Last updated on June 30th, 2019
In late-May, when the morning air is crisp and fragrant, I like to sip my coffee while strolling the paths of the Woodland Garden. Would you like to see what’s growing beneath the dappled shade there? Sip and stroll with me.
Our coffee, by the way, is cold-brewed. Here’s the recipe.
Honk if you’d like some cream, sugar, and/or Kahlua in your brew. Your wish is my command.
The woodland is located at the northernmost edge of Clover Hill. The garden’s entrance is marked by the iron arbor you see pictured above. Do pass through.
Here’s the first of many log-framed beds. This one is planted with Dicentra “Bleeding Hearts,” Jacob’s Ladder, and native ferns. As you can see, some volunteer ferns have emerged in the curved path outside the bed. I’ll dig up these youngsters a little later today, and then plant them elsewhere in the garden. You can never have too many ferns in a woodland setting.
Do you grow Dicentra in your own garden? I love how this springtime ephemeral dangles heart-shaped flowers from its long, graceful stems.
And here is an intimate look at Jacob’s Ladder. From mid-May through early June, this Polemonium pulcherrimum covers itself in pale-blue flowers. What a dazzling plant.
Between the Jacob’s Ladder bed and a pair of Adirondack-style chairs is a small frog pond. A pond’s circulating pump provides the garden — and you and me — with calming water music.
Continuing northward, we find ourselves at the edge of the woodland. Here, in a bed of pachysandra (I know, not a woodland plant) are some PJM rhododendrons. The wide stream in the background is a Hudson River tributary.
Now put your hands on your hips, swing to the right, and check out the Virginia bluebells! I started out with just a few of these Mertensia virginica. My, how they have spread over the course of five years. I adore them.
In the center of the garden is a big wooden table with four benches. The woodland is a fun place for brunch during hot summer days. The garden’s big tree canopy — mostly maples and oaks — keeps the garden shaded, and therefore cool.
Before the table is a group of wayward Sweet Woodruff. Wayward, because the little groundcover has escaped its planting quarters. Such behavior doesn’t bother me because…
I love the sweet white stars that light the tips Sweet Woodruff in May!
Opposite the woodruff grove is a long border of hosta, with ferns behind them. The hosta variety in the foreground is ‘Paul’s Glory.’ In the background is some common green and white hosta that I hope the deer will eventually eat.
I do not like common green and white hosta.
Near the garden’s exit is a slatted wood swing. Please take a seat there, and then tell me something about your own garden. Is it all sun? All shade? Something betwixt and between the two? Talk to me in the comments section below.
And thank you for spending some time with me today. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your company.
xKevin
P.S. Want to know how — and why — I designed the Woodland Garden? Check out this ancient post.
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Lauren Z says
Kevin,
I find myself coming to your blog more than any other these days. I ADORE your posts. I’m sure I’m not the first person to tell you that I feel like we’re old friends now. Truthfully, I came to see if you had anything to say about growing dill (because I’m attempting it this year in MY garden)…but I got waylaid by your beautiful garden tour… and here I am. Still feeling the cool from the shade. Thanks for all your posts!!
Christine F says
Lovely
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Lauren – Thanks so much for joining me on this little tour. Dill: Plant it once, and you will have it forever. The plant freely reseeds itself!
Hi Christine F – I enjoyed your company on this tour.
Mary in Iowa says
Beautiful, as always! The deer won’t eat your green and white hostas. It’s their confirmed practice to dine on only the most succulent, gourmet varieties, the ones you really love and prize. My pink bleeding hearts self-sow like crazy. I could be rich if I dug them up and sold them. The white ones, not so much.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Mary – Your pink bleeding hearts must be very happy in the environment you’ve provided for them. I’m with you on the white number. It just doesn’t “speak” to me.
Sherri Gallant says
Ahhhh. ‘‘Tis not the first time I’ve taken a virtual walk with you through your garden, and each time I learn something new. Here is southern Alberta, in Western Canada, spring has been about two weeks tardy due to a late snowstorm. My backyard is bordered across the back by very large ball cedars and three varieties of lilac, along with a headstrong wild rose bush that gives colour when all else is done. Across the east edge are a series of towering poplars – 60 feet tall at least. The rhubarb is up about 8” and the raspberry canes are leafed out. The lilacs are in bud and in a week should begin to bloom. Today, I bought my bedding plants tomatoes peppers and herbs, and tomorrow I plant!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Sherri – Happy planting-day to you!
