Woodland Border Garden Designs for the home garden, Landscaping designs
A cool, moist, shady, woodland area makes the ideal setting for Ferns and other shade-loving perennials. Planted nearby a forest or under a canopy of deciduous trees creates a very original and naturalistic woodland feeling. Ferns provide seasonal interest and add bold textures to brighten the shady summer woodland garden. Once established, Ferns are some of the most valuable and trouble-free garden plants. In combination with relatives of the native Loosestrife, Woodland Strawberry, Sweet Woodruff, and Goat’s Beard, this woodland garden collection is the next best thing to nature itself. Many of the plants in this collection naturalize rapidly into the landscape. Varieties such as Viola, Galium, and Lysimachia are vigorous plants that naturalize wonderfully if given enough room to spread evenly. It is important to mix compost or leaf mold in your bedding when planting Ferns and other woodland perennials. Ferns appreciate a rich, moist, slightly acidic soil and also benefit from a heavy mulch of compost, shredded leaves, or other organic materials that conserve moisture and help to keep their roots cool.
Helpful hints
Ferns thrive in moist, woodsy soil under deciduous trees.
Each spring and fall, add generous amounts of compost and mulch to your woodland plantings.
Underplant Ferns with early spring flowering bulbs for a full-season garden display.
When planting a woodland garden, allow desirable native varieties such as Violets, Jacks-in-the-Pulpit, and Dutchman’s Breeches to commingle on meadow’s edge.
a. Aruncus dioicus b. Astilbe chinensis c. Astilbe ‘hennie graafland’ d. Astilbe ‘ostrich plum’ e. Athyrium nipponicum var. pictum f. Dicentra spectablilis ‘Alba’ g. Digitalis x mertonensis h. Drysopteris celsa i. Drysopteris cycadina j. Drysopteris erythrosora k. Fragaria vesca ‘rugen l. Ga;ium odoratum m. Lysimachia punctata n. Matteucia struthiopteris o. Osmunda cinnamomea p. Polystichum polyblepharum q. Polyticjum tsus-simense r. Thallictrum rhochebrunianum s. Trollius x cultorum ‘Orange Globe’ t. Viola labradoric
