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It is believed our ancestors inhabited forests for most of our history before the land was cleared for agriculture. It is fair to say that woodlands have been more familiar to us as a species than suburbia.
If you spend any time within a woodland you will know how enjoyable and relaxing the experience can be. There have been many studies which indicate that simply being around trees is good for our well being. Consequently, it is no surprise that woodland gardens are becoming an ever more popular garden theme. Woodland gardens are a fantastic way to create peaceful, secluded gardens rich in wildlife. 
However, not everyone has a backyard large enough to establish their own forest! This is why woodland garden design needs to reach a delicate balance when it comes to scale. You may be pleased to know you don’t even need trees to create a successful woodland garden!
With some careful planning and correct species selection, even small spaces can become enchanting woodland gardens. In this article I walk you through all the steps and considerations of how to design a woodland garden. Finding inspiration
One of the best ways to start planning your garden is finding inspiration. This could be by visiting a well known forest park or searching for precedent images online. Web image search engines such as Pinterest are a great place to make a collection of visual ideas.
Start thinking about what kind of planting and effect you wish to create in each part of your site. Do you want to make your garden wildlife focused? Or perhaps you want to create as much seasonal interest as possible. Collect as many pictures and ideas as you can and add them to a scrap book or computer folder. Sometimes making a collage is a good idea to fix all of your ideas in one place. Planning your woodland garden
Now that you have collected multiple ideas and precedent images, have a walk around your site. Start to view your garden from different angles and think about what features you may want to place where.
Take some pictures of your garden from various angles and print them out on paper. You can then trace over individual images with tracing paper to experiment with ideas. 
You can also utilise programs such as Photoshop to form collages over the photos to create design proposals. At this point you can create a scaled drawing of your garden and experiment with different sketch designs.
The most fundamental elements are locating your seating areas, pathways and planting zones. Sunlight
When designing a woodland garden one of the most important considerations is sunlight. In order for your woodland plants to grow best they must be positioned in a logical way. Even shade loving plants will require some dabbled sunlight so study how light hits your site.
It makes sense to have taller shrubs to the back of borders and smaller plants at the front. This way sunlight hits all of your plants at every canopy level. This will make your plants happier and also provide better airflow. Try to design your woodland so sunlight can penetrate at different times of the day. This will lead to a greater choice of planting and create a lighter and more inviting garden. Circulation
Circulation is the natural pattern in which people move around a space. During the design process circulation can be planned to enhance good views, build spatial hierarchy and create a journey.
Most of the time, your circulation will link together the most important parts of your design. In woodland gardens circulatory routes benefit from meandering journeys which travel through open zones and places of enclosure. Assess how you currently move through your garden and how it can be changed for the better. 
Designing your woodland garden
Now you have experimented with different design elements you can start to fit the pieces together. Draw out a scaled drawing of your site and start to develop and resolve your design.
Start with the essential elements and parts you know are going where and fill in the blanks. This does not have to be resolved in one session the design process can take a few sessions to complete! When you have completed your proposal, draft out your completed design plan. 
Woodland garden seating areas
Seating areas within woodland gardens provide the perfect place to relax and nature bathe! These shaded areas can provide cool and comfortable places during the warm summer months to relax and socialise.
Well placed seating areas will have enough enclosure to provide privacy but attractive views to admire. Woodland garden seating areas are great places for nest boxes and wildlife feeders to enjoy nature. The best seating areas look like woodland clearings that blend in with surrounding planting. These secluded spots are great places for log burners, chimineas, oudoor ovens and barbecues. 
Woodland garden paths
Woodland garden paths are crucial to the gardens design and circulatory system. Pathways can help to take people on a journey and steer them towards landscape focal points.
It is common for pathways in woodland gardens to have curved and organic shapes. This fits in well with the informal nature of naturalistic planting and landscaping. Curvy paths can be formed using gravel board edgings and stone edgings such as granite setts or cobble stones. Some of the most favourite woodland garden path materials include free binding gravels and bark chippings. 
Woodland garden borders
As many woodlands today are historically not that old they often lack diversity. You may find local woodlands have trees of a similar age with few understory plants.
However, in more ancient woodlands there is a much more diverse canopy structure. Woodland gardens provide the opportunity to celebrate the many interesting plants native to forests. 
Woodland garden borders if planted well can be full of seasonal drama and colour. These borders can also be rich in wildlife habitat and animal life.
With good woodland garden border design your beds can be full of colour, texture and movement. Woodland garden planting design
Woodland garden planting design is a subject within its own right! Successful execution requires a thorough knowledge of the landscape elements within your own site.
Sunlight, soil, landform and circulation all need to be synchronised for the best planting displays. This is especially so if you have large trees within your woodland garden. Such situations can create dry shade, one of the most challenging growing environments for plants. 
