Recreate Our Woodland Farm | Woodland Gardening in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Beyond the lavender rows, Pause Lavender Farm is shaped by woodland edges, changing light, wildlife habitat, and the plants that naturally make the transition from forest to garden.
This is where we share how we work with those conditions—and how you can borrow ideas from our Upper Peninsula landscape for your own property.
Recreate the Feeling of Our Woodland Farm
A woodland garden does not need to imitate a forest exactly. The goal is to work with shade, filtered light, leaf litter, moisture patterns, and natural plant communities instead of forcing a sunny-garden formula into the wrong place.
We use and observe combinations that create soft transitions between woods, open garden, and wildlife habitat.
Think in Woodland Edges, Not Just Deep Shade
Some of the most useful planting space is where trees meet open ground. These transition areas can offer morning sun, dappled light, afternoon shade, and more varied growing conditions than the forest interior.
They are also natural places to build layers of texture with ferns, flowering perennials, groundcovers, and plants that support birds and beneficial insects.
Build a Naturalistic Planting
Instead of arranging every plant as an isolated specimen, look at how plants repeat and mingle in nature. Use groups, drifts, varied heights, and seasonal succession so the planting feels settled into the property.
- Use ferns and foliage for structure.
- Let flowering plants appear in small colonies rather than single dots.
- Repeat a few dependable plants through the space.
- Allow leaf litter and natural mulch to become part of the garden where appropriate.
- Plan for habitat as well as appearance.
Plants From Our Woodland Landscape
Our woodland plant offerings are not a separate nursery identity. They are plants connected to the landscape we live with and learn from at Pause.
Explore plants from our woodland landscape.
Wildlife Is Part of the Design
We think about the property as habitat, not simply ornament. Woodland edges and naturalized areas can provide shelter, food, nesting opportunities, and seasonal resources for wildlife while still creating a beautiful garden.
Inspired by Michigan's Upper Peninsula
The forests, wetlands, openings, and changing seasons of the Upper Peninsula shape how we garden. Recreating our woodland farm is less about copying one exact plant list and more about learning to notice what the site is already telling you: where water moves, where snow sits, where light changes, and where plants naturally want to grow.
That same observation-first approach is at the heart of how we grow lavender in the north, too.