Once we made a commitment to buy the house that was to be built on this lot – I took a flask of tea and a picnic chair and just sat. Sat, just taking in the view, thinking about the possibilities.A lovely stand of trees, soon to be made nicer by removal of the debris, dead, dying and invasive foreigners ( not us!). Sitting for a couple of hours made the suggestion to our soon to be neighbor that I wasn’t altogether with it. Coincidentally I was reading “ The shade garden” by Beth Chatto – a lovely read – very inspirational.
The next time I walked the lot, nature was in full swing – lots of interesting little plants on the woodland floor.Thats when the idea became clear.Try and create a hybrid woodland garden – existing woodland, add some understory trees and shrubs ( camellia,azalea,gardenia,serviceberry, dogwood,redbud, edgworthia have been selected) and then see how the woodland floor develops.
A slate chip path has been installed for easy access, planting has been completed today so it is now just a matter of time to see how it works out.Never done this before so it is the riskiest of the garden elements that we included in the design.As part of the installation,the leaf mold layer was removed/ disturbed so a light cover of mulch will be included to try and mimic the conditions that existed last year.
It will be interesting to see how a manufactured woodland garden looks as it matures.
AndAllenGarden 