Download Your Free Biodiversity Garden Blueprint

The Garden of Your Wildest Dreams
Plant a garden that looks Beautiful while supporting pollinators, birds and other wildlife.

Your Garden Matters!

  • Scenic landscape with a lake in the foreground, rolling green hills, and tall mountains in the background under a cloudy sky.

    Healthy, Resilient Garden

    Diverse planting supports healthy soils, encourages natural pest control and creates gardens that are better able to cope with drought, heavy rain and a changing climate.

  • A modern house with wooden and stone exterior walls on a green hillside, with snow-capped mountains in the background under a cloudy sky.

    Support Wildlife

    This Design naturally creates food, shelter and nesting habitats for birds, bees, butterflies and countless other species, helping nature thrive in your own garden.

  • Modern wooden building with large glass window, set against mountainous landscape with grassy terrain in foreground.

    Year-Round Beauty

    A biodiverse garden evolves with the seasons, offering flowers, foliage, seed heads, berries and striking winter structure to create interest all year round.

For You.
Who Wants a Garden That Gives Back to Nature.

Why Biodiversity Gardens Matter

The UK has lost much of its native wildlife over the past century through habitat loss, intensive land use and fragmented landscapes.

Yet gardens now cover an area larger than all of the country's National Nature Reserves combined, giving every gardener the opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

By creating gardens that provide food, shelter and nesting habitat, we can help reconnect these fragmented ecosystems, one garden at a time.

The Biodiversity Garden Blueprint turns ecological principles into practical design strategies you can apply in any outdoor space.

Whether you have a small urban courtyard, a suburban garden or a larger rural landscape, the concepts are designed to be adapted to suit your site, conditions and budget.

Rather than prescribing a single planting plan alone, this guide gives you the knowledge and confidence to create a beautiful, resilient garden that supports wildlife wherever you live.

How This Blueprint Helps

10m2 Biodiversity Planting Plan

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12 UK-Native Plants

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Adaptable Design

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Maintenance Guide

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Free Download

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10m2 Biodiversity Planting Plan • 12 UK-Native Plants • Adaptable Design • Maintenance Guide • Free Download •

Garden Designer • Horticulturalist • Garden & Nature Communicator

"I believe gardens should be as beautiful for people as they are valuable for wildlife. This blueprint brings together professional garden design and ecological principles into a practical planting plan anyone can use."

Designed by Mykal Hoare

Looking for planting ideas for a sunny, dry border? maybe a moist shady corner? Explore the Biodiversity Garden Blueprint collection, with designs tailored to different garden conditions, planting plans, plant profiles and seasonal maintenance guidance.

Looking for a blueprint to suit your growing conditions?

The Dry Garden - Biodiversity Garden Blueprint
£19.00

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.

The Shade Garden - Biodiversity Garden Blueprint
£19.00

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.