Tara Becker says
Your original woodland garden post a few years ago, inspired me to create my own. It’s still a work in progress but I created a stone border “triangle garden” with sweet woodruff, Virginia bluebells and painted ferns like yours. I have 3 cherished red trilliums. My husband and I also raided on ancient stone wall in the woods and created a fish pond with a small water fall and 10’ stream. Thank you for your inspiration!
Jill H. Johnson says
Hi Kevin,
Your woodland garden is beautiful. Question: do you have any help weeding, etc, or do you do it all (and cook gourmet meals and make perfect martinis too?)
Jill
Durf says
Never tire of seeing your gardens. I’ve pretty much ripped up all of my yards on my tiny property so I have all conditions. Love pachysandra and Paul’s Glory.
Cari says
Never have I ever had any luck with Jacob’s Ladder. The plant hates me and begins to immediately, spitefully die the moment I plant it. Whatever. Who even needs you, Jacob’s Ladder?
The woodruff though! I love love love that plant. It’s be a total lifesaver for the ugly spots under my ancient and gnarly blue spruce trees.
How long do the hosta last (all of them, not just the common green and white ones) vis a vis the deer? Our deer are merciless and eat my prized “Blue Nile” hosta every. single. year.
badger gardener says
My sweet woodruff is particularly lovely this spring and earlier today I was contemplating what a wonderful plant it is. Pretty even when it is done blooming and in late autumn/early winter I catch its subtle scent as it dries. I hang bunches of it from the kitchen rafters and catch its scent indoors too. I think it can be used to flavor wine too although I haven’t tried that yet.
Your garden is pretty in so many seasons but really looks extra amazing in its spring wardrobe this year.
Jerry Miller says
Thanks for the garden tour. Our weather is a little abnormal this spring. We’ve had a lot of rainy days. My garden is half in and I’m waiting for the ground to dry so I can finish the job.
Plus, we had a late frost; I lost my newly transplanted tomato plants and all my cherry and peach blossoms fell off. I won’t be having any peaches or cherries this year. Last year was my first harvest and I was looking forward to a bigger harvest this year.
Elizabeth K. Baker says
When I have trouble sleeping I imagine walking into the woods to such a place.
Betty says
How do you keep the deer from devouring the hosta? My yard is heavily wooded so can’t grow grass. Have lots of ground cover, bleeding hearts and hosta. They are leveling the hosta and have now moved on to the turtle heads which are on the edge of the wooded area.
Sandra Payette says
What a nice treat on a Sunday morning. A tour in your gorgeous garden. Love it.
Kathy Evans says
This is the first of your posts for me. What a delightful way to start my day! My garden is especially lush this year due to all the rain and early warm weather we have had this spring is Western PA. Ferns and Sweet Woodruff are especially full. Also my wind Ginger. Thank you for sharing your garden.
Susan says
I really enjoyed my morning stroll in your garden. We have a small woodland garden on our property. Rhododendrons, hostas, azaleas, daffodils put on a great show. The hydrangeas are loaded with lots of blue and white blooms after our welcome spring rains as well as the plumes of astilbe in various shades from soft pink , deep pink, white and a pale lavender. Spring is the most joyous time.
Now, we are in summer mode, heat in the 90’s, trying to keep things watered and alive. Containers planted giving lots of color and inviting the hummingbirds and butterflies to visit. When I need a cool down the shaded side yard and woodland is the place to visit.
Your post always inspire me whether recipes or garden tips with a lovely touch of humor.
gloria says
Good Morning-
Having visited your garden several years ago, I enjoyed the virtual “revisit” to see the early spring gifts. That deep leaf mulch that created such a beautiful garden.
I noticed your pond and pump.
I am need a reliable pump but am stymied about size, type and brand.
Could you address ponds and pumps sometime.
Mary S says
Thank you for the tour. What a relaxing way to begin a Sunday morning!
