Tending Towards Complexity:

MARITIME WOODLAND GARDEN

Targeted editing guides the development of an ecologically based planting design.

In the Maritime Woodland Garden, rays of native ground covers, densely planted with single-species wild collected sods, became firmly established during the first summer after installation. The following spring, the boundary between the planted natives and the existing native plants in the undisturbed/unplanted areas between rays begins to blur. The changes in growing conditions - increased light and water – brought about by the removal of trees for the building construction, encouraged dormant seeds and struggling  existing plants to successfully compete for space in both the sod plantings and the undisturbed areas. Without targeted weeding, the planted and unplanted areas will eventually become indistinguishable. To preserve a legible record of the original design geometry, the central core of the planted rays will be weeded to maintain the density of the primary planted species - Hayscented Fern, Bunchberry and Haircap Moss - while the edges of the rays will blend with the native vegetation on the forest floor.

For more on the Maritime Woodland Garden, click here.

PLANTING HAYscented fern sods in first ray