Thoughts on my Backyard, Advice Welcome

[lightbulbsun]

So... I'm kind of overwhelmed. We moved into our house mid-August 2018, so we've had two full summers, and I feel like we're still having trouble with the backyard. My house is on 0.77 acres, and 0.5 of that is the fenced-in backyard. My ultimate goal is to have a woodsy, private feel to the backyard, with native plants that support bees, butterflies, birds, and other small critters. Last weekend my MIL used an app she has which identifies plants on a bunch of plants in my yard, and we realized how much of our yard is filled with non-native, invasive plants.

I'm struggling with to how to go about the process from non-native to native. Should I work on it a little bit at a time? I want to plant some native bushes and get some invasive stuff out in the next few weeks before it gets too cold (I'm in NJ zone 7). I'm thinking of starting in the northwest corner of my yard and kind of working my way around. Right now the only stuff in that corner is Chinese Lantern Trees (invasive), Chinese privet (invasive), wineberry (invasive), and one native chokeberry bush, which I will keep. I'm thinking of planting Mountain Laurel, Oak Leaf Hydrangeas, NJ Tea, spicebush, and hostas. I also want to leave a small open area for a future chicken coop. 

I attached some photos of my backyard and also a rough layout of where everything is. The lawn is mostly weeds, which I'm fine with. There's basically just dirt in the tree areas, but some ivy ground cover as well. And a lot of poison ivy. We have a bunch of trees of all different types, including sycamore, ash, spruce, maple, black cherry, sweet cherry, magnolia, and poplar. I want to keep as many of the large, established trees as possible, and thin out the smaller ones. We had an arborist come out last summer and they did a lot of pruning and took down one dead tree.

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[lightbulbsun]

I realize that I left my post kind of open ended. Here's a picture of what my dream yard would be, lots of trees, but also pretty bushes and flowers. I guess I just want reassurance that eventually I'll get there, even if it takes a few years to methodically remove and replant.

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[simpsongal]

It looks like you have a nice foundation of mature trees. Good idea to have a sketch. If you have ideas for more trees you want to plant, I’d target getting those in so they can establish. You can slowly expand and develop your beds Around those trees. We tend to work in quadrants on our 1/2 acre. Eight years here and I’m still tackling areas, watching things I did fill in, moving plants. Losing mature things and sadly some new.

For more natives, I love witch hazel, deciduous azalea, fringe tree. I love my mountain laurel too! I love viburnums too. I like to plan a mix/ layer of evergreens and deciduous and try to stagger blooming. Think of light requirements too. I love Japanese maples and I order them from online nurseries.

For plants, I try to buy stubs to save money, or divide what I get from the nursery. I’m planting more sedges for fill and texture. I love my variegated hostas (but so do the deer).

It’ll take time but you’ll get there and it will be a labor of love!

[Susie]

IME "a few years" is optimistic, but yes, little by little you can get it there.  We've been here for 12 years and I feel like we're just starting to get close.  And our yard is only .25 acre!  I tend to be frugal though and propagate plants (hollies, hydrangeas, dividing daylilies) when I can, rather than buying a lot, so that slows things down more than is necessary.  I also tend to buy smaller ones to save money, and try to be patient to let them grow.  Like, my 1 gal. size hydrangea will eventually grow into a big pretty one, but a cheap light fixture is never going to grow up into a nice one.  So although I spend a lot of effort on my yard/gardens, I spend my money accordingly.

We are lucky to have a friend who is a landscape architect (and lives an hour away, so is v. familiar with our zone).  He drew up a plan for us that we have not exactly stuck with, but we've stuck with the spirit of it.  Like your yard, ours had a bunch of mature trees and some crap ones, we've tried to keep the nice ones and remove the crap.  We've also lost a couple that I had originally planned to keep (a mature blue spruce in particular).  Then we had to figure out where the beds would be and what would go in them, and how arranged.  Having someone give me a map of the territory, or at least what I could do with the territory, was really key.  I've been able to adapt the plan from there when things haven't gone to plan, like a tree unexpectedly died, or something like that.

[boiler717]

Both my old and new backyard have a very similar feel and yes you will get there! Our first was a new build and started from scratch.

[rubytue]

Like Susie, I tend to buy small, cheap and let them grown up. And it takes time and patience. Also, scour around FB market place and such for people dividing their perrineials. I’m one of those that ripped out a bunch of hostas and posted them as a curb alert for free. I also get bare root trees and just wait. I got some yearling crepe myrtles, and they are just now, 5 years later, getting big enough to enjoy.

But like others said, I’d pick a quadrant at a time and work from there.

[lightbulbsun]

Yes, I know that a few years is optimistic. H and I have a spreadsheet for house projects where we estimate cost, time, and priority associated with each task, and I jokingly put 1 million hours for the backyard, but some days it feels like that might be true.

Thanks for all the feedback! I don't think I want to plant any more trees at this point, since we already have a lot. Maybe in the future I'll start encroaching more on the lawn, but for now there's more than enough work to be done with the existing woody area. The idea of working in sections makes everything feel more manageable. And I love viburnum and azaleas, too! They will definitely go on my list. And propagating is a great idea. I already divide my hostas and day lilies, so I'll have more of them every year to spread around.

Thanks everyone!

[mrspez07]

The CO landscape palette and feel is very different, so I have little advice on plants. A couple of other thoughts though:
-Make a map of real uses and limitations, things like snow piles, where the rain drains to, where you currently walk to haul lawn equipment, views, special spots. Places you want or currently have as special garden areas (veggies, roses).
-Though it isn’t the “fun” of planting, you need to demo as much as possible at once, or from back to front. Then locate and/or construct your paths, patios and other hardscape areas next. If you will need supplemental irrigation or electric lines for lighting, add those too. You don’t want to rip out hard earned plantings to add a path or infrastructure later. When doing this, think about heavy equipment or paths that will be used and don’t plant there yet, maybe work from back to front.
-Do trees next or at least save the space for them, then shrubs, and fill in with perennials later. This can probably be done in quadrants, while the other two should be done comprehensively if possible.
-don’t forget to understand how much maintenance you are willing to undertake in future years. Don’t plant things you have to baby if you don’t want to do the work, or don’t plant them in the back corner, but instead do it closer to the house.

[aspentosh]

I feel ya. We have less yard and we've been here 8 years, but I am still slowly creating the garden I want.

I'd, personally, work in sections. Especially with so many invasive plants. I'd totally clear out areas and plant little by little. Accept that you'll have some bare areas if you're gardening during non-peak buying/planting times. Maybe even start hoarding cardboard to lay down to kill weeds/plants that you don't want.

I love hydrangea and hosts and they grow really well in my area (similar/same zone).