I have a project on my hands! I moved onto a wooded lot over the winter, and now that spring has sprung I'm putting together a plan of attack for the yard. The yard hasn't been maintained for a long while, so it's going to be a multi-year project. My first stop is this wood chipped area.
The wood chips are probably 2-3 years old. There is a little bit of planned landscaping toward the front of the house, and there are a few natives that have popped up over the rest (may apple, fiddle head ferns). I also planted 30-35 wood poppies, but sadly and surprisingly the deer have devastated most of them. But MOSTLY, this space is thousands of maple saplings, oak saplings, grass, and a variety of weeds. I've started to hand pull the weeds and am searching for advice.
My idea is to hand pull as many weeds as possible, rake the dirt in the areas without plants to disturb the roots of the small weeds I can't get, mulch, and plant some shade loving natives. Is there a better approach I should take? Should I go for some sort of ground cover instead of plants? Any and all advice welcome!
by Seinpheld
5 Comments
Zone 6a
Food forest.
Start by harvesting a few of the smaller trees. Then, plant fruit trees and edible shrubs. Heavy mulch from chip drop. Use the smaller trees for raised beds or hugelculture.
Tbh this looks beautiful for a lot of understory plants. Research the native plants in your area and you’ll be able to just seed it and forget it. At most you’ll need to till the area but once it’s all established you’ll have an amazing little forest that minds it’s own business and you’ll get so many cool critters coming by.
If you want to do food stuffs then just look for what grows in limited light.
pollinator gardens
I’d be tempted to go with something like [this](https://www.prairiemoon.com/shady-woodland-seed-mix). It’s such a large area, a seed mix might be the best way to get good coverage with natives quickly.