Wild / Natural Island in back yard

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kimma Decatur, GA(Zone 7b) Feb 26, 2009

Posted this in the Ga Gardening forum, too...

I just dug out a bunch of overgrown chinese privet in my back yard. It was probably 50 years old, and it was in huge trees that created a very pretty natural island that the birds and rabbits loved - but the privet itself was invasive, and it was popping up everywhere in my yard (and my neighbor's yards) and so I wanted to get rid of it. But I miss having a natural, wild island in my (large) yard, and I want to replant.

To replant, I want stuff that can just sort of grow wild back there without invading my yard / my neighbors yards. The area is full sun. I need plants that are pretty carefree, that can survive without watering (other than rain) once established, tolerate our extreme southern droughts and will thrive in my heavy clay soil - and it should be stuff that birds / butterflies / bees will like. It would be nice if it could shelter the rabbits that were living there. And I was hoping to stick with native plants. Oh, and nothing too toxic, I have a 1 year old, and this is not far from my vegetable garden and blueberry bushes, and the millions of poison privet berries that hung at child level all winter are another reason i wanted to get those things out of my yard.

I've been thumbing through the Southern Living Garden Book, and searching the plant files here, and I have made a list of plants that I think might work. But I'm new to this, and I only know these plants from pictures and descriptions in books and on the internet. So, I'd love to tap into your expertise. Do you guys have any thoughts on this list?

Virginia Sweetspire
Ohio Spiderwort
Bowman's Root
Beebalm (Wild Bergamot)
Tall Black Eyed Susan
Simpson Rosinweed
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Red Chokeberry
American Beautyberry
Mountain Laurel
Hop-tree

I was going to plant maybe one of each in the ~ 40' x 8' "L" shaped area, with the shorter stuff on the southern side and the taller stuff in back, water to establish, and then basically let them go wild. Do you have thoughts on these plants? Can you think of other plants I should consider?

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JuneyBug Dover AFB, DE(Zone 7a) Feb 26, 2009

Dwarf fruit trees?

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