Add some wild with a stumpery garden

A stumpery is usually an arrangement of gnarly stumps and tree trunks as habitats for ferns and other shade-loving plants like Oregon Grape and Nandina in a shade garden, but it can work for partly sunny blooming perennials like rhododendrons too. I have seen it even used edging rose gardens where there’s full sun on one face of it. It is dramatic as a backdrop . .

Inherent in the design of one is the dramatic architecture of the roots, or any other things that you can find on or in re-purposed wood. Stacking & arching of the roots and stumps takes the idea to a new level, including creating garden ‘rooms.’

Form leads to function

The placing of the stumps is important beyond its immediate visual effect.  It’s efficient for growing woodland plants because of its vertical use of space. The unique nature of the piled-up roots creates nooks and crannies that have great conditions for plants with very different needs.

Full sun? Deep shade?  Damp wet soil?  Fast­ draining sandy soil?  These conditions are not typically found near each other, but in the stumpery, you’re creating a wide variety of growing conditions next to each other in a small space.

The month by month breakdown of the stump’s wood allows useful compounds to return back to the soil which improves the environment for a succession of insects and small mammals that will live in and on the wood, and in the soil immediately beneath it.

Victorians loved the stumpery idea

The first known stumpery was the brainstorm of artist & gardener Edward William Cooke in 1856. At that time, land clearing left would leave large debris piles that would end up just being burned. But Cooke looked at them and saw raw material for some of his garden designs. At Biddulph Grange, the estate of James Bateman, he turned some of the chaotic piles into ten-foot tall walls on either side of a wide path, and planted them with ferns.

The idea delighted visitors to the garden for its organic visual drama, and was quickly repeated across Britain. In the last century of garden construction, they have been accepted all around the world as an alternative to another bland, man-made design element in both commercial or residential gardens.

At present, stumperies are enjoying resurgence.

Ironically, England’s Prince Charles created a private one at his Highgrove House Garden in 1980, using dozens of sweet chestnut roots.

In the U.S., the Hardy Fern Foundation over the last 40 years has created one as well, making it the largest stumpery in the world – plus it is open to the public.

It was built in partnership with the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, which is located in Federal Way, Washington, and was constructed primarily with huge local Douglas Fir roots and massive native ferns.

The Hardy Fern Foundation has been working since 1989 as an international association dedicated to ferns and helping the stumpery gain acceptance for growing ferns in gardens everywhere.

Visit one near you

If this idea interests you, but you can’t easily visit their main display in Federal Way WA, then here’s a list of some of their other affiliated gardens around the U.S that may be closer to you.

Google each one for more details about their stumpery, especially regarding schedules and 2022 Covid-19 related information.

So, acquaint yourself online – and in person when you can – with this spectacular horticultural design concept, and see how a stumpery can create some drama in your own garden!

Sources: The Hardy Fern Foundation, The Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, Highgrove House,