Creating a Woodland Garden

Heavily wooded areas are one of the more difficult to work with when it comes to landscaping, gardening, or even simply home owning. However, just because it is difficult doesn't mean that it is impossible. By taking the proper steps, you can turn just about any wooded areas into a beautiful woodland garden. Woodland gardens can be a great way to create a tranquil space that is all your own, and where you can enjoy the natural beauty of the world around you. Simply follow these guidelines, and you will have a woodland garden that is second to none.

• Design. The first step in creating a woodland garden is in designing it. Luckily, designing a woodland garden has a great natural guide that you can use to show you what to do. That guide is the trees themselves. In this regard, this means that you should follow the mature trees, and allow them to stay. Dig out any tree that looks small (those with a diameter of 4 inches or less) and weedy looking. If possible, utilize a chipper to dispose of the unwanted trees and use the remains as the basis for some footpaths through your new garden. With the footpaths in place, choose locations that you can use to install planters, or garden beds that will hold the flowers that you want planted.
• Planting. Planting in woods can often be difficult due to the roots that are often near the surface. There is a simple way that you can get around this problem though, and that is to use the exposed roots of larger trees as type of planter and plant your flowers between them. If you do find that you need to remove some of the roots, be careful as you do so. You can very easily damage a tree if you are not careful when cutting back roots. It is best to avoid cutting any roots that are within two yards of the base of the tree.
• The golden rule. As with most things in life, there is a golden rule that you should follow when creating a woodland garden. That rule is simply "Less is More." This means that you want to do as little as possible to change what is already in place. When possible work with, and appreciate, what you already have in place. Water as little as needed so that you can help get plants established in your first year. If you have created your garden properly, then you will only need to do some minor pruning every year, usually a branch or two at most.