Beginner Gardening: soil ammendments for establishing a native plant area, 1 by JulieQ

JulieQ wrote:
Len123, I will share some of my rationale for establishing this native area. I wonder what my neighbors think about this process, too. Digging up my yard! haha

I am on the end of a cul-de-sac with beautiful woodland covering half of my property. I would like to add some balance to my yard by moving some native plants to the relatively barren lawn on the opposite side of my property. The lawn was spotty and weedy anyway, full of clay and stones. When I removed the grass, I took out a good four or five inches off the top, so it needed to be filled in. I took care not to add any fertilizer, but I added the peat moss, topsoil, and some chopped up leaves from the woods.

I hope that when it is complete it will look more natural like the other part of my property. This is a sunny area, so I have transplanted sumac, yucca, black-eyed susans, and daylilies so far. I have also hauled some fairly large rocks up from the woods. All freebies! Just a lot of sweat labor!

The picture is of my woodland in November.