What an absolutely beautiful woods area you have there! Truly wonderful! I'm jealous .

This is much more than a usual 'shade garden', where people have an area in the yard that is heavily shaded, and they want *something* pretty that will survive and thrive there. You have a lovely woodland area with its own joys and problems. But you also have a kind of 'open palette' in what you can do in your woods. Lovely!

You might want to repost the link for your picture in the Woodland forum. This is where you will find people who have been 'gardening' in the kind of established woods and woods-edges that your picture shows. They will love it, and have better suggestions for you.

I found your pictures. You have so much more light to work with then I do/did. It looks like a lot of grass under the trees. I had years of sticks and leaves to clear before I could plant. You zone is very different too. You might be best served to ask at a local garden center. See what they suggest. With all that light, you may have water issues. It will dry our after a rain faster then my gardens do.

First, check out some books at he library on woodland gardens. There are several popular ones. Then I would thoroughly explore your woodland to see what native plants are there, identify them with either a manual or on the internet (take photos if you need to). Figure out what is a weed (pull!) or what is a native. Once you've cleared the area of weeds, the rest will come together.

Also, woodland gardens rarely need fertilizer. They get much of their nutrients naturally.

I would shop for shade or native plants. Azaleas look great in a woodland.

Denise