Woodland Garden, Native Plants

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I've been doing a little (very little so far) research on:

-What WEEDS are, when to consider a plant a weed and why etc. (I think I consider very little actually weeds, mainly just those that shade out/kill the others so fast that I have a hard time keeping them at bay..i.e. the Virginia Creeper from last summer).

-Ruderal Species of plants and how they affect native plants and the environment in which they live (why Dandelions, which some consider a weed/ruderal, grow in my compacted shell/gravel driveway) etc.

-And Natural or Native Landscaping..the opposite of the lawn and manicured garden full of nonnative plants.

While I think the idea of Natural Landscaping is great, I think it would be nice to find some happy medium between it and more formal/nonnative beds set here and there among a more Woodland setting which does feature native plants that attract the wildlife and help provide them with food and shelter.
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I have been letting the wildflowers come up (not mowing in the back yard) and have been identifying them with a little field guide just to see what is actually back there. I realize thus far that there is barely any typical lawn grass back there, and I have been lucky enough to find some great ground covers popping up, and tiny little wildflowers (as well as the remains of larger types, like Goldenrod and Swamp Sunflower, which should be coming back up soon).

Here are some of the wildflowers and ground covers that have come up so far:


















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I have plans for a path to the lake.
A path through a woodland setting..

The yellow represents the paths I want to create, allowing the wildflowers/ground covers to grow along the sides from the wooded areas and tending to it by hand, instead of mowing through it with a lawnmower.
Click on this small picture to see the large version:

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More on this later.
I have plans I am drawing up slowly, when time allows.
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