Create a woodland glade


Tools for the job

 

There few are sights more magical in the garden than watching golden shafts of light flickering over a woodland planting of colourful, shade-loving perennials, bulbs and shrubs. The hypnotic movement and cool, calming atmosphere is the perfect antidote to a busy day. If you think you need a large garden to create an authentic woodland-edge planting, think again. You don't even need a tree. Of course if you are lucky enough to have a garden containing a copse, you can complete the woodland effect with an understorey of shade-loving plants. However, you can achieve an equally impressive result if your garden borders a group of trees. In this situation, simply 'borrow' this natural landscape to create the perfect backdrop for a seamless planting of woodland warriors at the end of your garden. Make sure any boundaries are hidden or disguised with climbers and your garden will melt into the bordering woodland. If you have the space, you can plant smaller trees on your side of the boundary to create a gradient to the canopy – just like a natural clearing. Choose trees that are naturally airy, with an open canopy, so that plenty of light reaches the planting underneath without the need for regular pruning.


Good light-filtering trees

Making a mini-woodland A cluster of small trees, grouped closely together, can create a delightful woodland effect. You can grow them as a copse at the end of the garden or as a shady retreat partway down a long, narrow plot. Bear in mind that close planting will mean that you may have to prune the congested canopies, from time to time, with pole pruners to allow sufficient light reaching the understory plants. On a sunny summer’s day, the canopy should produce a dappled light effect on the ground, not constant shade. In a small garden, you can achieve the same effect using just one multi-stemmed tree. For example, Betula utilis var. jacquemontii looks stunning trained as a multi-stemmed specimen, especially when the very base of the trunks is camouflaged by the shade-loving planting beneath. For year-round interest, one of the snake-bark maples, such as Acer davidii, would look a treat with fabulous autumn colour and attractive winter bark. You can create your own multi-stemmed tree by planting a suitable specimen and pruning the trunk back to a stump, just above ground level. With luck, several new shoots with break from below the cut which will look like separate trees once the stump is hidden from view. Another option in a small garden is to turn a large established shrub into a miniature multi-stemmed ‘tree’. With a pair of secateurs and a little judicious pruning, you can open up the ground, under an established shrub, to provide all the ingredients for a tiered, woodland-edge planting. Any shrub that produces stout stems and an airy canopy would be suitable, but for a seasonal spectacle few shrubs can equal the magnolia. The Shady Pink border, below, is one example of planting you could try. Other shrubs that lend themselves to this treatment include cotinus, hamamelis, lilac, philadelphus and viburnum.

Weaving a woodland tapestry Under-plant mini-woodland, a multi-stemmed tree or judiciously pruned shrub, with a carpet of shade-loving plants. Create a backbone of foliage using plants such as asarum, hardy ferns, hosta, ivy and lamium. Then add a sprinkling of colour. For spring flowers, try anemone, bergenia, chionodoxa, erythronium, hellebore and pulmonaria. Then for summer, add aquilegia, dicentra, Geranium macororrhizum, heuchera, polygonatum and tiarella. Extend the display into autumn and winter with Iris foetidissima, Japanese anemone, colchicum, cyclamen and galanthus. Add seasonal height to the mix using foxgloves and trilliums.

3 Ready-made woodland glades

Woodland

Transform a dull, shady border into a tranquil oasis with a woodland feel using a combination of interesting foliage textures and luminous flowers. You will need a partially shaded bed measuring 3m x 1.5m














Shady Sanctuary

Once you have cleared weeds from your garden, use the following methods to help keep you garden weed-free:















Shady Pink

Turn a partially shady corner into an eye-catching feature with this pink combination based around a superb star magnolia. This border has been designed so you will have a procession of colour throughout the warmer months of the year. The magnolia will be the first to flower in spring and produces wonderful spidery blooms in the palest pink. The fronds of the dryopteris will make an attractive feature as they unfurl and will be followed by a number of pink-flowering plants through the summer and into the autumn. You will need a 1.5 x 1.5m corner bed.