Pocket woodlands are the secret to transforming shady garden corners – these are the easy planting tricks I learned from an RHS Chelsea garden designer

Here’s something I didn’t expect to learn at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show: how to create a pocket woodland in my back garden.

There were plenty of brilliant ideas and garden trends at this year’s RHS Chelsea, but one of my favourites was the miniature ancient woodland in The Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden. The All About Plants garden celebrates the Woodland Trust’s restoration of the UK’s ancient woods, and how they can emerge after non-native conifer plantations are removed. The Garden is just eight by six metres in size, highlighting that you can create a small pocket woodland at home.

I spoke to the Garden’s designer, Ashleigh Aylett, to find out how we can create a pocket woodland at home.

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1. Maximise trees

Trees might seem like a counterproductive way to create a pocket woodland in a small garden, but according to Ashleigh, they’re crucial for an ancient woodland planting scheme.

‘We’re really maximising on the trees in the garden,’ she told me. ‘We actually have six trees in this garden, and that creates this really lovely canopy area and shaded nooks where we can start putting in our perennial planting.’

Field maple, which you can buy from The Range, was a standout species in the garden – it’s a resilient deciduous tree that turns a beautiful shade of gold in the autumn.

I also noticed that the planting in The Woodland Trust’s garden was very dense, almost overcrowded, as though it had been carved straight out of a real ancient woodland.

‘What’s really key when creating these kinds of pocket woodlands is not to be scared of really maximising on the planting and pushing it really close together so that you can start to have the plants growing into each other,’ Ashleigh explained.

2. Plant shade-loving perennials

There are so many perennials that thrive in shade, and they’re ideal for planting under trees in a pocket woodland garden. Red campion was the star in the Forgotten Forests Garden.

‘We've used a lot of red campion, these bright pops of pink, and they're also really great for just lifting shady areas and really drawing your eye through the space,’ Ashleigh told me. ‘It’s a great plant that gardeners can use at home.’

Red campion is a hardy herbaceous perennial that flowers from May through September. You can order red campion plants and seeds from Crocus.

Viburnum opulus, or the guelder rose, is another of Britain’s ancient woodland indicators that featured in the Garden. It’s a plant that thrives in wet soils, which means it’s perfectly adapted to the UK’s cold, damp winters. You can buy Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’ from Crocus.

3. Plant into the walls

One of my favourite parts of The Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden were the plants spilling from the crevices in the stone walls. It’s a beautiful way to rewild hard landscaping and increase planting opportunities in a small garden.

‘Within this pocket woodland, we’ve used dry stone walling as the boundary,’ Ashleigh said. ‘It’s great because you can actually start to plant into it, and then suddenly you have this vertical space where you can start detailing and adding more interest in.’

Polypodies grow from the crevices in the wall – they’re evergreen, low-maintenance ferns that thrive in both damp and dry conditions. You can order Polypodium vulgare from Crocus.

Ashleigh also pointed out the wall pennywort, which I thought was an unusual (but very charming) feature.

‘Umbilicus rupestris, which is our pennywort, just has these lovely flower spikes,’ Ashleigh said. ‘It has these lovely round leaves, too, which bring so much interest to the garden.’

4. Don't forget about paths

The path in The Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden also caught my attention, and it’s a highlight for Ashleigh, too.

‘We’ve taken the dry stone wall and used it on the edge to create this stone path,’ she told me. ‘You also get all these nooks and crannies running through the path, and here we’ve planted it with mosses, but it would be great with self-seeders, too.’

Ashleigh also noted that this increases the planting area in a small garden, as well as infusing it with an aged, authentic look that you’d find in woodlands naturally. It’s one of my new favourite garden path ideas!

Plants for a pocket woodland garden

Will you be creating a pocket woodland in your garden this summer?