we have 2acres of woods on our property in south carolina, the first 20-40 feet into the woodline is the worst, as it becomes more spacious and opens up beyond that.

However those first 20-40ft have lots of fallen pines, many sweet gum saplings, and vines starting to spread over the younger trees. Deeper into the woods, it becomes walkable and are more oak/hickory if i had to guess.

The last photo shows what it was like before we started cleaning things up this winter.

we've only taken to removing the dead trees, sideways growing, or vine infested saplings and left everything else. which might make the first layer of woods accessible when spring arrives.

TLDR

Our goal is to ensure a healthy wooded area. One that we can carve a path through and walk year round.

Im wondering how do we make our woods "healthy"? how do we choose which smaller trees should we remove? which saplings and younger trees should we ensure stay vine-free and healthy to grow? How far apart do trees need to be?

We seem to have a mix of sweet gum, pine, oak, hickory and plenty of smilax vine