Important Information to Consider Before You Buy Woodland Plants

(Especially if you have Urban or Suburban Soils)

A woodland garden contains wood poppy, jacobs ladder, may apple, baneberry and ostrich fern as well as a gazing ball.

In order to successfully grow a woodland garden the first thing you will need is shade. As long as your area has sunlight in the early spring, before the leaves of the trees have expanded, then in summer little to no direct sunlight, you will be off to a great start.

Woodland plants, in general, require well-drained, rich soil (with organic material) that stays moderately moist. If you have an area next to a building or under a tree where you have let the leaves rest each year, that might be an ideal place to create your garden. Do keep in mind that ephemerals emerge before tree leaves have opened and they do need light to flower.

The above information makes it sound like it is an easy job to find a location to plant woodland species and have them thrive. But, there is more to consider before you buy these pretty plants and install them in your location. These are not plants for an impulse buy.

More needs to be said about the soil needed for these plants to thrive. Many urban and suburban soils will not suffice. Soil is composed of inorganic matter like sand, silt and clay, and organic matter. The organic matter consists of decaying leaves and other plant material, bacteria, fungi, protozoans, insects, nematodes and more. Garden soil for growing vegetables has a higher bacteria content. Woodland soil is higher in fungi which causes the soil to have a lower pH.

Plants interact with microorganisms by producing substances from their roots that feed these organisms. In exchange the fungi and bacteria help make nutrients available for the plants. Fungi and bacteria also become food for other soil organisms, creating further exchange of nutrients in the soil web of life. Living woodland soil is imperitive for most of these woodland plants to thrive. You can read more about soil here. (Keep in mind that the linked material is not specific to native plants, especially woodland plants, but many general ideas are helpful.)

Additionally, many of our soils are now full of European earthworms (and some places are seeing an alarming increase of jumping worms). Earthworms are not a natural part of the food web in northern North America, including Michigan.

Earthworms are fine when you are growing a vegetable garden and they seem to do fine with prairie plants, but they are actually destructive to woodland gardens. This is because of the huge amount of food they eat. Even when you supply your woodland garden with decaying leaves, earthworms eat these leaves as food at a much quicker rate than the natural break-down done by smaller organisms. This is why in many of of our plant descriptions, we emphasize keeping a leaf pile nearby that you can draw from as the leaves in your woodland garden break down. In addition, earthworms may eat the fungi and bacteria close to the roots of plants. This is detrimental due to the relationships between microorganisms and plant roots. Please read more about earthworms in the forest here.

A thick layer of leaves in different stages of decay (duff) provides both nutrients for the soil and an important cooling effect on the soil. It is great as moisture insulation as well. We tend to think more about spring, summer and fall, since that is when we garden and can observe these plants in their natural settings, but winter protection is needed as well. A thick layer of insulation protects the roots, bulbs and corms of woodland plants. Earthworms don’t allow this layer of insulation and put both woodland plants, trees and ecosystems at risk.

Creating a thick layer of decaying leaves in your woodland garden will likely not be possible. Luckily, if you are able to address the need for organic matter in the soil, and can keep replenishing a layer of leaves, you will still successfully be able to grow these plants.

Starry False Solomon's Seal and Wild Geranium have been planted together and are blooming.
Royal Fern drapes over some wood landscaping.

Planting ephemerels and ferns straight into suburban and urban soil with leaves spread between them is not enough to keep them healthy and alive. Your site should be prepared well in advance of plants being put into the soil by adding organic material over a period of time.

Whereas with other native plants, one year of prep time is ideal, woodland gardens could take longer depending on your soil. You can often have your soil tested by your local extension office or there are mail-in kits you can buy from online companies who will analyze your soil. With these kits, you will be instructed how to collect soil samples to be tested. Most of the time, the recommendations that come back will involve adding chemical fertilizers to your soil, if it is deficient, but those quick “vitamin pills” are not what woodland plants need. Still, these tests can tell you about the content of organic matter and will let you know of the deficiencies of the soil as well as the make up of your soil in terms of clay, silt and sand. This is important since there are certain plants that cannot be grown in high clay content soil.

In general, to prep a site that is less than desireable, you will want to sheet mulch the area, laying cardboard with the tape removed, then covering that with a thick layer of leaves (or mulch). Let it stand to allow the breakdown of these materials. Keep a pile of fall leaves that you can continue to add to the area. Hopefully you can let this sit for 1-2 years at a bare minimum.

Understandably, this can be a disappointment when you are hoping to add some of these woodland jewels to your garden. Some of our plants are more adapted to lower quality soils and they can be planted either in the area or nearby as you wait for your better soil food web to develop. You can see a list of those plants HERE. Additionally, consider planting some woodland sedges and grasses. These are naturally some of the first plants to establish after a disturbance has occurred. They are quite important as soil erosion control, and their fibrous roots aid in developing a healthy soil food web.

If you are using layers of leaves to prepare your site, it is very helpful to lay sticks on top of them so that they don’t blow away in the fall & spring winds. If you don’t have sticks, you could use a thin layer of mulch. As these brown materials break down, fungi thrive. If you were to go into a healthy woodland, much of the soil space is taken up by the roots and fungi. Roots and fungi work symbiotically to help keep the whole system healthy.

When planning a woodland garden you will want to consider that in summer and fall, the ephemeral plants will not be visible. So, if you hope to do some planting in the fall, you may want to stake these plants so you don’t accidentally dig them up.

Whereas a prairie garden will ideally never need extra irrigation, you may need to water your woodland garden during dry spells. Even plants that have senesced beneath the soil need water to survive. Woodlands are typically quite wet in the spring, even on the hillsides due to the snow melt and spring rains. As the spring and summer seasons pass, these areas may become dry, but because the soil is rich in humus, it retains a bit more moisture than less organic soil. Try to pattern your watering after mother nature. For example, the spring of 2023 was very dry. I watered my own woodland plants pretty often during that time since my garden is still in the establishment stage, but even a mature garden with rich soil would have benefitted from some water to keep it at its prime.

NOTE: Please check out some photos to inspire your garden planning in our photo gallery here (in progress). Please also read our Nursery Policies, FAQs, and Blog for more information.

Two blooming White Trillium plants are bent over some landscape rocks with Canada Mayflower and trout lily surrounding them.

We would love to be part of your woodland garden planning and successful planting. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you have!