of colours and patterns, and these can help gardeners when identifying plants. The fissures and crevices of bark on older plants also creates valuable habitat for many garden creatures as well as lichens and small plants.

chips, providing natural softness underfoot, but gravel also works well.

Choose trees with light canopies

Birch trees cast dappled shade and allow underplanting

Trees with light canopies such as these silver birches are ideal for woodland gardens, as they have height and structure but don’t overwhelm the other plants. Rowans (Sorbus), crab apples (Malus) and hazels (Corylus) work well too. If your garden is treeless, you can buy semi-mature trees to add an instant woodland effect.

Trees for smaller gardens

Grow with the flow

Many small bulbs thrive under trees, such as cyclamen and snowdrops

Woodland gardens are the perfect places to loosen our grip on nature, allowing plants such as spring bulbs

These are fleshy, rounded, underground storage organs, usually sold and planted while dormant. Examples include daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, onions and garlic. The term is often used to cover other underground storage organs, including corms, tubers and rhizomes.

to naturalise, forming wonderful spectacles of flowers and foliage. This more relaxed approach means less work – so everyone’s a winner!

Go for shady characters

Use plants with coloured foliage to light up shady spots

It's not just spring bulbs that enjoy the shade and shelter of a woodland garden – many other plants including these hostas, along with ferns and many perennials will too. Picking plants that actively thrive in lower light levels, along with generous watering in their first season, is a key step to success when making a woodland garden.

Go native

Foxgloves often seed themselves around, making quite a spectacle

Many of our favourite wildflowers are actually native

A native plant is one that originated or arrived naturally in a particular place without human involvement. In the British Isles, native plants are those that were here during the last ice age or have arrived unaided since.

woodland plants. They’re superbly adapted to growing under trees and in shady spots – try foxgloves, primroses and bluebells. Let them seed around (don’t cut the spent flowerheads off) to give an authentic natural woodland feel.

Use contrasting forms

The intricate foliage of ferns combines well with many other plants

In this woodland-inspired planting scheme, the intricate shapes of ferns mingle with strappy grasses and rounded euphorbias to create a green tapestry beneath a magnolia tree which has had its lower branches removed. This two-layered planting then allows views through to a secluded seating area.

Embrace the seasons

Many woodland plants (such as this maple) have fantastic autumn colour

Woodland gardens offer lots of opportunity for us to enjoy different seasons. In winter the first bulbs – snowdrops and aconites – burst forth beneath bare stems; their trickle becomes a flood in spring as carpets of bluebells and other bulbs erupt from the woodland floor. Summer sees the canopy close over to create a living green roof which then fades to gold, red and brown as the year ends.