Garden Plans

This Bold Woodland Garden Plan Brims with Color and Texture

This Bold Woodland Garden Plan Brims with Color and Texture

The space under big trees can be ideal for growing shade-loving plants with colorful flowers and foliage. This bold woodland garden plan will look gorgeous from spring until frost, starting with the unfolding leaves of a variegated redtwig dogwood. In late spring and summer, astilbe bursts on the scene with its red, feathery flowers and bronze foliage. A showy lily adds its fragrance and long-lasting blooms to the display.

Black mondo grass provides blackish-purple leaves and white, bell-shaped flowers in the summer. Three hosta varieties create a pleasing contrast with the surrounding lacy foliage of ostrich fern. And finally, you'll enjoy continuous blooms from the impatiens in this beautifully textured border.

Plants for Creating the Bold Woodland Garden Plan

Both flowers and foliage offer bold color and texture from this garden plan's mix of perennials, annuals, and one shrub.

  • 3 Black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'): Zones 6-10
  • 1 Variegated redtwig dogwood (Cornus alba 'Elegantissima'): Zones 3-8
  • 1 Lily (Lilium hybrids): Zones 3-9
  • 6 Astilbe (Astilbe × arendsii 'Fanal'): Zones 4-8
  • 1 Hosta 'Frances Williams': Zones 3-8
  • 1 Siebold hosta (Hosta sieboldiana var. elegans): Zones 3-10
  • 1 Hosta 'Halcyon': Zones 3-10
  • 1 Ostrich fern (Matteuccia pennsylvanica): Zones 2-9
  • 5 Impatiens walleriana: Annual

If you can't find the exact cultivars listed above, substitute with others with similar colors, shapes, and sizes as needed. Though the plan doesn't specify the varieties for the lily or impatiens, try a red Asiatic lily to echo the color of the astilbe flowers, and use white impatiens to play off the dogwood foliage and the white flowers of the hostas.

Because some plants can become overly aggressive and spread out of control in certain climates, always check which species are considered invasive in your area before planting something new.

Get the Free Bold Woodland Garden Plan

This garden design includes an illustrated version of the planted garden, a detailed layout diagram, a list of plants for the garden as shown, and complete instructions for installing the garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is a woodland garden?

    Woodland gardens are meant to feel cool and comfortable, like you're in a naturally wooded area. The best types of plants for this space thrive with partial to full shade. 

  • How does shade impact a plant's growth?

    Shade can reduce the rate of growth for some plants. However, shade-tolerant plants tend to have thinner, darker leaves with more surface area, which helps them thrive in low light.

  • What types of plants work well in a woodland garden?

    Ornamental grasses and shrubs will add texture and height to your woodland garden. It will also encourage birds to visit the area, making it feel wild and full of life.

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