To achieve the best visual impact your planting heights must slope up and away from paths and seating areas.
This means the eye is met with layers of planting interest and plants obtain as much light as possible. Seasonal elements must also be designed into your borders so there is all year round interest. Borrowed landscape
Borrowed landscape is when the surrounding landscape or planting of surrounding gardens visually benefits your own. Such a concept is often exercised in Japanese gardens with gardens designed to frame distant views.
It is very common for surrounding properties to have large trees which shade your landscape. This is the perfect situation for a small woodland garden where you do not want to plant larger trees. 
When designing a woodland garden neighbouring trees and shrubs should be incorporated into a master plan. This is particularly so with wildlife that does not recognise man-made boundaries.
When you zoom out it is often the case that local gardens collectively do resemble young woodlands. It is advantageous to recognise this when designing a woodland garden within your boundary. Planting structure
The planting structure of a successful woodland garden is very distinctive. Planting should be planted to create a combination of enclosure and open areas.
This is often the case in ancient woodlands with varying light levels and dabbled shade creating a soothing atmosphere. To create the most diversity the sites sunlight must also be maximised. This can be achieved by planting in pyramid or upward sloping planting structures. Such planting enables all plants to access sunlight within all canopies and provides three dimensional interest to satisfy the eye. 
Seasonal interest
Seasonal interest is a very important element of woodland gardens. In nature, deciduous woodlands display some of the most seasonal change of any other habitat.
In Autumn and fall the leaves of trees turn radiant and bright colour tones before falling to the floor. Winter uncovers an interesting array of bark textures and colour tones. 
With the onset of spring, woodland bulbs erupt into colour before the leaf canopy opens out. During the growing season many shrubs and herbaceous plants can provide flowering and seasonal displays. When designing a woodland garden try to think about a plants seasonal qualities and how this can benefit your woodland design.
Woodland garden trees
Although you do not necessarily need trees to make a woodland garden they bring much to the table. Trees create the perfect canopy structure which is so distinctive of natural woodlands. Their seasonal change brings drama and interest as well as creating habitats for wildlife!
For most woodland gardens for a broad range of smaller tree species is most effective. Why not visit our list of suitable small tree species for woodland gardens here. 
Woodland garden shrubs
Shrubs within a woodland garden provide the perfect intermediate canopy level. This can help to form enclosed spaces and provide an extra layer of seasonal interest.
Woodland garden shrubs can be pruned to allow more light and airflow through a design. There is a broad range of shrubs offering a diversity of benefits including flowers, berries and attractive foliage. Why not visit our list of suitable shrubs for woodland gardens here. 
Woodland garden groundcovers
One of the most challenging aspects of woodland garden establishment is weed control. Very often weeds take advantage of any bare soil while larger woodland plantings are becoming established.
Groundcover plants in woodland gardens enable you to reach dense carpets of foliage. This can help to provide much needed greenery at ground level and weed suppression. These dense carpets of foliage also provide excellent cover and security for numerous wildlife species. Why not visit our article list on some of the best groundcover plants for woodland gardens here. 
Woodland garden perennials
Perennial plants are those which grow back from the base every growing season and die back down for the winter. Perennials are excellent for bringing much needed seasonal change to woodland gardens every year.
Some late winter perennials such as Hellebores are especially effective at bringing some spring colour. Planting a range of perennials however can ensure a succession of flowers and interest throughout the year. Why not visit our full list of the best perennials for woodland gardens here. 
Woodland garden annuals
Annual plants are those which grow from seeds every year and die at the end of the season. By their very nature annuals self seed freely and once established will grow up from bare ground every year.
This process can be encouraged by maintaining some cultivated bare ground every spring time. Alternatively you can germinate a woodland selection every spring under cover and then plant them out directly. You may also want to consider sowing a shade loving woodland meadow. These are typical of woodland clearings and often referred to as glades. 
Lighting for woodland gardens
When it comes to enhancing a woodland gardens natural qualities there is no better installation than lighting. Lighting can really add drama and ambiance to a woodland garden really transforming the space.
Up-lighting is particularly effective at the base of trees facing up towards the canopy. This highlights vertical trunks and picks out the gentle movements of the canopy and individual leaves. I personally find contrasting colours can create a real magical feel especially at sunset. Mains external lighting is usually much more effective but solar lights can also create a satisfying effect. 
Thank you for reading my article on how to design a woodland garden. If you have any comments or questions please leave them below, I would love to hear from you!
If you require any woodland garden services including, clearing, planting, mulching, pathways, patios or raised beds do not hesitate to contact me. Based in Amersham I cover most of Buckinghamshire including Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and West London. We have now also opened an office in Norfolk! Below I will link to some other woodland garden articles you may also find Useful.
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Landscaping services across Buckinghamshire, Norfolk & East Anglia
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