Woodland garden

A woodland garden is a garden or section of a garden that includes large trees and is laid out so as to appear as more or less natural woodland, though it is often actually an artificial creation. Typically it includes plantings of flowering shrubs and other garden plants, especially near the paths through it.

The woodland garden style is essentially a late 18th- and 19th-century creation, though drawing on earlier trends in gardening history. Woodland gardens are now found in most parts of the world, but vary considerably depending on the area and local conditions. The original English formula usually features tree species that are mostly local natives, with some trees and most of the shrubs and flowers from non-native species.^[1] Visitable woodlands with only native species tend to be presented as nature reserves. But for example in the United States, many woodland gardens make a point of including only native or regional species, and often present themselves as botanical gardens.^[2]

But in both countries, very many woodland gardens rely heavily on Asian species for large flowering shrubs, especially the many varieties of rhododendron: "What the pelargonium was for Victorian bedding schemes, the rhododendron was for the woodland garden".^[3]

Forest gardening is a different concept, mostly concentrated on food production.