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Natural Woodland Garden
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by Diana Roberts |
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Category:
Flowers
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Have you ever wished that you had a garden that would bloom and grow forever, with no weeding necessary, to just be there for you to enjoy, when the mood hits you? I have an idea for you. A natural woodland garden.
All it will take is an empty spot, large or small, preferably near a stand of trees. |
Where?
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An ideal spot would be a natural meadow, where nothing but grass is growing now, or if you are lucky, a few wildflowers.
First you should get a rototiller in to work up the soil, loose earth will make it easier for the seeds to get started growing. I have found that scattering wildflower seeds on top of any ground, like the instructions on packets say, will rarely give you good results. |
Soils
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| If you find that the soil is clay, not a nice natural topsoil, you should consider adding to the soil before planting your garden. You can add compost, rotted manure, peat, sandy loam or whatever you can find. Till the additions in, but don't over-work the soil. |
Next thing...
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The next thing to do, is to take a look in your perennial gardens and find some plants that go to seed easily, or spread across the ground at top speed. If you don't have perennials to gather seeds from, try to get some from friends, neighbors or relatives. If this fails, you can always buy flower seeds.
Pick a variety of flowers for your garden, some which bloom early, midsummer and late in the year. This way you will always have something growing in your wild garden. Some favorites of mine that produce a lot of seeds are bee balm, columbine, lambs ear, poppies (of all varieties), lupine, Maltese cross and gaillardia. |
Plants
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You don't have to stick with just seeds either, plants such as the daylily and various colours of iris will look great in this garden. These two flowers would take too long to grow them from seed. You could also add spring blooming bulbs, as they don't have to be dug up in the fall and will give you some early spring blooms.
With this type of garden you will also want to include some truly wild flowers. Wild columbines are letting their seeds go at this time of year, as I'm sure are many others, so just go out and collect their seeds before they scatter over the ground. |
To dig up wild flowers
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If you want to dig up wild flowers, firstly, only dig on your own property, and second, it is better to do this in the spring, to give them a better start and more of a chance of a successful transplanting.
Remember that wild plants do best if they are dug with plenty of their natural soil left on the roots, then transplanted in much the same setting as they grew naturally. For instance, if they grow in the shade, put them in the shade. If they are growing in partial sun, plant them in a similar spot. |
Compass direction
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Something that may work is a trick my dad taught me when digging up small trees. You bring a compass along and tie a colored ribbon on the south side of the bush, then when replanting it be sure the ribbon is once again facing the south.
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Planning
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Once you've gathered your plants and seeds and prepared your soil then it is time to plan out your garden. At this point you are probably thinking it's supposed to be wild, so why is any planning necessary? There are things to consider, such as will you want to put a path through the garden, or put in a bench so you can sit and enjoy all the wild beauty?
After you decide if you want anything special in your garden, then it's time to plant. You can mix the seeds in a bag if you wish, then scatter them all over the area you prepared for your garden. They do not have to be sorted as to height or anything else, that's the beauty of it. The plants you have dug can be planted anywhere you decide, but remember they will spread, so don't plant them too close together.
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A wild garden
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I say this is a wild garden, even though many of the plants you put in could very well be tame now. Once you plant this garden it will be left to grow wild, to spread and reseed without any interference from people. You won't even weed it, because what you consider weeds now will all become a part of the garden. The birds, bees and wildlife will love this new garden you are creating and will also bring just a little more nature into your life.
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