Vicki H says
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for the walk through your lovely woodland garden. I grew up in eastern Pa. and gardened there for many years before moving to northwestern Montana about 8 years ago. Now in the foothills of the Rockies, conditions are much more challenging. I’m always looking for deer and drought tolerant plants for my shaded perennial border…lily of the valley, some ferns, columbine and foam flower (tiarella) do pretty well there. I love sweet woodruff, too, haven’t tried it here.
Have any tips for deer deterrence? I must resort to spraying and caging my susceptible plants …not terribly attractive. P.S. yours is the only blog I read and enjoy, I think because your warm and real personality shines through. Thank you Kevin.
Priscilla Shoulders says
Hi Kevin! As always I love your post. I have the perfect place for a woodland garden but alas, we are infested with ticks. Any hints how to control this problem. I so want to plant this area.
Think I’ll go make your herb biscuits!
Meghan G. says
Happy Memorial Day weekend,
I cannot tell you how I look forward to your blogs. Thank you- I am addicted to cold brew and will be making that today.
Lorie says
Ostrich ferns – people love them or hate them. Great for a wooded grove, I am told, but I had them go crazy in a bed near the house and had a heck of a time eradicating them. They make me nervous. Photos of them in prime time are lovely but then there is all the brown. Or do people mow them?
It seems to me that coarse ground coffee would have less surface area, not more. It is definitely easier to filter.
Marilyn says
I too had trouble growing dill until I complained to a farmstand lady one day and her reply was it is dill weed. Just drop the seed on the ground and it will grow like a weed. She was right.
patrice says
What a beautiful garden. Thanks for sharing
Diana L Law says
Beautiful! How lucky you are to live in this place. I have a yard with mixed sun shade and have some native Bleeding Heart, so lovely. My Sweet Woodruff has finally settled in and rewarded me with lots of blooms this year. Happiness. Thanks for sharing your garden.
Pam Alexander says
Good Morning,
Today is a soft drizzle day in my Illinois garden.
It has been a mixed up spring here and my first spring being retired .
I am busy trying to do somethings that I didn’t have time to do before.
The tulips made a very pretty show this spring as did the other spring bulbs and flowering plants. It stayed very cool this spring so most flowers gave it their all for many days.
The tree peonies and iris are taking their time to show off their beauty in the garden now.
This. Spring I have enjoyed the time to remember the many people who have gifted me with plants,cuttings ,seeds,bulbs and gardening knowledge over the years.
I did the winter seed sowing and it turned out so good that I have so many plants that I am even able to share then with other gardening friends.
I will take rum chata in my coffee
Susan I McRae says
Your newsletter is my Sunday morning treat. Always a lovely departure from the other things in my in box. Thank you!
Chuck says
I’ve never been to Monets Garden, but I have found a sky shade of blue I call Monet Blue and I have painted a couple of chairs, 4 whiskey barrel halves, some iron obelisks, a kids wooden bench, and pots that go in an antique bike this color. I call it my Monet garden. Under 3 flowering crab trees (Springs comes late to our rural Colorado valley flood of 7,600 feet above sea level), and 4 rows of garden peas (planted on Good Friday) are up and will soon need support strings, I sit in some sunlight, some shade, and am thankful The Winter That Wouldn’t, has perhaps actually finally given up. (Although we had skiffs of snow just last week). I still want to travel to see your great gardens and home. I love the frog pond with bubble pond with water.
Rachel says
Thank you for your lovely posts of your home and gardens. It is so special. You are very blessed to live in such a wonderful place. You take wonderful care of it and your love definitely shows. Thank you again for sharing. God bless.
Marsha says
My gardens are 80 percent shade and 10 percent sun. When I began gardening, about 25 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. To me, gardens meant flowers, and I wanted color! petals! great swaths if yellows, purples, and whites! It took time for me to appreciate and love the ferns and hostas, jack in the pulpit, Solomon’s seal, sweet woodruff, ginger, and all the others treasures of a shade garden. Time teaches us a lot about gardens, and gardens teach us a lot about time.
Kevin, you and Margaret Roach are the best. It’s so nice that you arrive in my inbox together every Sunday.
Christine says
Your ancient woodland garden post is what drew me here, originally so I enjoyed this stroll! I’m sitting here enjoying our woodland yard…not yet garden. I aspire for it to be a place to enjoy at some point. Better than the endless weed that seems to be my front yard. As a first time homeowner, it’s pretty overwhelming. I told my husband, if we had a boring lawn, I’d know what to do. I’m glad we don’t but it’s definitely a new adventure!
