How to Grow a Woodland Garden

In order to successfully grow a woodland garden you will need shade. As long as your area has sunlight in the early spring, before the leaves of the trees have emerged, and then little to no direct sunlight, you will be off to a great start. Woodland plants, in general, require well-drained, rich soil (with organic material) that stays moderately moist. If you have an area next to a building or under a tree where you have let the leaves rest each year, that would be a great place to create your garden. Do keep in mind that ephemerals emerge before tree leaves have expanded and they do need light to flower.

We sell two kinds of woodland plants. First, there are ephemeral plants like Virginia bluebells and trillium. These plants come up in the spring, flower, create seeds and then die back to the ground and let the roots rest until the next spring. The others, while they do usually flower in early to mid-spring, like bloodroot and wood poppy, continue growing throughout the summer which allows the leaves to continue photosynthesizing sending energy to the roots.

When you plant ephemeral plants, we recommend planting sedges, grasses or ferns nearby. This is so that unwanted plants will not fill in the space when the ephemeral senesce or go dormant for the season.

Whereas with other native plants, one year of prep time is ideal, woodland gardens could take longer depending on your soil. You will want to sheet mulch the area, laying cardboard with the tape removed, then covering that with a thick layer of leaves or mulch. Let it stand to allow the breakdown of these materials. Keep a pile of fall leaves that you can continue to add to the area. Many of us have European earthworms in our yards, so the leaves don’t stick around as long as they normally would, and you will need to compensate for this by continually adding decomposing leaves.

During the time before you are ready to plant, it is very helpful to lay sticks on top of the leaves so that they don’t blow away in the fall & spring winds. If you don’t have sticks, you could use a thin layer of mulch. As these brown materials break down, fungi thrive. If you were to go into a healthy woodland, much of the soil space is taken up by the roots and fungi. Roots and fungi work symbiotically to help keep the whole system healthy.

I started my own woodland garden with hardy species of asters and goldenrod and some sedges. They are woodland plants, but not as finicky as the ephemerals and ferns. The root structures of these plants as they grow, die back, and grow some more will also help prep your soil.

When planning a woodland garden you will want to consider that in summer and fall, the ephemeral plants will not be visible. So, if you hope to do some planting in the fall, you may want to stake these plants so you don’t accidentally dig them up.

Whereas a prairie garden will ideally never need extra irrigation, you may need to water your woodland garden during dry spells. Even plants that have senesced beneath the soil need water to survive. Woodlands are typically quite wet in the spring, even on the hillsides due to the snow melt and spring rains. As the spring and summer seasons pass, these areas may become dry, but because the soil is rich in humus, it retains a bit more moisture than less organic soil. Try to pattern your watering after mother nature. The spring of 2023 was very dry. I watered my own woodland plants pretty often during that time since my garden is still in the establishment stage, but even a mature garden with rich soil would have needed some water to keep it at its prime.

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