Gardens designed to connect people with nature.
Wildlife & biodiversity-led garden design
Gardens designed to connect people with nature.
Naturalistic and biodiversity-led garden design
Welcome to The Gardener’s Lodge
I’m Mykal Hoare, a garden designer and garden & nature communicator. Through The Gardener’s Lodge, I design abundant, naturalistic gardens that are as beautiful for their owners as they are for wildlife. With principles led by biodiversity these spaces deepen our connection with the natural world.
Through writing, podcasting and media, I explore the ideas shaping gardens today, translating horticulture, ecology and climate resilience into practical resources, thoughtful conversations and stories that help people see their gardens differently.
THE GARDENER’S LODGE DESIGN STUDIO
Bespoke gardens, abundant with life.
The best gardens feel inseparable from the people who live within them and the landscape around them. We create deeply personal outdoor spaces that combine strong, considered design with abundant naturalistic planting.
Biodiversity is built into every stage of the process. By working with plants, habitats and natural systems, I design gardens that support wildlife, respond to a changing climate and bring their owners into a closer relationship with the living world.
Based in London and working across England & Wales, The Gardener’s Lodge Design Studio offers bespoke garden design and planting design for people who want a garden with beauty, individuality and purpose.
BIODIVERSITY GARDEN BLUEPRINTS
Thoughtful planting designs for your own garden.
Beautiful For You. Better For Wildlife.
Create a beautiful border with more to offer wildlife. Our downloadable garden planting plans bring together planting layouts, plant lists, seasonal interest calendars and practical care guidance.
Explore designs for sunny, dry borders and moist, shady spaces & everything in between.
Each blueprint is designed around a 5 × 2 metre border, with plant combinations you can adapt to suitable growing conditions.
The Dry Garden - Planting Plan - PDF Download
Create a beautiful, wildlife-friendly, climate resilient border for a sunny garden with dry, well-drained soil.
The Dry Garden is a downloadable PDF planting blueprint from The Gardener’s Lodge, bringing together drought-tolerant planting, naturalistic design and practical ways to support biodiversity.
Soft grasses, silver foliage and flowers in pink, purple and white create a border full of texture, movement and seasonal interest. A carefully chosen mix of UK native and non-native plants provides food and shelter for wildlife, with value extending beyond the flowering season.
What size garden is it designed for?
The planting plan covers a 5 m long × 2 m deep border — a total of 10 m². You can recreate the complete scheme, use it to refresh an existing bed, or take inspiration from its plant combinations for another sunny part of your garden.
For a longer border, repeat the planting scheme lengthways. The blueprint recommends using the hawthorn once as a feature tree, then using its position in additional sections for wildlife features such as a bird bath, small pond or log pile. In a smaller garden, the tree can be treated as optional.
How many plants are included?
The full scheme contains 39 individual plants across 12 species, combining:
One feature tree.
1 shrub.
1 climber.
32 perennials across eight flowering varieties
1 ornamental grasses.
A labelled planting plan and shopping list show which plants to buy, how many you need and where to position them.
Where can you use this dry garden planting plan?
This scheme is designed for full sun and free-draining soil, particularly where borders dry out quickly or struggle to retain moisture.
It can suit sunny front gardens, back garden borders, planting beside patios and warm walls, and suitable sandy, gravelly or stony soils. It is especially useful if you want a drought-resistant garden border with less dependence on regular watering once established.
The design can be used in suitable gardens across England: your site conditions matter more than your postcode. Choose a sunny position with good drainage throughout the year, and check individual plant suitability in particularly cold or exposed locations. Heavy soil that becomes waterlogged in winter will need a different approach.
New plants will still need watering while their roots establish, and occasional support may be necessary during prolonged drought.
Designed for a changing climate
A more resilient garden starts with choosing plants that suit its conditions. The Dry Garden brings together plants selected to cope with periods of summer dryness once established, helping you create a beautiful, wildlife-friendly border with less reliance on regular watering.
The blueprint goes beyond plant selection, with guidance on protecting soil, conserving moisture and collecting rainwater - practical habits that help prepare your garden before dry weather arrives.