Nancy Olsen-HArbich says
I envy your woodland garden – -really,if you were here you would see I have turned green. I made the mistake of not really understanding the attraction of shade ( I was all FLOWERS. FLOWERS need sun) – – actually YOU do have plenty of flowers in the shade – anyway I filled my shaded woodland area on my property with some invasive dead nettle, plain boring hostas, some iris. I really want a do over.
But the beds in sunshine are evolving. A rose garden this year (easy care selections like knock out) and perennial beds coming up the drive and a huge one in the back of the property. Like you, I winter sow and my beds get very full! I also have this very cool pop up greenhouse, sort a plasticigloo that is 10′ x 10′ I think. I start annuals in there and dahlia tubers and vines. Lots of seeds started but not much for shade.
Linda Kalbler says
Kevin
What a pleasant way to end my day. I enjoyed your tour of your woodland garden. I havr always dreamed of having a place like that. I really enjoy your blogs . Thank you for always brightening my day
Annie says
So very peaceful……….Thank you!
Blaschke Shirley says
Wow! Love your woodland garden. In Oklahoma, in the shady half, we grow dwarf specimen Japanese Maples and hostas. In the full sun part I grow kitchen herbs and roses. Am adding more native plants. I depend on groundcovers and your newspaper and leaf mulch in the baking summer heat. Thank you for all your tips and ideas. Love your blog.
Amy says
I always love your garden tours! I have a woodland hill on my property with an open spot at the top…I’m looking for ideas and some of your plants will definitely make the plan! I just can’t decide if I want to add a gazebo or ??? Something else …oh well I will keep looking until inspiration hits!
Denise McInerney says
Your woodland garden looks so cool and relaxing. I suddenly find myself in need of a sweet little frog pond! I’m with all your readers on the deer/hosta problem. The only thing that has worked for us is two “scarecrow” motion-activated water squirters at opposite sides of our yard–magic! We’ve actually gotten through the past 6 years without deer devouring my garden. I have about 8 or 9 varieties of hosta, some taken from my Mom’s yard that are about 55 years old. The deer loved them. The first year we tried the water sprinklers, my husband came inside one day and asked what kind of white flowers I had planted along the back fence– told him it was Mom’s hosta, but we’d never seen the flowers before because the plants were always eaten to the ground by the end of June! If you haven’t tried the motion-sensitive water sprinklers, give them a try. My neighbors are all using them now!
Lisa says
We’re on a multi-year journey restoring a woodland that has decades of thick invasive growth (barberry, honeysuckle, multiflora rose, wineberry, and sadly, much more). It’s very inspiring to see what you’ve done…it’s not just a pipe dream! We’re amidst starting a back fern slope and a front woodland with wild ginger, native cranesbill, and other natives. Deer and groundhogs are an added consideration we deal with, plus proximity to some lovely, yet difficult, black walnuts. Thank you so much for inspiration, humor and insights — great blog!
pat says
New at gardening so it keeps moving or I keep moving it as I have sun plants in shade and shade ones in the sun. But this year it’s much better as I’ve learned to go slower. Then I read the Woodland Garden. Spent the last week or two in the Woodland with the black flies and mosquitoes but I love it. Planted some hostas and ferns, astilbe and dug up the impatients and moved the little darlings, hope they are ok. Two chairs and a table will arrive soon. All ready had a path going no where (like paths) so thanks for the grand destinations.
So glad Kathy sent me you Page.
Kathie from IL says
Kevin. I love your blog for recipes and gardening ideas. Used to live in CA and really miss the perfect weather and lots of room for many flowers. Now we live in a town home. Actually my stroke in Nov ‘16 robbed me of my gardening time. Tried bleeding hearts several times but it always died. It loves IL. Thought it died several years ago after we planted it. This year it is beautiful and large.
Brenda says
Hello!
In the dark days of the pandemic, this post is a breath of fresh air. Clean air, I should add. Remember when we could safely breath on each other (or at least we thought we could) without a face mask.
Love the woodland garden as it is my favorite setting. And those roses…simply gorgeous.
Keep up the good work and thank goodness we have our gardens, to keep us sane…in this time of uncertainty.