Viewing post #868244 by Brinybay

Bonehead said:Welcome Briny. I am about half hour north of you. I have both of your weeds. ... I don't stress about trying for total eradication. The birds will just keep replanting.

In your understory I would suggest introducing native ferns, false lily of the valley, mahonia, vine maple. Sword ferns will do real well and colonize. Also deer fern, smaller. For a big statement, darmera is also native and does well. Goatsbeard (native form or one of the prettier cultivars). Rodgersia ( not native but will grow in shade). At the edges you could add a Japanese maple or two and some dogwood shrubs. And of course azalea or rhodies would fit right in.

I also encourage some shrub piles here and there for critter protection. Makes routine cleanup easy to just toss branches and debris in a pile.

Fun project ahead of you!

I'm glad you said not to stress too much about total eradication of the holly sprouts, I wasn't looking forward to that task.

Speaking of sword ferns, can they be transplanted from the wild? I ask because my neighbor said I could have the wild ferns growing on his property, but I don't know if they would survive.

As far as screening goes, we're a little careful about putting up too much screening. My wife used to have some bushes growing next to the house on that side that were high enough to conceal burglars who used them to hide their activity. The bushes are long gone. Some screening next to the rockery to help cut the traffic noise down would be nice, but once the morning and evening commuters are gone, it's not real bad.