Good drainage remains essential, particularly through wetter winters. In a sunny, well-drained position, this scheme offers a practical starting point for gardening with a changing climate while continuing to provide food and habitat for wildlife.
What’s included in the PDF?
An illustrated garden design and labelled planting layout.
A complete plant shopping list with quantities.
Individual plant profiles.
A seasonal interest and wildlife calendar.
Biodiversity gardening principles and habitat ideas.
Practical planting and maintenance guidance.
Advice on preparing for drought, managing moisture and storing rainwater.
Use it as a complete border design, a starting point for a larger planting scheme, or a practical guide to choosing plants and caring for a dry garden with wildlife in mind.
Digital PDF download only. Plants, materials and installation are not included.
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The Shade Garden - Planting Plan - PDF Download
Create a lush, wildlife-friendly border for a shady city garden or woodland setting.
The Shade Garden is a downloadable PDF planting blueprint from The Gardener’s Lodge, bringing together naturalistic design, shade-tolerant planting and practical ways to support biodiversity.
Layered ferns, textured foliage and soft sedges create a woodland feel, with flowers in cream, white, burgundy, pink and violet adding seasonal colour. A mix of UK native plants and selected garden varieties provides food, shelter and habitat for wildlife, with interest extending beyond the flowering season.
Designed for moisture-retentive soil that stays slightly moist, this scheme can cope with some shorter dry spells once established. It is not a dry-shade planting plan.
What size garden is it designed for?
The planting plan covers a 5 m long × 2 m deep border - a total of 10 m². Recreate the complete scheme, refresh an existing shady bed, or use its plant combinations as inspiration for another suitable area.
For a longer border, repeat the planting scheme lengthways.
For a smaller space, use a fewer number of plants.
How many plants are included?
The full scheme contains 44 individual plants across 12 species, combining:
1 shrub
1 climber
26 flowering perennials
2 ferns
1 groundcover
1 sedge (ornamental Grass)
A labelled planting plan and shopping list show which plants to buy, how many you need and where to position them.
Where can you use this shade garden planting plan?
This scheme is designed for partial or dappled shade, with humus-rich soil that holds moisture but drains freely.
It can suit sheltered city gardens shaded by surrounding buildings, borders beside walls and fences, and woodland-style back gardens beneath an open tree canopy. It is particularly useful where you want to bring a lush, layered feel to a garden with limited direct sunlight.
The design can be used in suitable gardens across England, provided the light and soil conditions match. A shady position is not automatically a moist one: buildings can shelter soil from rainfall, while tree roots and overhead foliage can leave woodland borders surprisingly dry.
Choose this blueprint for soil that remains reasonably moist through much of the growing season, rather than persistently dry ground beneath dense trees or overhanging structures. Occasional drier periods are manageable with established planting and appropriate care, but prolonged dryness will require watering. Avoid waterlogged soil and very deep, dark shade.
What’s included in the PDF?
An illustrated garden design and labelled planting layout.
A complete plant shopping list with quantities.
Individual plant profiles.
A seasonal interest and wildlife calendar.
Biodiversity gardening principles and habitat ideas.
Practical planting and seasonal maintenance guidance.
Advice on soil care, leaf litter, mulching and managing moisture.
Use it as a complete shady border design, a starting point for a larger woodland planting scheme, or a practical guide to creating a wildlife-friendly garden in a sheltered urban space.
Digital PDF download only. Plants, materials and installation are not included.
FREE BIODIVERSITY GARDEN BLUEPRINT
Your garden can make a difference.
As biodiversity declines and natural habitats disappear, our gardens matter more than ever.
Turn a 5 × 2 metre border into a source of wildlife food and shelter with a complete UK native planting plan, practical biodiversity garden principals, maintenance plan & more.
PODCAST & MEDIA
The people and ideas shaping gardens & nature today.
Do you know how your plants were grown?
Discover UK nurseries growing peat-free and without synthetic pesticides and make sure your wildlife-friendly garden is genuinely friendly to wildlife.
THE JOURNAL
Practical guidance, original perspectives and deeper explorations of garden design, biodiversity, ecology and climate resilience.
