Totnes woodlands

A meandering path to tempt you to explore – with gentle curves leading out of sight, who wouldn’t want to follow this delightful woodland path?

The intricate foliage of ferns

Many of our favourite wildflowers are actually native woodland plants. They’re superbly adapted to growing under trees and in shady spots – try foxgloves, primroses and bluebells. Let them seed around (don’t cut the spent flowerheads off) to give an authentic natural woodland feel.

Woodland gardens offer lots of opportunity for us to enjoy different seasons. In winter the first bulbs – snowdrops and aconites – burst forth beneath bare stems; their trickle becomes a flood in spring as carpets of bluebells and other bulbs erupt from the woodland floor. Summer sees the canopy close over to create a living green roof which then fades to gold, red and brown as the year ends.

Woodland gardens are the perfect places to loosen our grip on nature, allowing plants such as spring

These are fleshy, rounded, underground storage organs, usually sold and planted while dormant. Examples include daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, onions and garlic. The term is often used to cover other underground storage organs, including corms, tubers and rhizomes.

bulbs to naturalise, forming wonderful spectacles of flowers and foliage. This more relaxed approach means less work – so everyone’s a winner!