"David J. Bockman" wrote in message
...
Hi Dave, Dave here P

I spent a good 5 hours there planning several pathways through the trees
and
laurels into 3 small natually occuring 'rooms'. One was to be a hosta
room,
one was a Japanese style moss garden, and the third was a more formal
sitting area with teak benches and tables.

My advice would be to look for the 'bones' of your woods, to see those
elements that you really like and those that have to go, then build upon
that structure in a natural style

I think this approach can work, even if you have no budget to bring in an
expert like the second Dave.

We're on an 1-1/3 acres of oak/hickory woods (mature trees, 80 feet high),
with some maple and black cherry mixed in, and dogwoods and redbud at the
lower level. Otherwise the understory is a mess of poison ivy and garlic
mustard. My strategy is to destroy the latter, a little bit each year; clear
out the suckers and other weak saplings, while protecting the interesting
ones; and make paths. While putting some attention into the yard areas right
around the house - a few shade-grass stretches and ground-cover areas over
the septic field and in front by the gravel driveway - and building up
shrubs at the edge of the woods, and a showy flower bed by the veggie garden
that's in a frame in the front yard - I gradually made some paths into the
forest. (Got a couple of good cases of mid-winter poison ivy doing this, but
at least there were no copperheads around at that time.) The first path
looped around, past a future "room" in the woods, and down to where the lot
faces south onto a dirt road, the location for planting a raspberry patch.
When the power company came around to do trimming, they offered 12 cubic
yards of wood chips to any takers. I took it, and spread it on my paths.
Immediately, the forest looked organized and neat, even though most of it
hasn't been cleaned out yetl. When "cleaning", of course we'll leave the
snags for the woodpeckers. Just as, out front, we left the stumps of old
oaks that had been cleared years ago to build the house. We put dirt in the
center of the stumps, turning them into planters for pansies and petunias.
When the pileated woodpeckers come around to have a whack at breakfast at
the flower-filled stumps, it's quite a sight!