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Forest shade garden

CrankyYankeeCrankyYankee Posts: 504
in Garden design
Last year I had an area thinned of trees and bushes so I could create a forest garden.  I plan to plant mostly spring ephemerals, native woodland plants, and perennial shade plants like hosta, but I'm not sure about the preparation of the area.  It's never been cleaned up before, and even with the trees thinned I still need to tear out oriental bittersweet, Virginia Creeper, and poison ivy.  Once that's done, I'm wondering what the best way to plot out my plantings would be - should I rake the top layer of leaves and debris so I can get a better look at what I'm working with underneath, or would that be detrimental to any native plants living there?  I know there are Jack-in-the-Pulpits in that area and I know that forest plants rely on decaying leaf litter.  Also, should I add soil or other amendments?  I'm not sure if I should just plant in the natural medium that is there, or create little beds among the trees.

For a visual, here's the area before and after thinning, and now, so you can see the basic layout better.


New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury

Posts

  • SYinUSASYinUSA Posts: 243
    I have a similar area I'm trying to develop. I am not amending anything, as the decades of leaf mould that have formed naturally make for fantastic soil. I wanted it to be a little wilder, too, and I thought formalized beds would detract from that effect (and cause complications with the planting depths of the trees). I do pull back some leaves around the plants in the spring when they start to emerge. It's just so I can monitor their progress because I'm nosey, and so I don't step on them. 

    So far this spring I have new growth on the hostas, Persian shield, callicarpa, rhododendron, hydrangea, holly leaf ferns, heuchera, camellia, and bleeding heart. Still waiting on the other ferns to emerge. You're in a much colder part of the country than I am, so you'll have a much different plant list. 
  • CrankyYankeeCrankyYankee Posts: 504
    @SYinUSA I have a ton of plants in holding beds waiting for me to figure out where they need to be planted, and many wild plants that I can relocate from other areas of the property.  :)  I don't want formal beds per se, but I wasn't sure if I needed to build up the soil.  There are a lot of mature trees so lots of roots to deal with, in addition to the masses of granite boulders.  I suppose the solution to that is planting between roots and rocks, which would give it a more natural appearance.
    New England, USA
    Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
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