In Maryland zone 7, you need a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground or you need to mow/weedwhack annually to prevent invasives from taking over. Even the native vines and brambles (grapevines, greenbrier, blackberries, poison ivy) look "messy" to many people. Planting flowers will not prevent more aggressive plants from seeding in there.

Is that full shade or part shade when the trees are in leaf? That is going to dictate a lot what you can or shouldn't plant there.

It looks like in the second pic all is clear and just some mulch. MIght be that pic, but it looks like a decent slope from that angle. If you aren't going to be planting in stuff right now, I would suggest you tack in some burlap over the slope to help prevent rain washout of the slope till you get plants in to help anchor the area.

Ok thank you! It is full shade.

I was noticing the other day when it rained that the original path (far left side of second pic) had a lot of rainwater flowing through it. What if we mulch that specific path right now? Will mulching achieve the same purpose as burlap to prevent erosion?

Rather thick mulch might help for a little bit, but it too will get washed out if there's nothing to hold it in place. When you use tacked down fabric, it helps pin or hold stuff in place. Think of when you see new construction and planting on the highway, and how strips are covered in fabric till things grow in. Plantings help hold the soil in place with their roots and also with their tops to help anchor and hold thing above the soil. That's why brambles and ground covers are so good at holding stuff together.

If you want to keep the path like that, you will likely need to stabilize it. There's a variety of options from just using it a lot and keeping it clear to terracing or laying in pavers. Some people line the downhill side of their paths to help prevent side erosion.

Working with full shade can be a challenge, but a lot of members here do so. You might want to expand your help request into the hostas, perennial, and native plant forums. Those see more activity than some other areas, and members there often deal with shade situations. If you post a new topic to those three, include a link to this topic to help explain what's going on.

You don't want to start with seeds. You want landscape plugs. You could probably do a mix of Tiarella and woodland phlox. You can get reasonably priced plugs from The Pollen Nation. There are some native asters that will bloom in dry shade in the fall. You need to look this stuff up, as you have prerry deep shade that is probably quite dry and you're going to need coverage that suppresses whatever weeds are there, now.

You can research as well as buy native plants from www.izelplants.com

Not a ton of maintenance once established, but the more you skimp on the sweat equity up front, the less chance of long term success.

Check to see if you have a native plant nursery anywhere close. Check out their website and see if they offer any planting services for native plants. Another idea would be to see if there is a native plant society or club near you. They would be able to point you in the right direction. If you want some inspiration try Douglas Tallamy’s books. There are also some YouTube videos of Tallamy speaking about creating habitat.

Yes, you can have a less messy, slightly purposeful looking, woodland wildflower garden on that slope that needs less maintenance than a traditional landscape planting.

It will require an annual chop down over the winter months and probably a couple of years of editing to remove the unwanted vines and invasives that are bound to be in there. Over time you can introduce native woodland wildflowers, most of which will be spring ephemerals, along with some late fall woodland asters. Spring bulbs of all kinds can also be planted in the mix. Many good natives will likely appear on their own under that maintenance routine.

It is possible. It just does require some maintenance.

I garden in the forest and have a blog at Outside Clyde. It is not a how to blog though. Look in the archives in the spring months, Feb. to May. I think that will give you the most inspiration.

Here is a good place to start: Outside Clyde: April 2022

Just because it’s clear now doesn’t mean it’s going to be clear in 2 months. Not at all. You don’t say what vegetation was cleared away, but you can be certain that massive root systems and seeds remain, just waiting to burst forth again.

You have a lovely idea as to what this area can be, but this is going to be a work in progress for several years. Not a once-and-done project.

Christopher, it’s very interesting that you mention picking up the sticks. I have a “ yard” with trees and also part is a barren area where the utility Co. cut down trees by the power lines. It’s kind of a mess, but I’m working on it and using some of your tips.

I’m hoping to “ leave the leaves” in some places, make rustic pathways, & establish a few pockets of native plantings.

But there are So.Many.Sticks, and yet I’ve noticed that when I started picking them up(a section at a time) , things looked so much better.

I’m intrigued by that— when before I figured, ya just leave the sticks, in a rustic/ kinds wild area, to be all naturalistic and all.

But I guess it’s helping to remove visual distractions , and the sticks ( all sizes of course) themselves are lower down on the “ usefulness “ scale — so a balance, of things that make an area appealing to the creator( me) and to the plants creatures that I may wish to encourage.

Would appreciate any more insights you have on that.

I use a grabber, the kind they sell for seniors or to reach things on a top shelf to pick up sticks. It saves bending down. You can stroll around your yard with a bucket and a grabber and pick up lots of sticks with little effort and no strain on your back. They make great kindling.

Sigrid, that’s great! I think of those for trash but duh, did not think of for sticks.

Picking up all the bigger sticks and branches in a natural woodland garden makes a major difference in the look and feel of the space. It is for pretty much the same reason you wouldn't leave all the deadfall from large mature trees in a more convential garden. All those sticks and branches fall in and on top of your plants. They also decompose much more slowly than leaves and can pile up quite a bit over time. The plants matter just as much in a woodland garden as any other garden. You don't want them buried in and fighting to come up through a bunch of sticks.

It is the same reason I want to have all the remaining dried bits of the herbaceous perennials chopped down before early spring. The biggest bloom in a good east coast woodland garden is in the early spring. The majority of the native spring ephemeral wildflowers are less than a foot tall. You don't want the visual competition of a bunch of taller standing sticks with shorter plants.

Bottom line is that keeping the forest tidy is to display the plants you and nature are growing to their best advantage.

There are no woodland flowers there because the deer eat them all.

Sigrid, that’s great! I think of those for trash but duh, did not think of for sticks.

Christopher, thank you.