Beginner Gardening: Help with stones and soil, 1 by dax080

dax080 wrote:
Hey, pegzhere - It really sounds like we're like souls or something - I'm also just preparing to begin a woodland in my back yard and have been studying it since last summer. I was able to plant some understory shrubs last Fall, and right now they are standing in some water too. A favorite book I have is called "Woodland Garden - Planting in Harmony with Nature" by Roy Forster and Alex Downie. This book is very practical and easy to understand, plus it gives some great creative ideas on what plants you may want. Because I love animals, I am also building a berm, but I'm making the bottom of it into a habitat for small animals to live, hide, and breed. I will be building it up this spring when I trim the canopy, building a base of wood branches, twigs, leaves, etc. for them to build homes in before I cover it with soil and compost. That way you don't need as much soil. I'm going to make part of the top into a rock garden by placing stones into the berm. Would love to talk with you more as you begin - can hardly wait to get to work on it in the next month. Here are a couple of pics of the area - looks kind of like yours, doesn't it? Dax