1 and 2 are some kind of rush or sedge - the first one might be some kind of nutsedge. I see something similar to the second one growing in wet areas around her but I don't know what it is. I'm planning to learn the grasses and sedges after I retire, when I have more time (ha!). 3 That might be Maianthemum canadense, Canada Mayflower. Are those spent flowers on top of the stalk? Kind of hard to tell from that photo. It doesn't look quite right, though; there's something called Three-leaved False Solomon's Seal (Smilacina trifolia) on the same page of Peterson that might be a possibility. 4 Maybe Poke Milkweed, Asclepias exaltata. 5 Beats me. Dalibarda (Dewdrop)? Coptis (Goldthread)? Do you have any pictures that show the leaves? 6 Not sure about this one either. If it's short (8" or so) it might be Wild Leek; or maybe some kind of wild onion. 7 Might be Hayscented Fern, Dennstaedtia punctilobula 8 That's Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum 9 That looks like a Club Moss, Lycopodium spp, but again, I don't know which one. I poked around a little on the web and found this site that lists a lot of plants found there; you could check what you've got against their list. http://asecular.com/forests/dollysods.htm They probably list the club moss and the rush/sedges. Sounds like a fun trip. That's a place I'd like to go sometime, too. WW

nylisa, We used to live in Warrenton VA and always loved to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in the spring stoppng everywhere we could to injoy everything spring.

Flowers look different here: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=waldsteinia&qpvt=waldsteinia&FORM=IGRE However following one of the other species shown in the panel on the same page we do get similar flowers: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Waldsteinia+Lobata&FORM=IRIBQP

These are the biggest landscape suppliers in NoVa... https://www.saundersls.com/ To give you an idea on price. If you buy a lot, like 5+ yards, they'll usually deliver for free. Landscaping is expensive around here. People don't realize it, but Washington DC is by far, the wealthiest part of the country. Loaded with government employees earning 6 figures. So labor is in high demand and costs a lot. Particularly NoVa. An estimate over $50k wouldn't be surprising. Doesn't mean you can't get it done cheaper. Just means some landscapers are so busy, they give everyone a high take it or leave it price. Many don't blink at paying $50k and don't want to bother shopping around. Looks like you have 2 problems. One is you have trees. The other is I would guess your soil is compacted. Looks compacted to me. If it were me, I would get bulk shredded hardwood mulch delivered, whatever the minimum amount for free delivery is. Get a wheelbarrow, if you don't have one and use it to dump the mulch in the backyard. Maybe 4" or so thick. Also, might want to consider getting rid of some of the trees. The smaller ones. Better to have fewer healthier trees than more crowded ones. If a tree can be felled from the ground without worry of hitting something, it typically costs a lot less to cut down.